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A 



Twentieth Century History 



OF 



Cass County, Michigan 



L. H. GLOVER, 

Secretary Cass County Pi(iiieer>' AsMiriatitm. 
ECITOR. 



ILLUSX RATED. 



THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY 
CHICAGO :; NEW YORK 

1906 



L/^ 



-^ 



PREFACE. 



The Historj' of Cass County has been completed after more than 
a year of unremitting' effort on tlie part of tlie publishers and the editor 
and his staff. That the work will bear the critical inspection of the 
many persons into whose hands it will come, and that it measures up to 
the highest standards of modern book-making, the Publishers con- 
fidently believe. Also, through the diligent co-operation of Mr. Glover, 
the editor, the history has become a record of enduring value and 
dignity. 

It is not the purpose of the Publishers to delay the readers with 
a long preface. It is sufificient to acknowledge their indebtedness to 
many who have contributed of personal knowledge, of time and patience 
in their cordial endeavors to preserve and extend the fund of historical 
knowledge concerning Cass County. It would be impossible tO' mention 
the names of all who have thus assisted in making this work. Yet 
we cannot omit mention of tlie assistance rendered by the county of- 
ficials, especially County Clerk Rinehnrt, Judge Des Voignes, Register 
of Deeds Jones, County Treasurer Card, County Commissioner of 
Schools Hale. Naturally the newspapers of the county have been drawn 
upon, and Mr. Allison of the Naiional Democrat, Mr. Berkey of the 
Vigilant. Mr. Moon of the Herald, have never failed to supply us with 
exact information or further our quest in some helpful way. These and 
many others have helped to C(M:ipiIe a trustworthy history of Cass 
County. 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



7^ 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER. I. 

^ . . I 

Descnption 



CHAPTER II. 
CHAPTER III. 



Original Inhabitants "* 



The Count/5 Southern Boundary 22 

CHAPTER IV. 
Early Settlement 37 

CHAPTER V. 
"Pioneer; of Cass County" 53 

CHAPTER \T. 
Organization 9 

CHAPTER VII. 
Growth and Development ^°^ 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Centers of Population ^ ^9 

CHAPTER IX. 

^ ,• 142 

Cassopolis ^^ 

CHAPTER X. 
City of Dowagiac ^ -^ 

CHAPTER XL 

Communication and Transportation ^^ 

CHAPTER XII. 
Industries and Finance ^°^ 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Agriculture ^^ 



vi CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Court House and Other County Institutions 207 

CHAPTER XV. 
Education in State and County 215 

CHAPTER XVI. 
City and Village Schools ,. 228 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Libraries 244 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
The Cass County Press 249 

CHAPTER XIX. * 
Medicine and Surgery 257 

CHAPTER XX. 
Cass County Bar ,. 270 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Cass County the Home of the Races , ,. . 284 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Military Records , . . . . ., 297 

CHAPTER XXIII. 
Military Organizations . .,. . . .,. ... . 329 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
Social Organization , 334 

CHAPTER XXV. 
Cass County Pioneer Society , ,. .,. .,. .,. ... ., 349 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
Religion and the Churches 371 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Official Lists 389 



INDKX. 



Abolitionists.— 54. n-^. 29°- 

Adams, Sterling.— 124. 

Adamsport.— (See Adamsville.) 

Adamsville.— log, 124, 125, 165, 186, 258. 

Agnew, Hugh E.— 253, 750. 

Agriculture.— 8, 198-206. 

Agricultural Implements.— no, in, 190 et 

seq. ; 198 et seq. 
Agricultural Society, Cass County.— 205, 

206. 
Aikin, Charles C— 442. 
Air Line Rail Road.— 129, 131, 136, I7S et 

seq. 
Akin. Perry. — 448. 
Aldrich, Levi. — 262. 
Allen, Green. — 291. 
Allen, Reuben.— 109. 
Allison, C. C— 250, 251, 255, 765- 
Amber Club.— 339. 
Amsden, Charles T. — 674. 
Anderson, T. W.— 265. 
Andrus, Henry. — 255, 503. 
Ann Arbor Convention.— 35. 36- 
Anti-Horse Thief Society.— 206. 
Argus, The.— 254, 255. 
Armstrong, A. N. — 454. 
Arnold. William.— 614. 
Atkinson, John. — 655. 

Attorneys— (see Lawyers) prosecutmg,39l. 
Atwell,'F. J.— 276. 
Atwood, Frank.— 197. 729- 
Atwood, James. — 756. 
Atwood, W. H.— 159- 
Austin, Edwin N. — 594. 
Austin, Jesse H. — 522. 

Bacon, Cyrus. — 93. 
Bacon, Nathaniel. — 17. 
Bailey. Arthur E.— 565. 
Bair. John.— 97, 116. 
Baker, F. H.— 193- 
Baker, Nathan.— 129. 
Balch, A. C— 158. 
Bald Hill.— 10. 
Baldwin. John.— 50, 126. 
Baldwin, William.— 135- 

Baldwin's Prairie.— 7, 125. 

Ball, C. P.— 131- 

Banks— 194-197- 

Banks, Charles G.— 772. 

Baptist Churches.— 146, 378, 379. 380. 

Bar Association.— 283. 

Bar, Cass County.— 270-283. 



Barney, John G. A. — 372. 

Barnhart, Andrew.— 661. 

Barnhart, Peter.— 337- 

Barnuni, Edwin. — 139. 

Barren Lake Station.— 131- 

Beardsley, Elam.— 116, 126; Danus, lib. 

Beardsley. Ezra.— 45. 49. 93. I09, I2l- 

Beardsley, Othni.— 95. 126, i86. 

Beardsley's Prairie.— 7, 114. "5. 121, 374. 

381. 
Beckwith, E. W.— 607. 
Beckwith Memorial 1 heatre.— 247, 24S. 
Beckwith, Philo D.— 161, 190 et seq.; 245, 

690. 
Becraft, Julius O.— 159. 19'. 253. 745- 
Beebe, Bruce.— 583. 
Beeman, Alonzo P.— 136, 470- 
Beeson, Jacob.- 155. 156, 162. 
Beeson, Jesse G.— 108, 197- 
Bennett, William P.— 273- 
Benson, Henry C— 599. 
Berkey, W. H.— 252. , _, „ 
Berrien County, Attached to Cass.— 94- 
Bigelow, Hervey.— 134- 
Big Four R. R.— 177- 
Bilderback, John.— 666. 
Birch Lake.— 386. 
Bishop. George E.— 74°. 
Black Hawk War.-I02, 107, 166, i/O, 297- 
Blackman, Daniel.— 146, 148, 274. 
Blacksmiths.— 184 et passim. 
Blakeley, T. L.— 265. 
Blood. J. v.— 415- 
Bly, Kenvon.— 760. 
Bogue. Stephen.— 48, 49. '31. 289. 
Bogue, William E.— 709- 
Bonine, E. J.— 259- 
Bonine, James E.— 195. 360. 
Bonine, Lot.— 510. 
Boundaries.-22 et seq.; of Cass county, 

92 ; of townships, 93 et seq. 
Bowen, Henry H.— 566. 
Boyd, James.— 184. 
Brady.— 141- 
Brick.— 13. '10- 
Bridge, Leander.— 564. 
Brown. David and William.— 12S. 
Brown, Jonathan.— 135- 
Brownsville.— 8. 128, 187. 
Buell, B. G.— 206. 
Bugbee, Israel G.— 262. 
Bulhand. Dr.— 261. 
Bunn, C. W— 291. 



INDEX 



BnriK'y, Tliomas. — 137. 

Buslinian, Alexander. — 2S6. 

Business. — (See under village names.) 

Byrd, Turner. — 291. 

Byrnes, Daniel K., 464. 

Calvin lOunship. — 50, 96. 112, 113. 223. 

287-296; 377,396. 
Campbell, Malcom A. — 722. 
Canals. — 121, 172. 
Carey Mission. — 11, 16-T9, 40, 165, 185, 

372. 
Carnegie Library. — 246. 
Carr.J. R.— 278. 
Carr, L. J.— 332. 

Cass County Advocate. — 249, 250. 
Cass County. — Formed, 92 ; boundaries, 
92 ; named, 92 ; civil organization, 92. 
Cass, Gen. Lewis. — 29, 92. 
Cassopolis.^ — 99, 103, 108; 142-153; 177, 

183, 184, 189, 228-231 ; 244, 374. 

375. 379. 382, 401, 402, 403. 
Cassopolis Milling Co. — 189. 
Cassopolis Woman's Club. — 338, 339. 
Catholic Church. — 285, 371, 372, 373. 
Caul, Andrew F. — 455. 
Cavanaugh, Lawrence. — 47. 
Centers, of Population. — 119 et seq. ; in 

Volinia township, 13S. 
Chain Lakes. —8. 
Chapman. Franklin. — 479. 
Chapman, H. Sylvester. — 592. 
Chapman, J. B. — 153. 
Charles, Jacob. — 126, 138. 
Charleston. — 138, 337. 
"Charter Citizens," of Cassopolis. — 150. 
Cheesebrough, Nicholas. — 155. 
Chicago Road. — 8, 119, 120, 121, 124, 137, 

164, 166, 167. 
Chicago Trail. — 164. 
Chicago Treaty. — 19, 166. 
Chipman, John S. — 272. 
Chipman, Joseph N. — 272. 
Choate, N. F. — 193, 196. 
Christiann Creek. — 7, 124, 128, 131, i-?2, 

186, 187. 
Christiann Drainage Basin. — 8. 
Churches. — 123, 125. (See under names 

of villages), 371-388. 
Circuit Court. — 391. 
Circuit Court Commissioners. — 391. 
Circuit Judges. — 390. 
Civil War. — 297 et seq. 
Clark, Geo. Rogers. — 22. 
Clark, Walter. — 540. 
Clarke. J. B.— 275. 
Clarke, W. E.— 263. 
Clendenen, John. — 602. 
Clerks, County. — 391. 
Disbee, C. W.— 275. 
Clothing, of Early Days. — 181 et seq. 
Clubs. — 3.38 et seq. 
Clyborn, .\rchibald. — 45. 



Coates, James R. — loS. 

Colby, H. F.— rS4, 161, 193; Colby Mills, 
154. 193; G. .\., 193. 

Collins. John R. — 613. 

Commissioners, County Seat. — 98, 99, 143, 
144. 146, 147- 

Communication. — 100, 120, 121 ; 163-179. 

Condon, John. — 9. , 

Cone, C. E. — 278, 554. 

Congregational Churches. — 383. 

Conklin, Abram. — 725. 

Conklin, E. S. — 458. 

Conklin, Gilbert. — 681. 

Conklin, Simeon. — 719. 

Conkling, W. E. — 233. 

Coolidge, H. H. — 121, 123, 273. 

Cooper, Alexander. — 445. 

Cooper, Benj. — i(x). 

Corey, 136. 

Coulter, John F. — 443. 

Coulter, William H. — 636. 

Counties, Erection of. — 91. 

County Normal. — 223. 224, 232. 

County Officers. — 390-393. 

County Seat, Location of. — 98 et seq. ; 108, 
129, 132, 142, 143, 144, 145. 

Court House. — (See County Seat.) 146, 
147, 151, 187, 207-212. 

Court House Company. — 147, 207, 208. 

Courts, Established. — 93 ; county, 93 ; Cir- 
cuit, 93; 207, 271, 279. 

Craine, Orlando. — 154. 

Crawford, George. — 45. 

Crego, H. .A.— 678. 

Criswell, M. H. — 265, 509. 

Crosby, Nelson J. — 646. 

Curry, Joseph Q. — 460. 

Curtis, C. J. — 263. 

Curtis, Jotham. — 96, 116. 

Curtis, Solomon. — 707, 

Gushing Corners. — 139. 

Gushing, Dexter. — 139, 687. 

Gushing, William. — 139. 

Customs, Early. — 334 et seq. 

Dailey. — 128, 129. 

Dana, Charles. — 272. 

Davis, Alex. — 134. 

Davis. C. A.— 6. 

Davis. C. E.— 267. 

Davis, H. C. — 526. 

Davis, Job. — 133, 186. 

Denike, G. H.— 624. 

Denman, H. B. — 195. 

Dennis. Cassius M. — 439. 

Dentists.— 268. 

Des Voignes. L. B. — 278, 294, 769. 

Dewey. Burgette L. — 161, 332. 712. 

Diamond Lake. — 2. 8, 39, 49. 98. 103. 129. 

140. 
Diamond Lake Park. — 140. 
Disbrow. Henry. — 99. 
Disciples Churches. — 383. ,384. 



INDEX 



IX 



Distillery. — 183, 184; et passim; 187. 

Doane, William H. — 113. 

Donnell's Lake. — 13. 

Dool, Robert. — 516. 

Dowagiac— 97, 132, 151; 154-162; 177, 

188, 189 et seq. ; 231 et seq. : 245, 

375, 400, 401, 404, 405, 406. 
Dowagiac Creek. — 10. 11, 132, 134, 154. 
Dowagiac Manufacturing Co. — 161, 188, 

192, 193- 
Dowagiac Swamp. — 10. 
Drainage. — 2, 7, 8; 9-10; commissioners, 9. 
Drift, Covering Cass Co. — 3 ; distribution 

of, 5- 
Driskel, Daniel. — 117. 
Dunn, Frank. — 136, 465. 

Eagle Lake. — 141. 

East, Settlement. — 112; family. 112. 

Easton, Edd VV. — 669. 

Easton, \V. W. — 266. 

Eby, Daniel. — 765. 

Eby, Gabriel. — 127, 620. 

Eby, Peter.— 537. 

Eby, Ulysses S. — 279, 536. 

Eby, William. — 127, 

Education. — (See Schools.) 120. 215-243, 

295- 
Edwards, Alexander H.^121. 
Edwards, J. R.— 279. 
Edwards, Lewis. — ^44. 
Edwards, Thomas H. — 46, 49, 121. 
Edwardsburg.— 45, 120, 121, 122, 143, 151, 

167, 169, 170, 172. 184, 196, 237, 258. 

374, 378, 380, 381, 382. 
Electric Railroads. — 177. 
Elevation of Surface. — 4. 
Emerson, J. Fred. — 588. 
Emmons, George. — 438. 
Emmons, James M. — 561. 
Engle, Frank.— 573. 
Erie Canal. — 54, 121. 
Evangelical Churches. — 387. 

Factories. — 187 et seq. (See Mills, Man- 
ufacturing.) 
Fairs. — 205, 206. 

Farmers' j\Iutual Fire Insurance Co. — 197. 
Farming. (See Agriculture.) 
Farr. Willis M.— 161, 194. 332, 724. 
Fields, George M.— 279, 629. 
Fiero, Byron. — 577. 
Fiero, John P.— 187, 710. 
Finance. — 194-197. 
Fish, A. M.— 758. 
Fish Lake. — 141. 
Flax.— 181. 

Fletcher, Don .\. — 542. 
Follett. Henry— 258. 
Forest Hall Park. — 140. 
Fosdick, John. — 95: George, 131. 
Fowle, Charles. — 193. 
Fowler, H. H.— 98, 129, 130. 143, 257. 



l-'rakes, Joseph. — 48. 
Fraternal Orders. — 123, 348. 
French, D. L. — 153. 
French, E.xplorers. — 37. 
French, Henry J. — 585. 
Friends, Settlement. — 48; societies, 385, 
386. 

[Most of 1835. 103. 

■ Frost, William ^L— 716. 
Fruit Culture. — 203. 
F'ulton, Alex, and David. — 138. 
Funk, C. H. — 654. 

Gage, John S. — 190. 

Gage, Justus. — 205. 

Gard, Edgar J. — 484. 

Gard, George W. — 206, 210, 513. 

Gard, L N. — 206. 

Gard, Jonathan. — 51, 206. 

Gard, Josephus. — 95. 

Gard, M. J.— 206. 

Card's Prairie. — 52. 

Gardner, A. B. — 191. 

Gardner, S. C. — 116. 

Garrett, Hugh P.— 648. 

Carver. — 46. 

Garvey, i\L T. — 129, 159. 

Garwood, Alonzo. — 260. 

Garwood, Benjamin F. — 535. 

Garwood, Levi. — 128. 137. 

Garwood, William H. — 425. 

Gas.— 13, 158. 

Geneva Village.— 98, 129, 143, 184, 257. 

Gibson, J. E. — 210 et seq. 

Gilbert, Eugene B.— 738. 

Gilbert, Samuel H. — 601. 

Glaciers, Action of. — 2 et seq. 

Glenwood. — 139. 

Glover. L. H. — 279. 781. 

Goble, Elijah.— 51. 138, 337. 

Goff, Frederick. — 117. 

Goodwin, Fairfield. — 265. 

Goodwin House. — 145. 

Graduates, from Schools. — 224, 229, 230. 

234. 240. 242. 
Graham, Sidney J. — 618. 
Grain, Planting and Harvesting. — 201. 202, 

203. 
Grand Armv Posts.— 329, 330, 331. 332. 
Grand Trunk R. R.— 2 ; 7, 122, 130, 136. 

137. 152. 176, 177- 
Grange. The. — 204. 205. 
Griffin, Robert S.— 262. 
Grindstone. First in County. — 47. 
Grubb, Pleasant.— 128. 

Hadden, George M.— 587. 

Hadden, M. O.— 751. 

Hadden, Samuel B.— 541. 

Haight. Joseph. — 117. 

Hale. William H. C— 215 et seq.; 642. 

Halligan, Raymond S. — 572. 

Hamilton. Patrick.— 155, 156. 



X 



INDEX 



I lampion, Tli;uldcus.— 139; stock lann, 

1J9- 
llannaii, Pelcr. — 727. 
Jiardy, Aloiizo J. — 085. 
Hardy, George W. — 4S1. 
Harmon, Cliarlc-s O.^-'iSo, jy4, 515. Jolm 

B., 2S0. 
Harper, Josepli. — 14S, 207, 562. 
Harrington, S. S. — 15J. 
Harris Line. — 28. 
Harter, Joseph. — 113. 
Hartman, Kleckner W. — ^456. 
Jiartsell, Frank L, — 744. 
Harvey, Dan M. — 581. 
Hatch, Junins H. — 134. 
Hatch, Ohver W .— 261. 
Haydcn, Asa K. — 281. 
Hayden, 1!. W. — 435. 
Haydcn, James G. — 664. 
Hayden, W. li.^153. 
Hawks, Sanuiel. — 291. 
Henderson, Ira B. — 149. 
Hendricks, Line. — 32. 
Hendryx, Coy W. — 774, 280. 
Herald, The. — 254. 
Herkimer, George R. — 266. 
Hess, Joseph. — 628. 
Hicks, Henry B.— 517. 
Hicks. Orren V., 478. 
Hiygnis, Cornelius. — 96. 
Higgnis, Thomas T. — 409. 
High Schools. — 222, 229, 234. 
Highland Beach. — 141. 
Hinkley, Rodney. — ^48. 
llirons, Edward. — 123. 

I I irsh, Jacob. — lOo. 
Hitchcox, James. — 126. 
Holland, Marion. — 265. 
Hollister, Js'oel B. — 159, 160, 273. 
Hopkins. David.— 13S, 207. 
Hopkins, W. D. — 189. 

Hotels. (See Taverns.) 

Household Utensils. — 181 et seq. ; see 

Houses. 
Houses, Pioneer. — 42, 43, 104, 105, 114, 

181 et seq. 
Howard Township. — 12, 95, 113, 114, 223, 

337. 399- 
Howard, William G. — 276. 
Howard ville. — 131. 
Howell, David M.— 195, 251 ; M. L., 195. 

2S0. 
Howser, S. M. — ^447. 
Hoyt, W. F.— 193. 
HuiT. John.— 4S6. 
Huff, Otis.— 699. 
Hughes, G. A. — 266. 
Hunter, George W. — 703. 
Huntley, G. G. — 9. 
Hntchings, Nelson A. — 46S. 
Hux, Chris A. — 196. 660. 

Ice and Water, Influence on Surface. — 2. 



Immigration, Sources of.^S3, 54; direc- 
tion of, 94, 103. 

Indians. — 14-21; scliool, 18; in Silver 
Creek, 20 ; 102, 103 ; 284-287 ; 372 

Indian Trails. — 8, 102, 163, 1O4, 105. 

Industries.— 180-197. (.See Manufactur- 
ing, .Mills.) 

Jail.— 146, 147, 212, 213. 

James, Isaac P. — 130; Parker, 130. 

Jamestown. — 7, 130, 177, 1S4. 

Jarvis, Frank P. — 775. 

Jarvis, William. — 705. 

Jarvis, Zadok. — 640. 

Jefferson Township. — 12. 49, 95, 110; early 

settlers. III ; 22^, 398. 
Jenkins, Baldwin. — 41, 42, 43. 
Jewell, Elbridge. — 610. 
Jewell, Hiram. — loS; family, 142, 144. 
Johnson, Joseph H. — 534. 
Johnson, Oliver. — 142, 145. 
Jones, E. H. — 136. 
Jones, George D. — 48, 160, 694. 
Jones, George W.^137, 412. 
Jones, Gilnian C. — 159, 161. 
Jones, Henry. — 207. 
Jones, Horace. — 161. 
Jones, J. H. — 266. 
Jones, Nathan. — 529. 
Jones, Village. — 136, 265. 
Jones, Warner D. — 453. 
judd, Mark. — 161, 663. 
Judges, Lists of. — 390. 

Kelsey, Abner. — 129. 

Kelsey, Wm. J.— 261 ; J. H., 261, 266. 

Kentucky Raid. — in, 112, 389. 

Kessington.' — 125. 

Kester, Clinton L. — 459. 

Ketcham, Clyde W. — 280, 332, 718. 

Ketcham, W. J. — 266. 

Kimmerle, Catherine. — 108. 

Kimmerle, Charles H. — 208, 212, 432. 

Kimmerle, Henry. — 778. 

Kingsbury, Allen M.— 643. 

Kingsbury, Asa. — 131, 146, 147, 148, 194, 

195, 207, 213, 644. 
Kingsbury, Charles. — 194. 
Kingsbury, David L. — 195, 452. 
Kingsbujy, George M. — 153, 209, 551. 
Kinnane, James H. — 281, 743. 
Kirby. W. R— 485. 
Kirk, William. — 42, 113. 
Knapp, Amos. — 192, 702. 
Kyle, Joseph C. — 422. 

L' Allegro Qub. — 343. 

La Grange Prairie. — II, 12, 46. 

La Grange Township. — 11, 46 et seq.; 94. 

107. 108, 175, 186. 223. 375, 397. 
La Grange Village.— 131, 132, 133. 134, 

154- 
I^ke Alone. — 131. 



INDEX 



Lake, J. M.— 421. 
Lake View Park. — 141. 
Lakes.— 5, 6; Lilly lake, 7; 136; 139. 
Land Sales, — 106. 
Lawrence, Levi. — 109, 138. 
Lawrence. L. L. — 734. 
Lawson, William. — 291 ; Cornelius, 293. 
Law-yers. — 270-283. 
Leach, James H., 418. 
Lee Brothers. — 196. 
Lee, Fred E. — 191, 196. 
Lee, Ishmael. — III. 
Lee, Joseph W. — 109. 
Letters.— 178. 
Lewis, E. F. — 498. 
Lewis, Roland. — 762. 
Libraries. — 244-247. 
Lilley, Thomas J. — 532. 
Lincoln, Samuel J. — 544. 
Lindsley, John A. — 161, 726. 
Link, Donald A. — 267, 770. 
Little Prairie Ronde. — 7, 11, 19, 51; post- 
office, 138. 
Little Rocky River. — 10. 
Lock wood. Henry. — 258. 
Lofland, Joshua.— 159. 213. 
Longsduff.. George. — 488. 
Longsduff, John. — 632. 
Loupee, John. — 603. 
Loux. Abraham.- — 47. 
Loveridge, Henry L. — 463. 
Lumber. — 12, 161. CSee under Mills, Man- 
ufacturing.) 
Lutheran Church. — 387. 
Lybrook, John. — 47; Isaac, 47; Henley C, 

159- 
Lybrook, Joseph. — 428. 
Lyle, C. M.— 281. 
Lyle, Daniel. — 133, 195, 196. 
Lyle,F. W.— 193, 196; C. E., 193- 

Madrey. J. W.— 291. 
Magician Beach. — 141. 
Magician Lake. — 140, 141. 
Manufacturing.— (See Mills.) 121. 133, 

134. 161. 180-194. 
Maple Island Resort. — 141. 
Marcellus Township. — 10, 97, 107, ll", 

223, 394- 
Marcellus Village.— 137, 138, 239, 240, 254, 

406, 407. 
Marckle. John. — 492. 
Markham. Israel. — 41, 184. 
Marl Beds.— 13; lime. 13. 
Marsh, A. C. — 121. 
Mason. Governor. — 33. loo. 
Mason Township. — 96. 115. 223. 397. 
Masons. — 348. 
Mater, John. — 683. 
Matthew Artis Post. — 293. 
May, Russel D. — 440. 
McAllister, James. — 418. 



AlcCleao', Ephraim. — 142, 145. 

McCleary, William. — 48. 

McCoy, C. Delivan. — 426. 

McCoy, Isaac. — 16, 17. 

McCoy, Richard. — 431. 

McCoy, William H. — ^431. 

McCutcheon, William C— 266, 268, 647- 

McDaniel, James. — 96, 115, 1 16. 

McGill, William— 612. 

Mcintosh, Daniel. — 187. 

Mcintosh, Jacob. — 548. 

Mclntyre, Fred. — 451. 

McKenney, Thomas. — 47. 

McKessick. Moses. — 125. 

McKinney's Prairie. — 11. 

McMaster, Hamilton S. — 266, 713. 

McNeil, Marion. — 617. 

McOmber. Jay W. — 156. 

Meacham, George— 45, no; Sylvester, 45. 

Mechanicsburg. — 134. 

Mechling, John W. — 591. 

Medical Society, Cass County. — 268. 

Medicine and Surgery. — 257-269. 

Merchants. — ^46, 155; in Edwardsburg, 
123; of Marcellus, 138; Cassop- 
olis, 148 et seq. (See under village 
names) ; 159. 

Merritt, Wm. R.— 127 ; J. Fred., 128. 

Methodism— 114. 132; churches, 373-378. 

Michigan Central R. R.— 122, 132, 138, 139, 
151. 155, 161, 173. 174- 

Michigan Southern R. R.— 174, et passim. 

Michigan Territory.— 27 ; history to ad- 
mission to Union, 22-36. 

Military Annals. — 103. 

Military Organizations. — ^329-333. 

Military Records.— 297-328. 

Miller, Ezra. — 109. 

Miller. George. — 276. 

Miller. O. P.— 645. 

Mills.— At Carey Mission, 18; 105. no; 
113. 115. 122, 124. 128, 129, 130. 133, 
134. 135, 137, 154. 183 et seq. 

Milton Township.— 12, 97, 114. 223. 376, 
400. 

Minnich. James J. — 568. 

Mint Culture— 203. 

Model City— 139- 

Monday Evening Club. — 346. 

Monroe Land Office.— jo6. 

Moon. Abner M.— 154, I59, 253, 254, 695. 

Moraines. — ^4: Lake Michigan moraine. 4, 
II. 

Moreland. Jacob. — 138. 

Morgan. C. A.— 267. 

Morse. C. W — 263. 

Mosher. Francis J.— 160: Ira D., 160. 

Mosher, H. L— 191. 

Motley, Edward T. — 576. 

Myers. C. M. — 267. 

National Democrat. — 251. 
Negro, Colony. — 287-296. 



INDEX 



Nflsdii. C, Carroll.— 294, 608. 

Nevvbi-rg Township. — lo, 07. 107, 116, 117, 

Newbcrg Village. — 136. 

Neu Buffalo.— 174. 

New Century Club. — 345. 

NeweN House. — 106, 146, 149. 

News. The. — 254. 

Newspapers. — 249-256. 

Newton, James. ^109; George, 109. 

Nichols, Jonathan. — 138. 

Nicholson, Spencer. — 136. 

Nicholsville. — 139. 

Niles. — 42; see Carey Mission; 103, 122, 

174. 249- 
Nineteenth Century Club. — 340. 
Ntjrthwest Territory. — 2^ et seq. 
Norton, Levi D. — 112. 
Norton, Nathan. — 49. 
Norton, Pleasant. — in, 213. 

Oak Beach. — 141. 

Odd Fellows.— 348. 

O'Dell, James. — 185, ^^93. 

O'Dell. John.— 604. 

Official Lists. County, Township, Village 

Officers. — 389-409. 
O'Keefe, George A. — 99. 
"Old Fort."— 146, 208. 
Olds. May .A..— 466. 
Olmsted. J. C— 237. 380, 381, 382. 
Ontwa Township. — 45 et seq. ; 94, 107, 108. 

223. 398. 
Ordinance Line. — 24, 27. 
Ordinance of 1787. — 23 et seq. 
Organic Act. — 92. 

Organization, History of. — 91 et seq. 
O'Rourke, Jerry. — 766. 
Osborn, Family. — 112; Charles. 112: Jo- 

siah, 112, 289. 
Osborn, Leander. — 264. 
Ouderkirk, Charles. — 623. 

Pardee. Elias. — 737. 

Parker, John. — 149. 

Parker, W. E.— 267. 

Parsons, William E. — 495. 

Pattison. Laurence B. — 73 ^ 

Peninsula R. R.— 175. ^ (See Grand 

Trunk.) 
Penn Township. — 48 et seq. ; 94. 97, 108. 

223. 38—, 396. 
Penn Vdlage. (See Jamestown.) 
Petticrew, John. — 134. 
Pettigrew, John.— 1S6. 
Phillips, H H.— 259, 266. 
Phillips. John H.— 560. 
Physicians. — 257-269. 
Pioneer Society. — 212. 
Pioneer Society. Cass County. — 349-370; 

officers, 349. 350: annual speakers. 

.3,50. 351: members record. 351-370. 



Pioneers. — .Alphabetical record of, 53-90; 
see Settlement : Homes of, 104 et 
seq.; of Penn, 108; of Howard, 114; 
of Silver Creek, 115; manufactur- 
ing, 180 et seq. ; farming. 198 et 
seq. ; social customs, 334 et seq, 
a traged)', 116: of Newberg, 117; of 
Marcellus, 117. 

Planck, E. A.— 265, 268, 622. 

Plank Roads. — 169. 

Pleasant Lake. — 45. 

Poe, Charles W. — 474. 

Pokagon, Chief. — 16, 19, 20, 42, 285, 372. 

Pokagon Creek. — 11, 134. 

Pokagon Prairie. — 11, 40, 44, 184, 375. 

Pokagon Township. — (See Pokagon Prai- 
rie.) 93, 107, 223, 399. 

Pokagon Village. — 134, 135, 264. 

Poor Farm, Cass County. — 213, 214. 

Population- — 107, 108 et seq. ; 122, 127, 
129, 130, 134, 135, 136. 151. 157. 288; 

Porter Township. — 50, 51, 95. 97. 107. 110. 
186, 223, 395. ' 

Post Roads. — 165, 166. 

Postal Service. — 178, 179. 

Postoffices. — 119, 120 (Sec Rural Free 
Delivery) ; 126 ; 129, 130, 136, 137, 
1.38, 139, 149. 158, 178, 179. 

Pottawottomies. — 14 et seq.; 42, 102, 115, 
372. 

Pound, Isaac S. — 652. 

Prairies. — 5, 6, 7, 11. 

Presbyterian Churches. — 380-383. 

Press, Cass County. — 249-256. 

Price, John. — 48. 

Prindle, C. P.— 263. 

Probate Judges. — 390. 

Products. Natural. — 12. 

Prosecuting .Attorneys. — 391. 

Protestant Episcopal Church. — 388. 

Public Square. — 129, 143, 145 et seq. 

Putnam, Uzziel. Sr. — 40 et seq.; 202; Ira, 
44; Uzziel, Jr.. 44. 

Puterbaugh. William F. — 630. 

Quakers,-48; 112. 29~7. 385. 386. 

Railroads. — 122. 132, 135. 151. 155. 167. 
171 et seq.; electric lines. 177; un- 
derground, 287. 

Railroad Era. — 171 et seq. 

Read, S. T. — 176. 195. 

Reames. Moses and William. — 49 ; Moses. 
95- 

Redfield, Alex. H. — 143. 144 et seq. ; 14S, 
149, 207, 212, 270, 271. 

Redfield, George H. — TOS. 

Redfield's Mills.— 129. " 

Reed, John. — 48. 49, 96. 

Registers of Deeds. — .192. 

Religion. — 371 et seq. (See Churches.) 

Renniston. William. — 108. T54. t86. 193. 

Representatives. State. — 389. 



INDEX 



Rei)ublic;in. I lie. — 25,3. 

Resliore, Frank. — 281. 

Re Shore, Grace. — 245, 247. 

Resorts. (.See Summer Resorts.) 

Reiich, Jonathan H. — 639. 

Reynolds, Levi J. — 546. 

Richardson, Norris. — 731. 

Riclcert, Charles C. — 420. 

Rinehart, Carleton W. — 590. 

Rinehart, Family. — no, 186. 

Rinehart, John. — 48. 

Rinehart. S. M.— 126, 127. 

Ritter, Charles A. — 195, 625. 

Ritter, John J. — 197, 735. 

Roads. — (See under Comniunication, Rail- 
roads.) 163. 164 et seq. 

Robbins, George W. — 472. 

Robertson. Alexander. — ^426. 

Robertson, George W. — 472. 

Robertson, John. — 264. 

Robinson, C. S. — 207. 

Rockwell, John D. — 597. 

Rodgers. Alexander. — 45. 

Roebeck, John L. — 491. 

Root, Eber. — 146. 

Rosewarne, Henry G. — '720. 

Ross, F. H.— 673. 

Ross, Jasper J.— 558. 

Round Oak Stove Works.— (See P. D. 
Beckwith.) — 188, 190-192. 

Rouse. Daniel G. — 97- 

Rowland, Thomas. — 99. 

Rudd, Barak L. — 140, 633. 

Rudd, Orson.— 137. 

Rural Free Delivery. — 120, 125. 12S, I3_". 
179. 204. 

Russey. E. J. — 650. 

Sage. Chester. — 45. 126. 

Sage, Family. — 124, 196; Moses. 124. 125, 
186: Afartin G., Norman, T24. 

Sailor. — (See Kessington.) 

Salisbnrv. William. — 519. 

Sandy Beach. — 140. 

School Funds. — 222. 

Schools — T20. 132. (See under names of 
villages, 215-243.) Cassopolis, 228- 
23T : Dowa.giac, 231-237: Edwards- 
bnrg, 237-239; Vandalia, 241-243; 
Marcellus, 2,39-241. 

School Officers. — 393 ; 224-227. 

Senators. — 389. 

Settlement. .Effected by Natural Condi- 
tions. — I ; early, i7 et seq. ; date of 
first, 42 : 102, 106 ; 107 et seq. 

Shaffer, Daniel.— 48. 

Shaffer David.— iti; Peter, in; TS7 ; 
George T., in. 

Shakespeare. — T35. 

Shanahan, Clifford. — 273. 

Shannon, .Mbert J. — 482. 

Sharp. Craigie. — 139. 

Shavehead.- 10; trail, 164, 165. 



Shaw, Darius. — 148, 207. 

Shaw, James. — 114. 

-Shaw, John. — 109. 138. 

Shaw, Richard. — 109. 

Shepard, James M.— 252, 556. 

Sheriffs. — 392. 

Sherman, Flias B. — 13s. nS. 14?. 144 L-t 

seq. ; 195, 271, 336. 
Shcru-iod, C. L.— 159, 160, 679. 
Shields, Martin. — 48. 
Shillito, Ernest. — 571. 
Shockley, Alfred. — 507. 
Shoemakers, Pioneer. — 182. 
Shore Acres. — 130. 
Shugart. Zachariah. — 289. 
Shurte, Isaac. — 47, 103. 
Sibley. Col. £. S.— gs! 129. 
Silo Plants. — 203. 
Silver Creek Township. — 11. 20. 96, 115, 

223, 2S5, 377, 399. 
Silver, Jacob and .Abiel. — 121: George F.. 

123; Orriu, T24, 749; Jacob. 207, 

336. 
Skinner. Samuel F. — 574. 
Smith, Amos. — 522. 
Smith, A. J. — 123. 131, 274. 
Smith, Cannon. — 114. 376. 
Smith, Daniel. — 704. 
Smith, Ezekiel C. — 114. 
Smith, Ezekiel S. — 159. 255. 272; Joel H., 

159- 
Smith. George W. — 494. 
Smith. Harsen D. — 195. 2S2, 657. 
Smith, Hiram. — 538. 
Smith, Joseph. — 1S7, 20S, 251. 
Snyder. Robert. — 436. 
Social Organizations. — .334-.348. 
Soil. — 12. 
Soldiers' and Sailors' Afonnment .^ssocia- 

tion.— 332. 333. 
Soldiers of Cass Oumtv in Civil War — 

298-328. 
Spalding. Erastus H. — 133. 154, 156, t6o.. 

193; Lyman, 154. 
Spencer, James M. — 275. 
Spiiuiing Wheel. — 181. 
Squatters' LTnions. — 107. 
Stage Coaches. — 121, 123. 126. 1(39. 170. 
.Standerline George. — 470. 
Stauderline, William. — 471. 
Stapleton. James S. — 261. 
Stark, Myron. — 161, 194, 74T. 
Starrett, Charles. — 700. 
State Officials from Cass County. — 300. 
Stebbins, E. S. — 264. 

Stewart. Hart L. — 98. 129, 143; A. C, 129.. 
St. Joseph Township. — 91. 
Stone Lake. — 99, 142, 145, 749. 152. 
Stretch. William H.— 626. 
Subscriptions, to Railroads. — 175. 
Sullivan. Tames. — 272. 
Sumner. Isaac. — 134. 
Summer Resorts. — 1,39. 140. T41. 



INDEX 



Sumnerville. — 43, 134. 
Supervisors, Tovvnsliip.— 393-401. 
Surveyors. — 392. 
Sweet, Charles E.— 282, 753. 
Swcctland, John 6.-255, 262. 
•Suishur. John F.— 659. 

'lalbot. Jolni A.— 276. 
Talladay, Alamaiidel J.— 524 
Taverns.— 43, 46, 50, 115, uC, 121, 123 

126. 13S, 146, 149, 156, 159, 337. 
_T aylor, Albon C.-682. 
I'aylor, Alexander,— 414. 
'Paylor, Clifford L.— 430. 
Taylor, James D. — 264. 
Teachers.— 216; certificates, 219 220 ^'7 
Telephones.— 127, 179. 
i'erritorial Road (sec Chicago Road) - 

167. 
1 harp, .Abner.— 49, 50. 
Thatcher, Nelson E.— 528. 
Thickstiin, David C— 638. 
Thomas, S. B. — 152. 
Thomas, Silas H.— 57S. 
Thompson, Allison D.— 502. 
Thompson, Merriit .\.— 277. 
Thompson, Squire.— 44. 
Thomson, Samuel C— 450. 
Thorp, A. L. — 264. 
Tihbits, Nathan and William.— 126 
1 letsort, Abram.— 103, 142, 145, 150, 18? 
I letsort's Sidetrack.— 139. 
'i'imes, The. — 253, 254. 

Tolbert. George H. — 596 — 

Toledo War.— 22. 33.' 34, 3^- 
1 onipkins, L. U.— jfx). 
Toney, James.— 51. 

Topography.— I "^et seq. ; striking features 
.,. . °f' 5- 
lounsts' Club.— 34r. 
'I'ownscnd. Abram.— 41, 46. 202, 23t; 

Ephraim, 41 ; Gamaliel. 44. 103 
ioivuship Officers.— 393-401. 
Townships, Forni.-ition of.— Q^ et seq 
Trades. (See .\Ianufacturins>\ Industries 

etc.) 
Tran.sportatinn. (See under Communica- 
tion, Railroads.) 
Treasm-crs. Coimty. — 392. 
'i'rihimc. The. — 252. 
'I'ruitt. James M. — 771. 
Truilt, Peter.— 97, 114. 
Truitt Station. — 177. 
Turner. George B. — 39, 205, 251. 27^. 
Turner. Virgil. — 777.' 
Tuttle. William.— 192. 



Cnion Hotel.— 146. 

United Brethren Churches— 387 

Universalist Church.— 387. 

Vail, Levi M.— 129. 
Van Antwerp, Lewis C— 497 
Van Buren County, Attached to Cass.-04 
\'andaha-8. 49, 130, 131, 185, 241 ^ 
408, 409. t . -*^. 

Van Riper, Abram, and Sons.— 1315 
Van Riper, J. J.— 275. 
Venice. — 154. 
Vigilant, The.— 251, 252. 
Volinia Farmers' Club.— 205 ^06 
\olmia Township.-ii. 19, 51, 52', nc, jq, 
,, ,. . 'O?,, 223, 395. ■^' 

\ olnua Village.— 138. 

Vclinia and Wayne Anti-Hor.sethief So- 
ciety. — 206. 
Voorhis, C. E.— 152, 434. 

Wakelee. — 136, 137. 

Walker, Henry C— 635. 

War, Toledo.— 22; Sac or Black Hawk 

Av '°-t' Xl''''' 297-328; Spanish, 297. 

Warner, J. P.— 193. 

Washington, Booker T. — 292. 

Water Works.— 152, 189. 

Watson, John H.— 779. 

Wayne Co.— 24. 25, 26. 91. 

Wayne Township.— 96, 223, ^97. 

Weesaw. — 19. 
-Wells. C. P.— 264. 

Wells, Henrv B.— 671 

Wells, Isaac. Sr.— 696. 

Wells, Leslie C— 423 

Wells, Willard.— 748 

Wheeler. J. H.-264. 

White. Gilbert. — 531 

White, Milton P.-233, 267, 767. 

W hue Pigeon Land Office.— 106. 
Whitman, Martin C— 98, 133. 
Whilmanville.— 133. (See La Grange Vil- 
lage.) 
Wilbcr, Theodore F.— 676 
Wdey, Robert H.— 763. 
W illiams, Josiah. — 127. 
Williimsville— 127, 128. 
Willnrell. Duane.— 416. 
\y.. nun's Cluhs.-338-348. 
\ - ' " din. Zaccheus. — 38. 
W.Hisler. John.— 282. ' 
W'iLdit. Elijah W.— 96. 
WnylU, Job. — 38-40. 140, t;4. 
Wright. William R— ,17 



Undert 
Union. - 



ituid Rnilriiad. 
25, 126, 165. 



John H.— 496, 
s Prairie— 7. 374. 376. 



eRSS COUllTY 

Mlt'IIU;A> 

S.-nl. ; I MiU". I.. I lucll 

I5.15U. U.UAV. 




S T A T E 



I Js I> I A N A 



History of Cass County. 



CHAPTER I. 
DESCRIPTION. 



Cass county, topographically considered, is much the same now 
as before the first settlement. The three generations of wliite men have 
cleared the fi>rest coverings, have drained the swamps, ha\-e changed 
some (if the water courses; have overwhelmed the wilderness and con- 
verted the soil to areas productive of useful fruitage: have net-worked 
the country with highways and reads of steel ; ha\'e (|uarried beneath 
the surface and clustered structures of brick and stone and wood into 
hamlets and villages, and from the other results of human activity 
have quite transformed the superficial aspects of our county. But the 
greater and more basal configurations of nature endure through all 
the assaults of human energy. The eternal hills still stand as the sym- 
bol of permanence and strength; the lake basins, though their water 
area is becoming gradually reduced, still dot the expanse of the county 
to form the same charming contrast of sparkling waters and green for- 
est and prairie which the original settlers looked upon. The slopes of 
drainage, the varieties of soil, the general geology of Cass county con- 
tinue with little change. 

To describe the county as nature made it seems a fit introduction 
to the history of man's occupation wdiich forms the bulk of this volume. 
The development of a people depends on environment in the first stages 
at least, imtil the powers of civilization assert their sway over the in- 
ertia of nature. Succeeding pages prove this fact over and over and 
indicate how natural conditions affected the settlement and growth of 
the county. The conspicuous natural features of the county, both as 
related to the pioneer settlement and as they can be noted now, deserve 
description. Nature is not only useful Ijut beautiful, and both attributes 
are known and valued in any proper history of a county and its people. 

It is not an impertinent query why the surface configuration of 
the county is as it is. Why the county is traversed, roughly in the di- 



2 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

rcLtinii lit the (jraiid 'I'runk R. R. line, liy the well defined range of hills 
eunstinning the axis of drainage for all the surface water of the county, 
so that the i)\erlln\v from Diamond lake passes south, while the waters 
collected two miles west of the county seat flow west into Dowagiac 
cieek' Also, what is the origin of the many lakes on the surface of the 
count}-.' Why were the hills ])iled up in such irregular confusion in 
sonie i)laces. and in others the surface hecomes almost a level plain? 
Whence come the rounded lioulders of granite which are found every- 
where. \et (juite detached from any original matrix rock, as though 
siiewn .'ilinut in some Titan contfict of ages past? These and many 
other (juestions come to the mind of one who travels over the county, 
cndea\oring, with the helj) of modern science, to 

"I*"ind tongues in trees, books in running Ijrooks, 
Sermons in. stones, and good in e\'er_\thing." 

The key to the understanding of Cass county's topography is found 
in the action of ice and water during the glacial age. The surface of 
all the region .-ihoiU the ( ireat Rakes is radically different from what 
it w;is when this part of the continent first rose from the sea and be- 
caiue a haliitahle portion of the earth's crust. Perhaps th(.)usands of 
}ears (lassed after the sea separated from the land and many forms of 
vegetable and animal life fiourished mi the -oil. Then came the ice 
age. A period of intense cold, with the intermittent warm seasons so 
brief that the rigors of winter were never entirely relaxed, co\'ered all 
the north temper.ate zone with an ocean of ice and snow, which, radi- 
ating from a i)robable center near Hudson's bay, extended its glacial 
ilow southward as far as the Ohio and Missouri rivers, which spread 
like embracing arms around the southern borders of the ice area. Geol- 
ogists have estimated the thickness of these ice fields to vary from a few 
hundred to thousands of feet, in some places a mass of glaciated material 
over a nfile high. 

Had these great ice areas been stationary, they would ha\e had 
little eft'ect in reconstructing the earth's surface. Ijut the mass was 
characterized Ijy a ponderous, irresistilile motion, sometimes but a few 
feet in a year, and now ad\-ancing and again retreating; but prolonged 
over an era of years such as human minds can hardly conceive, its effect 
wafe more tt'emendous in the aggi"egate than those cd' any natural iihe- 
iiipmena observable in historic times, siirpassiiig e\-en the earthriuake 
andA'olcano. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 3 

As tlie ice sheet passed o\'er the surface, down the mountain \:i\- 
leys and over tlie plains, individual glaciers uniting with others or from 
elevation or depression being cast upon or under a larger sheet, every- 
where the motion of the mass being marked by terrific rending, plough- 
ing antl friction, it was inevitable that the earth's surface would be 
greatly changed. The ice mass acted in some places as a mighty broom, 
sweeping the loose material down tn the liare rock and carrving the 
mingled soil and broken rock buried in the ice. .\gain it plowed up and 
moved away entire hills. And the friction of such a mass through the 
ages of its movement wore off e\cn the hanlest rock and bore the re- 
sulting sand and boulders to remote distances. Thus it came about that 
the ice sheet had not moved far from its source before it became a car- 
rier of a vast weight of rock anrl soil material transported on the sur- 
face, emliedded in the center and rolled and pushed along underneath. 

As mentioned, the motion of the ice fields was not constant. Event- 
ually its southern extremes reached as far south as indicated, but there 
were niany stages <jf aclvance and retreat, and it seeius that at one pe- 
riod the ice w.as driven far back to the north and then came south again, 
so that f()r a portion of the United States there were two periods of 
glaciation, separated by an interval when the ice siege was raised. 

While the ice field was a.dvancing it was continually receiving new 
accessions of solid m^iterial in the manners described abo\e. But when 
the cold relaxed to, the point where melting was greater than freezing, 
the edge cif the field, decaying under the heat, began to retire. As soon 
as the ice relaxed its .gr.asp, the imbedded and surface load of solid ma- 
terial was .dropped and deposited in irregular heaps, acc(n'ding as the 
mass carriecl was great or, small. . 

This material gathered: ty the glacier in jts progress and deposited 
in its retreat,, is the "drift" which throughout Cass county covers the 
original surface to varying d.epths, and ,:from which the "soil" of the 
county has been formed. The comjxisition of this drift is readily rec- 
ognized by any observer. , \'arying in ,thickne.ss throughout the south- 
em half of the- state fijom a few feet to several hundred feet, in the case 
of a well bored at Dowagiac.a few years ago the drill having to pene- 
trate 202 feet of drift before reaching the regular strata, of slate and 
shale, this mass of sand,, gravel, c.lay, witii large Jjoulders of granjte, is 
the tnateriaj from wbiclj ^11 the superficial arga. and surface configuration 
of .the .county, have beeu .derived. In other words, the. farmsteads and 
villages, of ,, Cass. eoiuity rest atop^ a, conglomerate, riiass which had been 



4 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

.^Tciuiid and ijuh-erized and lieaped together b_\" the action nf ice and wa- 
ter ages before Columbus discovered America. 

Whenever the edge of the ice field remained stationary, because the 
adxance of the glacier was offset by the melting away of the forward end, 
there resulted a deposit of glacial material heaped together along the 
entire border of the ice and much greater in bulk and height than tlie 
drift left l)ehind when the field was steadily withdrawing. These ridges 
of drift, Iirougbt about by a pause in the retreat of the ice mass, are 
called "moraines." 

Cass countv is crossed liv one of the longest anfl best defined of 
these moraines. The ice fields wliich co\-ered the lower peninsula of 
Michigan had three distinct divisions, considered with respect to the 
source and direction of the movement. The Lake Michigan glacier, 
whose north and south axis centered in Lake Michigan, was the west- 
ern of these fields or glacial "lolies." On the east was the "Maumee 
glacier," ath-ancing from the northeast across Lakes Huron and Erie, 
the western edge of which has been traced in Hillsdale county. Be- 
tween these two the "Saginaw glacier" protruded itself from Saginaw 
bav, and its southern ad\-ance is marked by a "frontal moraine" extend- 
ing east from Cassopolis througli south St, Joseph and Branch coun- 
ties to a junction in Hillsdale county with the Maumee glacier. The 
moraine of the Lake Michigan glacier, marking the final pause of the 
ice before it withdrew from this region, is a clearly defined ridge circling 
around Lake Michigan, at varying distances from the present shore of 
the lake, being from 15 to 20 miles distant on the south, with Valpa- 
raiso, Ind., lying upon it. It passes into Michigan in the southeast cor- 
ner of Berrien county, being observable from the railroad train west of 
Niles as far as Dayton. Thence it passes oblifjuely across Cass county — 
Cassopolis lying up oi it — and crosses northwestern Kalamazoo county. 
Valparaiso is 100 feet above the level of Lake Michigan; La Porte, 234 
feet ; and as the moraine enters Michigan it rises somewhat and corre- 
spondingly develops strength. Passing (iver the low swell in southwest 
Michigan, it is depressed somewhat in crossing the low belt of country 
which stretches from Saginaw bay to Lake Michigan, its base being 
less than 100 feet above these bodies of water. 

b^rr.jm the south line of Micliigan the moraine is more sandy than 
the corresponding arm on the opjxisite side of the lake, is less sharply 
and characteristically developed, more indefinitely graduated into the 
adjacent drift, and more extensively flanked by drifts of assorted material. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 5 

The superficial as]iect of the formation, as ohservable in Cass county, 
is that of an irregular, intricate series of drift ridges and hills of rap- 
idly but often very gracefully undulating contour, consisting of rounded 
domes, conical peaks, winding ridges, short, sharp spurs, mounds, knolls 
and hummocks, promiscuously arranged. The elevations are accompa- 
nied by corresponding depressions. Tliese are variously known as "]X)t- 
ash kettles," "pot holes," "pots and kettles," and "sinks." Thdse that 
have most arrested popular attention are circular in outline and svmmet- 
rical in form, not unlike the homely utensils that have given them names. 
It is not to be understood that the deposits from the glaciers re- 
mained where or in the furm in which they were left bv the withdrawing 
ice. From the margin of the ice flowed great volumes of water, in 
broad, rapid ri\ers rushing from beneath the glacier, and in dashing, 
powerful cataracts plunging from the surface to the drift lielow. The 
power of this flowing water in redistributing the loose drift may be 
comprehended by comparing its action with a spring freshet in the rivers 
of today, although the forest and vegetation that nnw cover the soil 
serve as a protection against the floods, so that the glacial waters were 
many times more effective in their violence. The glacial streams, liber- 
ated from their confined channels under the ice. tossed and scattered 
and re-collected the deposited drift with the same effect that a stream 
from a garden hose will dissipate the dry dust in the road. The \\ater's 
power was sufficient to gutter out deep valleys and surround them with 
hi,gh hills of dislodged material. In other places, flowing with broader 
current, it leveled the drift into plains and wrought out the so-called 
"prairies" which are so conspicuous a feature of the cnuntv's topog- 
raphy. Not alone while the ice fields were here, but for a long period 
afterward, the surface of the county was wrought upon bv the inunda- 
tion and flow of water. In fact, the niunerous lakes are but the distant 
echoes, as it w-ere, of the .glacial age, indicating in whispers the time 
when the dominion of water was complete over all this country. When 
the ice departed and the water gradually passed off by drainage and 
evaporation, the drift ridges, the Ararats of this region, naturally ap- 
peared first, and the subsidence of water then brought the rest of the sur- 
face successively to view. But the depressions and basins, hollowed out 
by the ice and water, remained as lakes e\-en into our times, al- 
though these bodies of water are but insignificant in comparison with 
their former size, and most of them are slowly decreasing in depth and 
area even without the efforts of artificial drainage. Since the settlement 



6 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

III' while men in the county many of the smaU lakes liave "dried up," 
and tlieir bcjttonis are now plowed over and their rich "muck" soil pro- 
duces the hea\iest of crops. 

Describing the lakes of the Liiwer Peninsula, Prof. C. A. Da\-is 
says : "The small lakes, p;irticularly those of the Ltnver Peninsula, are 
commonly depressions in the (h-iil. shallow and not of large extent, fre- 
quciUK- partially tilled in around the margin with the remains of former 
generations of plants, so that man\- of the typical features of the lakes 
of hilly or mountainous regions are partly suppressed or entirel_\- want- 
ing. These lakes belong to recent geological time, and this undoubtedly 
accounts for some of their pecidiarities. Hv far the larger number of 
tiiem exhiliit the following features: A small sheet of water, roughly 
elliptical in shape, bordered by marshy areas of yarying width, or on 
two or more sides by low, al)ruptly sloping, sandy or gra\'ell_\' hills. The 
marshy tract is frequently wider on the south than on the north side, 
and its character varies from a quaking bog at the inner margin, through 
a sphagnous zone into a marsh. In the larger lakes the marshy border 
may not extend entirelv around the margin, but it is usually noticeable 
along the south shore, where it ma\- be of consideralde e.xtent while the 
rest of the shore is entirely without it." This description may he vcvi- 
lied in an examination of any of the lakes of this ci.iunty. 

The liills and morainal ridges approach most nearly the composition 
and form in which the drift was deposited from the retreating glaciers. 
Here we see the least sorting of materials, the boulders being indiscrim- 
inately mixed wdth the finer sand and gravel. Hence the soil of the hills 
is generally lighter and less varied in its productiveness than the lower 
areas. 

Those i3<?rtions of the surface which were long inundated b\- the 
post-glacial waters naturally were subjected to man_\' changes. The 
rough contour was worn off bv the action of the water, and the biittoms 
of former vast lake areas becanie smoothed down so that when the wa- 
ter finally drainetl ofT they appeared as the "prairies" of today. Further- 
more, the water performed a sifting process, the constant \vash causing 
the larger rocks to settle on the lowest !e\-el and the sand and clay, as 
lighter material, to remain on the surface. In some cases, where the 
water remained sufficiently long, decomposition of vegetable and or- 
ganic matter resulted in the formation of muck — ^aS seen in the' lakes 
today — which mingled with the other materi:ds to form the rich loam 
soil that c;'.n be found in some of the prairies. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 7 

Thus, all the prairies — Beardsley's prairie, Young's prairie, Bald- 
win's prairie, Little Prairie Ronde, and the numerous others that be- 
came the favorite sites for settlement in this county — were at one time 
covered with water, the action of which effected many of the features 
which characterize these level or gently undulating areas. 

From the prairie levels the waters, in their retreat, were collected in 
the yet lower depressions which are now the lakes of Cass county. Some- 
times the glacial ridges were piled up so as to completely surround these 
depressions, resulting in the ponds and sinks above described, and which 
could not be drained by artificial outlet except at such expense as to be 
impractical. 

Drainage, both natural and artificial, has been a matter of foremost 
importance from early settlement to the present time. The jiresence 
of so many lakes on the surface of the county indicates that natural 
drainage is defective. The glacial waters were drained off so gradually 
that they did not cut deep channels for their outlet, but must have flowed 
off in broad, shallow courses, which gradually narrowed down to a 
stream little larger than a brook. Just east of the village of Jamestown, 
to mention a case in ptiint, the road crosses two little water courses that 
later contribute their waters to the Christiann. The actual channels are 
mere brooks, but each is at the center of a uniform depression, some 
rods in breadth, which was clearly the bed of a once large but sluggish 
river. The writer has observed but one of these old water courses which 
indicate that the current was swift enough to "cut" the banks. M the 
north end of Lilly lake in Newberg township is a "narrow?," through 
which the waters of the once larger lake extended mirlh into what is 
now a recently drained and swampy flat. On the west side of this "nar- 
rows" the bank juts sharply down to the former lake bottom, indicating 
that the subsidence of the water caused a current thmugh the neck suffi- 
cient to cut the bank at a sharp angle. 

As already mentioned, the glacial ridge, roughly paralleled by the 
Grand Trunk Railroad, is the watershed separating the county into two 
drainage divisions. Eventually all the surface waters of the county 
find their way into the St. Joseph river. But, recognizing the line of 
division just mentioned, the drainage of the south and eastern half is 
efifected by two general outlets, and of the north and west half by one. 

Christiann creek, which reaches the St. Joseph at Elkhart, receives 
the drainage, in whole or part, of Ontwa, Mason, Jefferson, Calvin, Penn 
and Newberg townships. Its extreme sources may be traced to Mud and 



8 illSTOR^' Ol- CASS lOL'XTV 

W'ililcat lakes in iiurili I'cnii. Se\oraI nt the lakes in southwest New- 
bcrg drain into tliis creek, ami the surjilus waters frcnn the DianKJiid 
lake basin pass intn the little lirrnich that extends tmni the lake's south- 
ern extremitw thron.iL;h Brow nsxille, to a junction with the Christiann. 
A little fnrthei" south L'hristiann creek receixes accessions to its jilacid 
clu'rent t'roni the "chain lakes'" of Cahin, and from \arious small 
tributaries in east Jefferson, and from the lakes of north Ontwa. From 
the earliest ])eriod of white settlement Christiann creek has furnished 
sites f(jr mills, one of the first in the count)- being at Vandalia, where the 
water is still utilized for similar purposes, though its volume at this 
point is small. 

To the student of nature. es])ecially with reference t( j the physical 
geograph}- of this count}-, some of the facts deri\-ed from obser\-ations 
of fan-iiliar scenes become as impressi\e as the grandeur autl surpassing 
wonders that lie a thousand miles away. Surely there is cause for con- 
templation and admiration in the knowledge that at one time the great 
;irea roughlv defined bv the Christiann and its tributaries was under the 
dominion of confused and dashing waters, under whose intluence the 
land surface was moulded and shaped anew, and that when it finally 
emerged, water-worn, to the light of the sun its surface was the niore 
fit for the uses of man. From total inundation the waters withdrew 
by stages until tlie\- ai-e now confined to the diminishing lakes arid the 
narrow streams. 

The entire Christiann basin is, in turn, triliutary to the St. Joseph 
\-allev. whose irregular shore line is clearly and siunetimes abruptly de- 
fined along the southern border of Cass count}-. 1"he old Indian trail 
and Chicago road often follows close on the edge of this river bluff, 
uow descending to the old stream le\'el and now w-inding along on the 
heights. 

We have described with son-ie particularity the Christiann drain- 
age area. l)ecause its features are quite typical of the other similar areas 
in the county. And before speaking of these other drainage divisions, 
it is necessary to state the i)art |)la}-ed by artificial drainage in the county. 

The pioneers found many portions of the county unfit for cultiva- 
tion and agricultural in-iiiro\-ement. Marsh hay was the only product 
of value furnished by these areas, and to offset this the flats and marshes 
vv'ere the breeding grounds of chills and fevers and for many years a 
source of disease to all who lived here. Now these same places are the 
sites of some of the most productive, valuable and healthful farmsteads 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY !> 

in the cuiintv. Xi)t alone the system of ditching, under individual and 
county enterprise, has l^een responsible for this. The clearing of the 
timber tracts and undergrowth and the loosening and upturning of the 
soil by the plow increased surface evaporation and sub-drainage, and 
these were the first important agencies in removing the excess moisture 
and making the land more habitable as well as arable. 

The first acts of the legislature with reference to drainage were 
passed in 1846. For ten years all the public drainage undertaken was un- 
der the du-ection of township authorities. In 1857 the board of super- 
visors were given power to api)oint three commissioners to construct 
and maintain drains. This act was amended at different times. In 188 1 
it was provided that one drain commissioner might be appointed in 
each county, to hold office two years, anrl in 1897 the office of drain 
commissioner was formally established in each county, to be filled bv 
appointment of the !x)ard of supervisors for a term of two years, the 
first full term dating from January, 1898. In consideration of the vast 
benefit conferred upon the counties of Michigan by drainage works, it 
is noteworthy that the laws and court decisions expressly affirm that 
such construction and maintenance of drains can be undertaken onlv 
on the ground that they are "conduci\-e to' the public health, convenience 
and welfare." In other Mords, tlie increased value of lands and the ben- 
efits to private individuals are only incidental. Tlie present incumbent 
of the office is G. Gordon Hinitley, and his predecessor in the office 
was John Condon. 

Public drains may now be found in all parts of the county. In 
some places the digging of a ditch through a natural barrier and the 
maintenance of a straight channel in place of a former tortuous and 
sluggish outlet, has efifected the complete drainage of a lake basin, thus 
ending another dominion of the picturesque tamarack and marsh grass 
and making room fur waving grain fields. .\s a result of drainage 
many of the lakes which the ])ioneers knew and which are designated 
on the county maps in use today, are now quite dry and cultivable, and 
in the course of another generation many more of these sheets of crys- 
tal water, reminiscent of geologic age and picturesque features of the- 
landscape, will disappear because inconsistent with practical utility and 
the welfare of mankind. 

Another imix)rtant phase of the drainage work is the deepening 
and straightening, by dredging, of the existing water courses. Per- 
haps the most notable instance is in Silver Creek and Pokagon town- 



10 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ships, where the siiuiuus Dowagiac creek, for considerable portions of 
its course, has been removed, as it were, bodily from its former bed and 
placed in a new straight channel, where its current hastens along at a 
rate never attained by the old stream in times of freshet. By this means, 
the water being confined to a narrow channel and not allowed to wan- 
der at its sluggish will over the ancient bed, as though unwilling to for- 
get its former greatness, a large area of timber and swamp lantl has been 
rendered available for productive purposes. By clearing of the forests 
and liy improvement of surface drainage, the "Dowagiac Swamp," so 
fearful to the early settlers as the haunt of pestilence and long deemed 
impossible of reclamation, has lost its evil rqjutation and is now not 
only traversed by solid highways as successors to the old corduroy or 
priniiti\c "rail r<jad." but is cut up into fertile and \-aluable farms. 

Resuming the description of the remaining topographical divisions 
of the county, we lind that besides the Christiann basin a large portion of 
Newberg and Marcellus townships sheds the surface water through the 
outlets afforded by Little Rocky river and its branches, which pass east 
to a junction with the St. Joseph in the county of the latter name. That 
portion of the county that forms the barrier of separation between the 
Christiann and the Little Rocky presents the most diverse and rugged 
surface to be fcjund in the county. The south part of Newberg town- 
ship was at one time Cjuite submerged, this conclusion being based on 
the numerous lake basins and plains to be found there. But north from 
Xewberg town hall, wliich is situated on a delightfully level plain, where 
the loamy soil itself indicates a difterent origin from that found in the 
rougher areas, the level is abruptl_\- Ijroken and the road ascends to a 
series of morainai hills and ridges, forming a fairly well detined group 
spreading over sections 8, 9, 10, 15, 16 and 17. Among these is "Bald 
Hill," between sections 9 and 16, conceded to be the highest elevation 
not only of this group, but perhaps of the entire county. From tliese 
hiJls of heaped up gravel, sand and clay, with corresponding deep and 
irregular sinks and \alleys, prospects are afforded on all sides. To the 
south the country appears to extend in level perspective until the hori- 
zon line is made by the hills in north Porter township. The view on the 
east is not interrupted short of the east line of the county, though all 
the intervening surface is extremely hilly and some of the most tortu- 
ous roads in the county are' in east Newberg. Northward from Bald 
Hill the descent'iilto' the valley of the Little Rocky is such that" here is 
seen the most impressive panoi-ama in Cass county. On a clear day, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 11 

when the timliered areas have lost their fohage, the houses of Marcelhis 
village, at the center of the next township, are visible. Between arc 
the succession of woodland and cultivated fields, dotted with farm- 
houses and all the evidences of prosperous agriculture. Some of the 
landscape vistas that stretch away in every direction from the hills of 
Xewberg, not In mention the hills themselves, are worth}- the labors of 
a most critical painter. 

As soon as the Lake Micliigan moraine north and west of Cas- 
sopolis is crossed an entirely different drainage area is reached. Here 
Dowagaic creek reaches out its numerous branches and increases its 
current from the drainage of practically half the county. Fish lake, in 
tiie northeast corner of the county, is the extreme source- within the 
county. Thence the course lies westward through the Little Prairie 
Rondo, which attracted the Cards and Hufifs and other well known 
early settlers to Voiinia township. Further along, as the stream increased, 
it afforded power for mills, which all along its course have been im- 
portant factors in the industries of the county from the pioneer period. 
Wandering on in its course through Voiinia and LaGrange, its drainage 
area has been marked by alternate forest, flat marsh-land, and beautiful, 
fertile prairies. Reaching northeast LaGrange, its valley expands into 
the broad LaGrange prairie, which the succeeding pages w'ill describe 
as^the site of one of the three earliest and largest Cass county settle- 
ments. The valley again contracting as it winds through the hills east 
of Dowagiac, the stream passes into the series of marsh flats which 
characterize the country surrounding Cass county's only city. As al- 
ready mentioned, the country between the two forks of the Dowagaic, 
comprising a large part of Silver Creek, as also of the adjoining town- 
ships, has been redeemed from the reign of swamp and water by man's 
enterprise. The north branch of the Dowagiac, with its source in Van- 
Buren county, is bordered by the flats of Wayne and Silver Creek, which 
ditching and clearing are making some of the most productive land in 
the county. 

■' Between the south branch of the Dowagiac and Pokagon creek, 
comprising much of the area of Pokagon and LaGrange townships, are 
located several of the gently undulating, thinly timbered areas to which 
the pioneers gave the' name "prairies." Of these, Pokagon prairie, by 
its native fertility and beauty, first attracted the homeseekers from the 
rendezvous at Carey Mission (\iles). Also, McKinney's prairie is a 
geographical name often repeated in these pages, designating a tract 



12 HISTORY OF CASS COL'XIA' 

al)out and iiicludins^- Sections 20 and 21 of LaGrange. LaGrange prairie 
belongs to die same general description. All the area, included between 
tlie central ninrainrd ridge and Dowagiac creek, was at one time, it must 
be remembered, tlie Ijoltom of the immense water basin which contained 
the lldfuls ])c;ured from the edge of the retreating glacier as it withdrew 
irom the nmrai'ie, and the niundation which continued for a long timC' 
ettected man)- changes in the surface and the arrangement of drift 
material. 

"i'be southwest part of the comity, much of it ridged and over- 
spread with the. moraine, jjresents a topography similar to Newberg, 
though not so rugged. The numerous lakes and absence of anv im- 
portant streams, indicate the work of the ice fields in sculpturing the 
surface of Howard, Jefferson and Alilton triwnships. Here are some ex- 
tensi\e flats which a complete system of drainage will in time make very 
valualile from an agricultural point of view. Howard especiall_\- was 
noted for its "oak openings," and the loose sandy soil and presence of 
many gravel and boulder ridges militated against a very early occupa- 
tion by settlers, although the same land has long since been fouml well 
adapted to practical agriculture. 

Generally speaking, the soil throughout the county, in consequence 
of its origin in the composite glacial drift, is very deep and contains 
all the chemical constituent elements of good soil. The character of the 
soil depends upon the assortment of the drift material into clay, sand or 
gravel beds, as one or the other of these layers happens to occupy the 
surface position, or as they are mingled without regard to kintl. 

A few words may be said, in conclusion, relative to what may be 
termed the "natural products" of Cass county. At the time of settlement 
the greater part of the area was covered with forest growth in all its 
primeval magnificence and wildness. The clearing of these timber areas 
—for they are meager in comparison with their former area and mostly 
of second growth trees — effected the greatest changes in the landscape, 
as it has been modified under the influences of seventy-five years of civil- 
izatiori. I'ioneers recall the heavy forest growths among which their 
first haliitatitms were constructed. In those days no value was attached 
to timber that wouUl now be bought at almost fabuUjus prices for lum- 
ber. Black walnut, measuring four or five feet in diameter, white, 
black and red oak, hickory, elm and beech, were all ruthlessly cut down 
and given prey to fire in order that space might be had for tillage. The 
timber tracts now to be found in the county, though in some cases mag- 



ill STORY OF CASS COUNTY 13 

iiificeut features of the landscape, are restricted and hardly adequate as 
a means hy which the imagination can reconstruct the gloomv, intricate 
forest depths through which the pioneer forced his way to his wilderness 
home. 

Of coal and mineral deposits, Cass county has none. Borings for 
gas have not resulted successfully, although about twenty years ago a 
company at Dowagiac sunk a drill over nineteen hundred feet below the 
surface. From an early day the manufacture of brick has been carried 
on, but brick kilns have l.ieen numeri>us e\'erywhere and furnish no 
special point of distinction. 

The most important of nature's deposits are the marl beds. This 
peculiar form of carbonate of lime, now the basis of Alichigan's great 
Portland cement industry, the total of the state's output being second 
only to that of New Jersey, was known anrl used in this county from 
an earlv day. The plaster used in the old court house was made of marl 
lime. ]\Iany a cabin was chinked with this material, and there were 
several kilns in an early day for the burning of marl. A state geolog- 
ical report states the existence of a large Ised of marl at Donnell's lake 
east of Vandalia, Sections 31 and ^2 of Newberg, the marl in places 
being over twenty-five feet in depth. Just north of Dowagiac. in the 
lowlands of the old glacial valley is said to be a deposit of bog lime over 
six iumdred acres in extent and from eighteen to twenty-eight feet deejx 
Harwood lake, on the St. Joseph county line, is, it is claimed, surrounded 
by bog lime. Alx)ut the lakes east of Edwardsburg are marl deposits 
which were utilized for plaster fnom an early day. But as yet these 
deposits have not been developed by the establishment of cement plants, 
and that branch of manufacture is a matter to be described by a future 
historian. 



14 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER II. 

ORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 

Tt is asserted that wlieii tlie first wliite men settled in Cass county, 
they liad as neighbors some four or five liundred Indians. So that, 
although we make the advent of the white man the starting point of our 
history, yet for hundreds and perhaps thousands of years there has been 
no break in the period when the region we now call Cass county has 
served as the abode of human beings. 

The lands which we now till, the country dotted o\'er with our com- 
fortable dwellings, the localities now occupied by our populous towns 
and villages, were once the home of a people of a different genius, with 
difi'erent dv»ellings, different aris, different fmrial customs, and different 
ideas; but tiiey were human beings, and the manner in which-our interest 
goes out to them, and the peculiar ine.xpressible feelings' which come 
to our hearts as we look back over the vista of ages and study the few 
relics they have left, afe pro'of of the universal brotherhood of man and 
the uni\-ersal fatherhood of God. ■ 

Almost all of the Indians living here at the coming of the white 
settlers were members of th.e Pottawottomie tribe. And the_\- were the 
successors of the ])owerful Mnamis,"who had ocaipied the country when 
the French missionaries and' explorers first made record of its inhab- 
itants. This shifting of population had probably gone on for age.s, 
and many ti'ibes, of varying degrees of barbarism, have in their time 
occupied the soil of Cass county. The Pottawottomies were destined to 
be the last actors on the scene, and with the entrance of the white man 
they soon passed out forever. 

But during the first three decades of the nineteenth century they 
were the possessors of this region. The ascending smoke fnmi the wig- 
wam fires, the human voices by wood and stream, were theirs. They were 
the children of nature. The men were hunters, fishers, trappers and war- 
riors. Their liraves were trained to the chase and to the battle. The 
women culti\'ated the corn, tended the papooses and jirepared the fo<^d. 

And yet these people had attained to a degree of approximate civil- 
ization. Though they wrote no history, and published no poems, there 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 15 

certainly were traditions among them, especially concerm'ng; the creation 
oi the world. Though they erected no monuments, tlicv had their 
dwellings, wigwams though they were. Their civilization was not com- 
plicated, and yet they lived in villages, graphic accounts of which have 
been given. In place of roads they had trails, some of them noted ones, 
which will be described later^ They communicated with each other in 
writing by means of rude hieroglyphics. They had no schools, but their 
young were thoroughly trained and hardened to perform the duties ex- 
pected of them. 

The Indians had not carried agriculture to a high degree of per- 
fection, but they turned up the sod and planted garden \-egetables and 
corn, of which latter they raised more than is generallv supposed, though 
the women did most of the farm work. They were not given to com- 
merce, but they bartered goods with settlers and took their furs to the 
trading posts where they exchanged them for the white man's products. 
They made their own clothes, thgir canoes, their paddles, their tows and 
arrows, and other weapons of war, and wcfve hark baskets of sufficient 
fineness to hold shelled corn. And another interesting fact concerning 
them, they also understood how to make maple sugar. The sugar gmves 
of the county ha\'e given of their sweetness for more generations than 
we know of. 

Much of a specific u^iture has been written of the Indians of this- 
part of the country, much more than could he compressed within the space 
of tins volume. We can ()nly characterize them brieflv. Tliat thev 
were in the main peacable is the testimony of all records. On the other 
hand they were. by. no means the "noble red men" which the ideaHsm 
of Cooper and I^ongfellow has painted them. Historical facts and the 
witness of those who have had the benefi[t of personal association with 
these unfortunate people lead one to believe that the Indian, as compared 
with our own ideals .of life and conduct, was' essentially and usually a 
sordid, shiftless, unimaginative, vulgar and' brutish creature, living from 
hand to movith, and with no progressive standards of itiorality and char- 
actej\ The Indians in this \-icinity frequently 'came' and camped around 
the settlers, begging corn" and squashes and • givihg 'ventson in return. 
They supplemented this begging propensity by thieving'-^usuaily in -a 
petty degree^anditit .i,s said that they w^onld ^teal any' article 'they could 
put. their hands-on and- escape- observation.' A sharp 'watch ^Vc1s■kept on 
th6ir-,movemeynts ,when they were known 'to -be in the neighborhood'.- 
• . The Indians with- whom the settlers of Cass countv had to deal had 



1(1 HISTORY OF C.-VSS COTNTY 

Ix'cn influenced nicjre or less by coming in cinilact witli Christianity. At 
different times for a century French missionaries had penetrated tiiis 
region. Father Marest is one of the first known as having worked in 
tliis field. The r't)ttawottomies yielded more readily than other tribes 
to the teachings of the missionaries. They were deeply impressed by 
the ritual of the Catholic church. The tenacity with which many of 
the converts clung to the faith is a remarkable tribute to the power of 
that church over a barbarous peo])le. Old chief Pokagoii, whose record 
has come down to us singidarly free from tire usual stains of Indian 
weakness, was a lifelong adherent of the Catholic church, and he and his 
people formed the nucleus and chief support of a church in Silver Creek 
township. 

The natives had been subject not only tii the influences of Catholi- 
cism Init to those of Frotestantism. This brings us to the consideration 
of one of the most remarkable institutions of a missionary character that 
the middle west ever knew. Not only the w-ork of religion but many 
secular events and undertakings that concern the early history of north- 
ern Indiana and southwestern Michigan centered around the Baptist 
mission among the Pottawottomies, which was founded near the site 
of Niles in the year 1822. Here gathered the red men to receive re- 
ligious and secular instruction. The councils between the government 
authorities and the chief men of the tribe took place at the mission house. 
This was the destination to which the settler from the east would direct 
his course. After resting and refitting at this point and counseling 
with those who knew the country, the homeseekers would depart in dif- 
ferent directions to locate their pioneer almde. Thus the Carey Mission, 
as it was called, played a very conspicuous part in the history of this 
region. It served to connect the old with the new. It was founded pri- 
marily for the benefit of the Indians, it served their spiritual and often 
their physical needs, and its existence was no longer warranted after the 
Indians had departed. But the Mission was also a buffer to soften the 
impact of civilization upon the Indian regime. Its work in behalf of 
the Indians and settlers alike pushed forward the process of civilization 
and development in this region some years before it otherwise w'ould 
have been attempted. 

The name of Rev. Isaac McCoy has become fixed in history as 
that of one of the most remarkable religious pioneers of the middle west. 
His influence and fame, while centering around the Carey Mission w'hich 
he established, also spread to many parts of the west. Born in Pennsyl- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 17 

vania in 1784, he was taken Yw his parents to the wilderness of Kentucky 
when six years old. There he met and married the gentle Christiana, a 
daughter of Captain Polk, and as faithful co-workers they devoted their 
efforts to a common cause. The people of Cass county ha\'e special 
reason to remember this pioneer missionary's wife, for her name is 
borne by the stream that runs south from the center of the county to a 
junction with the St. Joseph near Elkhart. For a nunilier of years 
Rev. McCo)' was pastor of a church in Indiana, and in 1817 was ap- 
pointed a missionary and undertook his labors among the Indians of 
the western states and territories. 

The founding of the Carey Mission was, in the language of Judge 
Nathaniel Bacon in an address delivered at Niles in 1869, "the pioneer 
step in the way of settlement. It was barely ten years since the massacre 
at Chicago, and aliout the same time after the memorable battle at Tip- 
pecanoe, and the disastrous defeat of our army at Brownstown, when 
this mission was established. Emigration had in a great measure stopped. 
Very few dared to venture beyond the older settlements, until McCoy bold- 
ly entered into the heart of the Indian country, and laegan bis mission 
school among the Pottawottomies who dwelt on the river St. Joseph. 
The fact was soon made known throughout Indiana and Ohio, and at 
once adventurers began to prepare to follow the example of the mis- 
sionary, who had led the way." 

In the same address Judge Bacon cjuoted a report of mission made 
by Major Long of the United States army in 1823. It contained the 
following description of the mission estalilishment : "The Carev Mis- 
sion house is situated about one mile from the river St. Joseph. The 
establishment was erected by the Baptist Missionary Society in Wash- 
ington, and is under the superintendence of the Rev. Mr. McCoy, a man 
whom, from the reports we have heard of him, we should consitler as 
eminently qualified for the important trust committed to him. 

"The spot was covered with a very dense forest seven months be- 
fore the time we visited it, but by the great activity of the superin- 
tendent he has succeeded in the course of this short time in building six 
good log houses, four of which afford comfortable residences for the in- 
mates of the establishment; the fifth is used as a school room, and the 
sixth forms a commodious blacksmith shop. In addition to this they have 
cleared about fifty acres of land, which is nearly all enclosed by a sub- 
stantial fence. Forty acres ha\e already been plowed and planted with 



IS HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

maize, and every step has been taken to place the estaljhshnient nn an 
independent footing. 

"The school consists of from forty to sixty chihh-en.and it is con- 
templated that it will soon be increased to one hnndred. The plan adcjpted 
appears to be a very judicious one ; it is to unite a practiad and intel- 
lectual education. Tlie boys are instructed in the English language — 
reading, writing and arithmetic. They are made to attend to the usual 
occupations of a farm, and perform every operation connected with it, 
such as plowing, planting, harrowing, etc. In these pursuits they ap- 
pear to take great delight. The system being well regulated, they find 
time for everything. 

"The girls recei\-e the same instruction as the boys, and in addition 
are taught spinning, knitting, weaving and sewing, both plain and orna- 
mental. They are also made to attend to the pursuits of the dairy, 
such as milking cows, making butter, etc. All appear to be very happy, 
and to make as rapid progress as white children of the same age would 
make. Their principal excellence rests in works of imitation. They 
write astonishingly well, and many display great natin\al taste for 
drawing. 

"The institution receives the countenance of the most respectable 
among the Indians. There are in the school two of the great-grandchil- 
dren of To-pen-ne-ljee, the great hereditary chief of the Pottawottomies. 
The Indians \-isit the establishment occasionally and appear well pleased 
\\hh it. They have a flock of one hundred sheep, and are daily e.x- 
]Decting two hundred head of cattle." 

From a later official report, made in 1S26, it appears that the mis- 
sion "has become a familiar resort of the natives, and from the ben- 
efits derived from it in \'arious shapes they begin to feel a dependence 
on and resource in it at all times, and especially in difficult and trying 
occasions. Hiere are at present seventy scholars, in various stages of 
improvement. Two hundred and three acres are now enclosed by 
fences, of which fifteen are in wheat, fifty in Indian corn, eight in pota- 
toes and other vegetable products ; the residue is appropriated to pasture. 

"There have been added to the buildings since my last visit a 
house and a most excellent grist mill, wi irked l.iy horse power. The use- 
fulness of this mill can scarcely be appreciated, as there is no other of 
any kind within one hundred miles at least of this establishment, and 
here as benevolence is the preponderating principle, all the surrounding 
population is benefited," In fact, there were few. if any, of the first 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 19 

white settlers of the surrounding country who did not resort to the Mis- 
sion mill to get their grist ground. 

Thus the Indian occupants of the territory of Cass county had 
been taught many of the arts of civilized Hfe before the record of the 
first white settlement in the county is recorded. This dependence on the 
assistance of the white man, while it tended to ameliorate the natiu-ally 
hostile feelings between the races, at the same time subjected the settlers 
to the burden of their improvident neightors as long as they remained 
in the county. 

The Indians found in Cass county at the advent of the white set- 
tlers were in three bands. The chiefs of two of these — Pokagon and 
Weesaw — were prominent characters, reputable and representative men 
of their tribe, and the annals of the time contain frequent mention of 
their names. According to the History of 1882, Pokagon's band, num- 
bering over two hundred, occupied originally the prairie in the western 
part of the county which retains the chief's name. As the settlers came 
in and appropriated the land, the Indians moved from place to place 
in the county, the majority of them finally settling in Silver Creek town- 
ship. ^^'eesaw and his followers had their home in the northeast por- 
tion of the county, on Little Prairie Ronde, in Volinia township. The 
third band of Cass county Indians had as their chief the notorious Shave- 
head — named so because he kept his hair closely cropped except a small 
spot on top of his head and behind. He was a morose, troublesome and 
renegade Indian, never became a party to any of the treaties between 
the whites and Indians and viewed with sullen hostility every advance 
of settlement. 

But long before this time the Indians had formally relinquished their 
claims to the region now occupied by Cass county. The Chicago treaty 
of 182 1 provided for the cession to the United States of all the territory 
lying west and north of the St. Joseph river claimed by the Pottawot- 
tomie Indians. By the later treaty of 1828 all the possessions of the 
tribe withm the territory of Michigan were transferred to the govern- 
ment, with the exception of a reservation of forty-nine square miles in 
Berrien county, west of the St. Joseph and bordered by it. 

In 1833, at Chicago, a treaty was drawn up by the three commis- 
sioners of the United States and the chiefs of the Pottawottomies, among 
whom were Pokagon and Weesaw, by which it was provided that ''All 
the Indians residing on the said reservations (that in Berrien county 
being the principal one) shall remove therefrom within three years from 



20 HISTORY OV C.\SS COCNTY 

this date, during \vliich time tliey sliall not be disturlied in tlieir posses- 
sion, nor in hunting upon the lands as lievetofore. In tlie meantime no 
interruption shall be offered to the survey and sale of the same by the 
United States government." 

Pokagon and his followers would not sign this treaty until thev 
were guaranteed exemption from the clause wh.ich concerned their re- 
moval. It was the cherished desire of Pokagon that his pefiple should, 
remain in "the land of their fathers," and in accordance with this inten- 
tion he jjegan to enter land in Silver Creek township in 1836, and in a 
year or so had about nine hundred acres entered in his name, although 
others of the hand had contrilmted money for its purchase. This was 
the origin of the Indian settlement in Silver Creek township, which, as 
it still continues, will be described elsewhere. 

According to the treaty, the date of remo\-al of the Indians from 
their reservation was set for 1836. When the time came the IndiaiT^ 
protested. There were many delays in executing the plan of the gov- 
ernment. Agents were busy for some time in collecting a census of the 
tribes. It was difficult to assemble the scattered bands preparatory to 
their exile. IMany escaped from the surveillance of the otificers and took 
to hiding until the exodus was accomplished. Some were assisted in 
secreting themselves by the white settlers, who' felt sympathy for them. 
Such an emigration, imj>osed from without, must always excite com- 
miseration. History is full of similar instances, as witness the e.\ile 
of the Acadians made famous in Longfellow's "Evangeline." 

Upon the day appointed for the exodus the Pottawottomies ren- 
dezvoused at Xiles, and under the escort of two companies of United 
States troops moved out on the Chicago road toward their future home 
in distant Kansas. It was a sad and mournful spectacle to witness these 
children of the forest slowly retiring from the homes of their childhood, 
that contained not only the graves of their revered ancestors, but also 
many endearing scenes to which their memories would e\'er reciu" along 
their pathwav through the wilderness. They felt that they were bidding 
farewell to the hills, valleys and streams of their infancy; to the more 
exciting hunting groutids of their advanced youth, as well as the stern 
and bloody battlefields they had contended for in their manho<^d. All 
these they were leaving l>ehind them to be desecrated by the plowshare 
of the white man. As they cast mournful glances back toward these 
loved scenes that were fading in the distance, tears fell upon the cheek 
of the downcast warrior, old men trembled, matrons wept, and sighs 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY . 21 

and half-suppressed sobs escajjed from the motley groups as they passed 
along. Ever and again one of the party would break out of the train 
and flee to their old encampments on the St. Joseph. In the following 
year these and many of those who had avoided removal hv hiding, were 
collected and taken to their brethren in Kansas. 

Thus departed, with few exceptions, all of the original inhabitants 
of Cass county. From the standpoint of humanity, their mode of exist- 
ence, their ascent in the scale of human development, and their pitiful 
decadence and defeat in the contest against a superior race, will always 
claim a full share of interest. But in the history which tells of progress, 
of building of great cities and empires, of a constantly broadening scope 
of human acivity, the story of the Indian has little place. He has left 
nothing that we ha\e thought worthy of imitation, nothing of a funda- 
mental char;icter on which we might continue to build. On the con- 
trary, in the history of America, the Indian seems almost without ex- 
ception to have been an adverse factor. He must be removed just as 
it has been deemed necessary to remove the forests in order that agri- 
culture might proceed. And fortunate were the settlers of such a region 
as Cass county that this removal was accomplished without a bitter and 
relentless warfare, such as was the inevitable accompaniment of e\'eryi 
advance of white men in the far west. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER HI. 
THE COUNTY'S SOUTHERN BOUNDARY. 

Being one of the souUiernmost tier of Michigan counties, any ques- 
ti(in that aft'ected tlie southern houndary of the state is of direct interest 
ti) Cass ciiunty. The county was not organized till 1829 and its settlers 
were comparatively few at that date. But the pioneers of that period 
as well as those who settled here later from other parts of the state were 
well acquainted with the boundary dispute that continued through the 
existence of Michigan as a territory and which culminated in what has 
gone down in history and is still remembered by the oldest inhabitants 
by the name of "the Toledo war." 

Perhaps no one still ali\-e in Cass county can recall from personal 
knowledge any of the events of this very mteresting dispute. But in the 
early thirties the settlement of the southern boundary very nearl}- pre- 
cipitated a civil war and attracted national attention. Had government 
ix)licies taken a little different turn, the southern line of Cass county 
might now embrace the great bend of the St. Joseph river that now 
sweeps through the northern half of Elkhart and St. Joseph counties of 
Indiana, and the boundaiy line between the two states of Michigan and 
Indiana would be ten miles soutli of its present direction. 

If any one will take a map co\ering the area of Indiana, Ohio and 
Michigan, he will see that the northern Ixjundary of Ohio is not on a 
line with the northern boundary of Indiana. The northwest corner of 
Ohio does not join the corner of Indiana, but is further down and runs 
a little upward, or north of due east, and terminates at the most north- 
ern cape of Maumee bay, leaving that bay within the boimds of Ohio. 
The question is, What has made this difference in the boundary lines? 
and the answer involves the history of three dififerent boundaiy line."? 
which ha\e to do intimately with the area of Cass county, or more prop- 
erly speaking, that part of Michigan territory from- which Cass county 
was made. 

In 1778-9 George Rogers Clark, a young Virginian of extraordinary 
character, who has well been called the Hannibal of the west, capturerl 
Kaskaskia and \'incennes, thus cutting ofif the supplies of the Indians. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 23 

He had been sent out by the government of Virginia, and tliat state 
therefore laid claim to all the territory northwest of the Ohio river, 
which was the same territory ceded to Great Britain by France in the 
treaty of 1763. On March i, 1784, through her authorized delegates in 
Congress, Virginia ceded this territory to the United States. She stip- 
ulated that it be divided into states but specified no boundaries. By vir- 
tue of ancient royal charters, New York, Massachusetts and Connecti- 
cut also claimed large territories north of the Ohio river, but these 
claims were all transferred to the United States, Connecticut alone re- 
serving a tract which v.'as called the Western Reserve until May 30, 
1800, when she surrendered her jurisdictional claim over this tract to 
the United State?. Thus the general government obtained the juris- 
diction over the Northwest Territory, and of the lands, subject however 
to the proprietaiy rights of the Indians. • 

When Congress assumed the jurisdiction there was no established 
government anywhere in the territory. The French commandants of the 
posts had administered the laws dictated by France, the British succeeded 
them and proclaimed the common law of England to be in force, Vir- 
ginia also had extended her laws, but there were no courts to enforce 
any of them. The question of forming some kind of government for 
the newly acquired territorj^ at once attracted the attention of Congress. 

At first a report was made providing for the formation of the ter- 
ritory- into ten states with fanciful names, but no action was taken upon 
it. This was Thomas Jefferson's scheme. From the time of its ac- 
quirement by the government until 1787, there was no organized control 
over the Northwest Territory. The people who were settling in it were 
left to struggle along as best they could. But on April 23, 1787, a com- 
mittee consisting of Mr. Johnson of Connecticut, Mr. Pinckney of South 
Carolina, Mr. Smith of New York, Mr. Dane of Massachusetts, and 
Mr. Henry of Mar>'land, reported an ordinance for the government of 
the new territory. It was discussed from time to time and very greatly 
amended, and finally, on the 13th of July, it passed Congress. This is 
the celebrated Ordinance of 1787, a document which, next to the Con- 
stitution of the United States, perhaps has occasioned more discussion 
than any other, on account of its sound principles, statesmanlike qual- 
ities and wise provisions. 

It is Article 5 of this ordinance which has most intimately to do 
with our present subject. That article provided for the formation in 
the territory of not less than three nor more than five states, it fixed the 



•2i PIISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

western, the southern, and the eastern boundaries of what became IHi- 
n.iis, Indiana and Oliio. and then the ordinance said, "If Congress sliall 
find it hereafter expechent, they shall ha\-e authorit}- to form one or two 
states in that jiart of tlie said territory which hes north of an east and 
west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake i\Iich- 
igan." We call special attention to this line, for it is the first boundary 
line with which we have to do, and has been of exceeding great import- 
ance in the so-called b<jundary line dispute. But for a strange combina- 
tion of circumstances and long continued strife, it would have been the 
southern boundary of Michigan. It is called the "ordinance line" because 
it was specified in the great Ordinance of 1787 for the go\-ernnient of 
the Northwest Territory. 

On IMay 7, 1800, Congress divided the Northwest Territory by a 
line running from the mouth of the Kentucky river to Fort Recovery, 
and thence due north to the Canadian line. It will be seen that this 
line is not the same as that prescrilied in the ordinance, which was a line 
from the mouth of the Miami river to Fort Recovery and thence due 
north, making the boundary line due north and south all the way, from 
Canada to the Ohio ri\cr where the ]\Iiami empties into it. The mouth 
of the Kentucky ri\er is several miles west of the mouth of the Miami, 
and a line from the mouth of the Kentucky to Fort Recovery runs east 
of north. This threw a three-cornered piece of territory, shaped like a 
church spire with its base resting on the Ohio river, into Ohio, which, 
when the states were (organized, was included in Indiana according to 
the ordinance, and afterwards Ohio from time to time set up claims to 
this tract. 

All the region east of this line was still to be Northwest Territory, 
and that on the west was erected into the Indiana Territory. It will be 
seen that this di\ision threw about one-half of the Michigan country into 
Indiana and left the other half in the Northwest Territory. 

And now for the first time the ordinance line, the east and west 
line drawn through the southerl_\- bend or extreme of Lake Michigan, 
conies into prominence; for all that portion of the east Michigan country 
which lay north of this line was organized as Wavne County* of the 
Northwest Territory, and its settlers supposed that their fortunes were 
thenceforth identified with those of Ohio. 

The Ordinance of 1787 had provided for the admission into the 
Lhiion of the prospective states of the Northwest Territory as follows : 
"Whenever any of the said states shall have sixty thousand free inhab- 




MITCHELL'S MAP OF 1755. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY '25 

itants tlierein, such stales shall lie admitted by its delegates into the Con- 
gress of the United States on an equal footing with the original states 
in all respects whatever, and shall he at liberty to form a permanent con- 
stitution and state government, provided the constitution and govern- 
ment so to be formed shall be republican and in conformity to the prin- 
ciples contained in these articles ; and so far as can be consistent with the 
general interests of the confederacy, such admission shall be allowed at 
an earlier period, and when there shall be a less number of free inhab- 
itants in the state than sixtv thousanfl" (Article 5). 

The Northwest Territory was rapidly filling with settlers, and in 
accordance with the above provision the whole population, including 
Wa^'ne county, were agitating the question of statehood. On April 30, 
1802, Congress passed an enabling act, the first of its kind, according 
to which Ohio might frame a constitution and establish a state govern- 
ment, if it was deemed expedient. In that act the old ordinance line 
running east and west "through to the southerly extreme of Lake Mich- 
igan" was specified as her northern boundary. The Ordinance of 1787 
seemed to prescribe this as the dividing line between the three states 
south of it and the two which might be formed north of it. and so it 
seems to ha\"e Ijeen regarded and accepted at the time. In harmony with 
the enabling act, a con\'ention met at Chillicothe, Ohio, on November 
1st, to frame a constitution ior the new state. It is related in the "His- 
torical Transactions of Ohio" that while the convention was thus en- 
gaged an old hunter whose curiosity led him thither appeared on the 
scene, and, learning of the prescribed boundaries, informed the dele- 
gates that the southern extreme of Lake Michigan lay much farther 
south than they supposed, or than the maps in use indicated. This state- 
ment at once awakened great interest and was the subject of careful 
deliberation. The map used b}- Congress in prescribing the ordinance 
line of 17S7, was the one made by ^Mitchell in 1755. 

This map had been accepted as accurate by the Ohio statemakers, 
until the statement of the old hunter caused them to- pause and consider. 
According to this map a line due east from the southern bend of Lake 
Michigan would strike the Detroit river a little south of Detroit: if, how- 
ever, the old hunters statement was true and the line was farther south, 
Ohio would be deprived of much of her territory. Accordingly, after 
much deliberation, the convention embodied in the constitution the 
boundaries prescribed in the enabling act, but with the following proviso : 
"If the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan should extend so 



26 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

far south tliat a line drawn due east from it should not intersect Lake 
Erie east of the Miami (now the Maumee) river of the lakes, then 
* * * with the assent of Congress of the United States, the nortliem 
boundarj- of this state shall he established by, and extend to a line run- 
ning from the southerly extremity of Lake Michigan to the most north- 
erly cape of the Miami (now th& 'Maumee) bay, thence northeast, etc.," 
or straight on tlirough Lake Erie and Ohio to Pennsylvania. With this 
proviso the constitution was adopted on November 29th. 

The congressional committee on the admission of Ohio refused to 
consider this proviso, because, first, it depended on a fact not yet ascer- 
tained, and, second, it was not submitted as were otlier propositions of 
the constitutional convention. Congress, therefore, ignoring the proviso, 
received Ohio into the Union. 

The inhabitants of Wayne county were very indignant that Con- 
gress should specify the ordinance line as the northern boundary of the 
new state. More indignant still were they when Congress received Ohio 
into the Union and left Wayne county out in the cold. They contended 
that it was illegal to treat them thus, that the ordinance of 1787 forbade 
the further division of the Northwest Territory, until the northern part 
of it could be made a state, that to exclude the county from Ohio would 
ruin it. But all their protests were in vain. The reason was a political 
one. The Democrats, or, as they. were then called, the Republicans, had 
just secured the presidency in the election of Tliomas Jefferson. Ohio, 
as admitted into the Union, was on their side; but if Wayne county 
were a part of the state it might be thrown into the ranks of their op- 
ponents, the Federalists. Governor St. Clair declared that to win a 
Democratic state the people of Wayne county had been "bartered away 
like sheep in a market." 

The act enabling the people of Ohio to form a state provided that 
Wayne county might be attached to the new state if Congress saw fit. 
Congress did not see fit, but on the contrary attached it to Indiana Ter- 
ritory, and in 1803 Governor Harrison formed a new Wayne county 
which comprised almost all of what is now Michigan. North and east 
it was bounded by Canada, but on the other sides it was bounded by a 
"north and south line through the western extreme of Lake Michigan" 
and "an east and west line through the southern extreme of the same." 
Here the same old ordinance line appears again, as the southern Ijound- 
ary of what is now Michigan. 

But the Michigari countrv thus united was too strong to remain 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 27 

long a part of a territory, and hence, on January n, 1S05, Michigan 
Territory was formed by act of Congress. It was bounded on the west 
by a line extending through the center of Lake Michigan, and on the 
south by a line running east from the southern extreme of the same. 

It will be seen that even at this time Michigan was deprived of a 
strip of land on the west shore of Lake Michigan, which as Wayne 
county Congress had given her. Had she contended for that as persist- 
ently as she did for the strip in Ohio, she would have sought some- 
thing more valuable, for Chicago is situated in that very strip. That 
spot was comparatively worthless then, and the future is hidden from 
states as from individuals. It is interesting, however, to think what 
would have been the result if Michigan had retained the boundary lines 
which she had as Wayne county. 

But the fact which concerns us here is, that the ordinance line ap- 
pears again. After January 11, 1805, and until 1816, Michigan Terri- 
tory's southern boundary was a line running due east and west from 
the southern extreme of Lfike Michigan ; and though it had not yet been 
ascertained accru'ately just where that line would come out in Ohio, 
enough was known about it to make not only Ohio but the people of 
Indiana object very strongly to the southern boundary of Michigan Ter- 
ritory, as public documents abundantly show. 

The boundary dispute was now transferred to Ohio. No sooner 
had tlie Ohiij congressmen taken their seats after her admission into the 
Union, tiian they began working to secure formal congressional assent 
to their proviso about the boundary line. Senator Worthington secured 
the chairmanship of a committee to consider the question, but tO' no pur-' 
pose ; both houses of Congress were unmoved. The boundary of so 
distant a state was an unimportant matter. When the territory of Mich- 
igan was organized, effort to have the neglected proviso confirmed was 
again made, but in vain ; and the southern line of the territory was de- 
scribed precisely as Ohio did not wish. The Ohio, in session after ses- 
sion of her legislature, instructed her congressmen to endeavor to secure 
the passage of a law defining the northern boundary line of their state. 
It was certainly quite necessary that this be done. The lands near the 
rapids of the Miami (now the Maumee) had recently been ceded to the 
government by the Indians and were rapidly filling with settlers. Mich- 
igan magistrates exercised authority over the district, while the presi- 
dent had appointed a collector to reside at the Rapids, describing the 
place as in Ohio. 



28 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

The appeals of Ohin became sn urgent that Congress was willing- 
to consider the matter. Representative Mnrrow of Ohio proposed a bill 
confirming the northern boundary as specified in the constitution of his 
state, and was made chairman of a committee to consider the question. 
But the bill which passed provided for surveying the boundary as estab- 
lished by the enabling act of 1802, the ordinance line. Congress had not 
sufficient knowledge of the country to \-enture to change the line, and 
it is probable that the line prescribed in the ordinance of 1787 was re- 
garded as in\iolable. The bill to survey the Ijoundary was passed in 
1812, when, the go\-ernment was engaged with hostile Indians and with 
the war against England, and hence nothing was done for three years, 
or until 1815, and even tlien l:)ut little was accomplished. Had the 
survey been made at once, before the disputed strip became more pop- 
ulous, the question might have been settled ; but during the delay the 
tide of immigration was pouring into the Miami region, and the ques- 
tion of jurisdiction was becoming more and more important. Again the 
Ohio authorities tirged the survey of the state line, and the president 
ciiiiiplied w^ith the request and ordered it to be done according to the act 
of 1812. The sur\-ey was made in 1816. The surveyor general of 
Ohio employed a Mr. Harris to run the line: ncit. however, according 
to the president's directiiifi but according to the proviso of the Ohio state 
constitution, from the southern extreme of Lake Michigan to the north- 
ernmost cape of Maumee bay. The Harris line is the second of the 
boundary lines that pertain to our present discussion. 

The third soon appeared. On April 19, 1816. Congress passed the 
enabling act for the admission of Indiana as a state, fixing the northern 
boundary by a line drawn due east and west "ten miles north of the 
southern extreme of Lake Michigan." Indiana was required to ratify 
this boundary, which she did by a duly elected convention which sat 
at Corydon. June 10 to 19. 1816, and framed a constitution, and she was 
formally admitted into tlie Union on Decemlier iith. 

Moving the boundary to the north cut off from Michigan a strip 
ten miles wide and one hundred miles long, which she claimed had been 
guaranteed her by the ordinance of 1787, and by several other acts of 
Congress ; but she allowed the act to pass unchallenged at the time, 
probably because she was engaged in her contention with Ohio, and lie- 
cause the strip thus taken away from her was sparsely settled and little 
known. To justify depriving Michigan of her territory in this manner 
it was argued tliat the ordinance of 1787 expressly stipulated that the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 29 

Ijomnlaries it laid dciwn would be subject to clianges wliich Congress 
afterwards might make, and Michigan was only a territory — that Indi- 
ana needed not only river comnumication with the south Ijut lake com- 
munication with the north — that this would facilitate and encimrage the 
building of connecting canals and the influx of settlers by wa\' of the 
lakes — that the ordinance line of 1787 would deprive Indiana of all 
this and give all the lake frontage to Michigan; and, moreover, that if 
shut out from northern waters, then, in case of national disruption, the 
interests of Indiana would be to join a western or southern confederacy. 
This ten-mile strip thus given w Indiana in no way aiYected the in- 
terests of Cass county. excei)t from the standpoint of speculative history. 
\Vhen this boundary was decided on, there were no settlers in the region 
now called Cass county, and few, if any, in all the strip in cjuestion. 
But had Ohio's victory in the contention that the Harris line should 
form the inter-state boundary also pre\'ailed to establish the northern 
line of Indiana, it is possible that Cass count}' might have embraced a 
quite different area of country from what it does to-day. 

As soon as General Cass, governor Michigan Territory, heard that 
Ohio had surveyed the Harris line, he wrote to the surveyor general of 
that state, asking why the line was not run due east from the southern 
extreme of Lake Michigan, and saying that a disputed jurisdiction was 
one of the greatest of evils, and that the sooner the business was in- 
vestigated the better. To this General Tiffin of Ohio replied that Harris 
had found the southern extreme of Lake Michigan to be mcn-e than seven 
miles south of the northernmost cape of Miami (or Maumee) bay, and 
that he had run the line between the two points. He sent General Cass 
a map illustrating the two lines, saying that the proper authority should 
decide which shorvld govern, but for his part he believed that the Harris 
line was the true one, because it was according to Ohio's proviso, and 
the state had been received into the Union with that proviso in her con- 
stitution. 

Hearing of this correspondence, the governor of Ohio sent to his 
next legislature a message urging that the matter be settled at once, 
and that body settled it as well as tliey could by passing a resolution to 
the effect that Congress had accepted the proviso in accepting the con- 
stitution of Ohio, and therefore that the northern boundary of the state 
was the Harris line. Hearing of this, acting Governor Woodbridge, 
in the absence of Governor Cass, wrote to the governor of Ohio, assur- 
ing him that the act was unconstitutional. He also wrote to John 



an HISTORY OF CASS e'Ol'XTV 

( )i.unc\- Adams, tlieu secretary of state, and there was sume \'ery strong 
correspondence on the subject, too extensi\'e to include liere. 

Illinois Territory had been formed in 1809. It included all the 
country north to the Canadian line: that is, what is now ^Visconsin and 
a part of Minnesota. In 1818 the legislature of Illinois passed a reso- 
lution requiring Nathaniel Pope, the delegate in Congress, to present the 
petition for admission into the Union. The committee to which that pe- 
tition was referred instructed Pope to prepare a bill for the admission 
of the new state. On April i8th of the same year. Congress passed an 
enabling act and provided that Illinois might elect delegates to a conven- 
tion to frame a state constitution. Illinois elected her delegates in July 
and they were authorized to meet in convention in August following "and 
if deemed expedient to form a constitution and state government, the 
same to be republican in form and not repugnant to the ordinance of 
1787, excepting so much thereof as related to the boundaries of the 
states therein formed." This exception was very important. It seems 
that the bill for the admission of Illinois had specified the ordinance line 
as the northern boundary, but this exception permitted Delegate Pope 
to amend the bill for admission, so that the northern boundary was 
mo\-ed up to where it is now. Thus was the ordinance line ignored 
against the contention of Michigan, and the northern boundary of Illi- 
nois moved about si.xty miles to the north. This helped to keep the 
boundaiy dispute before the people. Michigan's constant contention had 
been that the ordinance line was the true one, that Congress had no • 
right to change it, and that it should be the lower boundary of the 
northern tier of states w'est of Lake Michigan as well as east. 

In 1818 the governor and judges of Michigan Territory protested 
against Ohio's claims to the disputed strip, and also against the right 
of Congress to give to Indiana a strip lying further west. They knew 
it was too late to alter the northern boundary of the new state, but they 
said, "Wt take this away to preserve the just rights of the people of 
this tei'ritory * * * tliat it may not hereafter be supposed that they 
ha\-e acquiesced in the changes which have been made." They left the 
final decision to the future, as they said, "when the people of this country 
can be heard by their own representatives.'' 

The dispute with Ohio was another matter. There the contested 
strip lay in the most fertile region, near the center of population of 
Michigan, and the question of possession must continually arise. In 
18 18 the authorities of Michigan Territory sent to Congress a memorial 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 31 

stating that tlie line run by Harris was not the one whicli Congress liad 
ordered marked, but anotlier running" se\'eral miles further north. Tliey 
jilso sent a committee to Washington to press the claims of the terri- 
tory. In response. President Monroe, under the advice of a house com- 
mittee, directed that the northern boundary of Ohio be marked according 
to the provisions of the act of May 20, 1812. Mr. Harris declined to 
do the work; and so, in 1820. one Fulton was commissioned, who ran 
the line due east and west from the most southerly bend or extreme of 
Lake Michigan. The Fulton line was not a new one, but the old ordi- 
nance line correctly surveyed. Two years later the president notified 
Congress that the northern boundary of Ohio had Ijeen marked according 
to the law of 1S12. The Ohio members complained that the Fulton line 
had been run not by order of Congress but at the request of General 
Cass, and asked to have it re-marked according to the Harris sui-vey. 
The house refused, but neglected to declare the line marked by Fulton 
to be the true boundary. Thus the matter apparently was as far from 
being settled as ever. 

In 182 1 the Ottawa, Chippewa and Pottawottomie Indians ceded 
to the United States their lands east of the south bend of the St. Joseph 
river and north of the ordinance or Fulton line,- and in 1826 the Potta- 
wottomies ceded their lands west of the river and north of the same 
line. This use by the government of the ordinance line as a boundary 
encouraged Michigan to hope in its stability. 

In 1826 there was much excitement over the matter. The Ohio 
delegation to Congress secured the appointment of a committee to con- 
sider the expediency of marking the line dividing Ohio from Michigan 
Territory, this time not claiming that it be done according to their con- 
stitutional proviso. Probably they were becoming wary. The proposal 
was not considered, but Michigan was on the alert. In her next council 
she voted to instruct her delegate in Congress to prevent any change in 
the territorial boundary, and announced that she had "acquired absolute 
vested rights" by the Ordinance of 1787 and the Act of 1805. A little 
later, in 1827, Michigan organized the township of Port Lawrence in 
the very heart of the disputed tract without causing any protest from 
Ohio. The battle for the present was to be fought in Congress. 

In 1827 a bill was passed without difficulty providing for the mark- 
ing of the northern boundary of Indiana. This was the first time it 
had been surveyed. The line was run by E. P. Hendricks, under the 



32 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

autliority of the surveyor general of the United States, and the work was 
begun in Octoljer, 1827. 

JJy 1 83 1 the boundary question began to assume a serious aspect. 
The Ohio legislature petitioned Congress for a speedy and permanent 
establishment of the dividing line between that state and the territory of 
Michigan. Governor Cass was anxious. He sent to the council of the 
territory a very serious message referring briefly to the attempt of certain 
counties to separate from the territory, and to the possession by Indiana 
of a portion of the territory. He advised against urging any claim 
to the latter, as Indiana was already in possession, and it was better to 
leave the tract unclaimed until Michigan too should be a member of the 
tribunal which must decide the ciuestion. But with regard to Ohio he 
urged sending to Congress a memorial which would state the rights 
antl sentiments of the people of the territory. Before referring the 
matter to Congress, the legislative council authorized Governor Cass to 
negotiate with the governor of Ohio with a view to a compromise, 
which he did ; but as this was in vain, a memorial was sent to Congress. 
About the same time the legislature of Ohio memorialized Congress, 
and for the first time outlined their claims. The result was the passage 
of an act to provide for the determining of the latitude of the southern 
end of Lake Michigan and otlier points, preparatory to an adjustment 
of the Ohio and Michigan boundary. 

The year 1833 marked the begimiing of the end, the contest was on 
antl \\axe(l warmer until the people of the two states faced each other 
in battle array, and both defied the central government as only the se- 
ceding states have ever dared to do. Both parties were active, there was 
a sharp and continued contest in Congress ; there were memorials and 
counter memorials. 

On the nth of December, 1833, Michigan made her first formal 
petition for admission into the Union, which was refused. In 1835 she 
tried again with the same result. She had more than the requisite 
number of inhabitants, no one doubted that she should be admitted, but 
many doubted the right of admission with the boundaries which she so 
uncompromisingly claimed. 

Failing in the second attempt to olitain permission to form them- 
selves into a state, the people of Michigan determined to go on without 
permission. In January, 1835, the legislative council called a convention 
to meet the following May, to "form for themselves a constitution and; 
state government," which they did. Meantime Congress was consider- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 33 

ing the matter of the disputed line. The senate passed a bill according 
to the desire of Ohio-, Indiana and Illinois, which was killed in the 
house by John Quincy Adams. Indiana and Illinois had turned against 
Michigan, because her insistence that Congress had no right to disre- 
gard the fundamental provisions of the Ordinance of 1787 made them 
fear that their own northern lines might be in danger; since both had 
been run regardless of the ordinance. 

^\^^en the people of Michigan heard that the senate had passed a 
bill according to the views of Ohio, there were rumors of war. Mich- 
igan declared to Congress that she woitld submit the question to the 
supreme court, but until a decision was reached she would resist, "let 
the attempt be made by whom it may, all efforts to rob her of her soil 
and trample on her rights." She offered to negotiate with Ohio' and 
Indiana regarding their conflicting claims. Indiana ignored it, and Ohio 
declined it ; but instead the governor of Ohio advised that the counties 
of the state be extended to a line running from the southern extremitv of 
Lake Michigan to the most northern cape of Maumee liay. The advice 
was promptly accepted, the legislature passed an act to that effect, and 
directed the governor to appoint three commissioners to survev and re- 
mark the Harris line. The people of the disputed tract desired it. They 
wished to come under the jurisdiction of Ohio. The Miami canal was 
in process of construction, from the mouth of the Maumee to Cincin- 
nati, and the settlers desired to secure the full benefit of it. 

Two weeks before this, the council of Michigan had passed an act 
to prevent the exercise of foreign jurisdiction within the limits of the 
territory of Michigan. Governor Lucas now sent to acting Governor 
Mason of Michigan a copy of his message to the Ohio legislature, and the 
latter issued orders to Brigadier General Joseph W. Brown, of the ^lich- 
igan militia, and prepared to resist Ohio by force. The blood of each 
part)- was up, each claimed to be a sovereign state and each resented in- 
terference by tlie national government, though Michigan was willing to 
await a decision of the supreme court. On the first of April General 
Brown and a force of volunteers had already encamped at Mom'oe, 
just nortli of the contested strip, and he was now joined by Governor 
Mason. On April second Governor Lucas and stafif. and the commis- 
sion to re-mark the Harris line, accompanied by General Bell and his 
troops, arrived at Perrysburg, just south of the contested strip. The 
election of officers in the disputed strip, under the auspices of Ohio, 
passed off quietlv : the tug- of war would come when th-^"'-!" officers at- 



34 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tempted to exercise their functions: tlien ]\Iichigan -woulil Ijegin civil 
processes against them, and hack it up if necessary by force of arms. 
The rival governors had recei\'ed notice from President Jackson 'that 
he had sent peace commissioners who were on the way. Governor Mason 
now wrote to Governor Lucas asking him to desist from enforcing the 
Ohio kuv until the president's mediators appeared. Lucas did not deign 
to reply by writing, but sent an oral message saving he had already written 
to the president a letter which would prevent interference, and that Ohio 
did not desire the ser\ice of mediators. 

.\t this juncture the mediators appeared. Richard Rush, of Phil- 
adelphia, and Benjamin C. Howard, of Baltimore, had traveled night 
and day, which meant much in those days, and on April third they arrived 
in Toledo. They sought by diplomacy to appease the wrath of each gov- 
ernor, but failed. The men elected under the Ohio act were beginning 
to assume office, civil processes were issued against them under the Mich- 
igan act, and General Brown, with his forces, was readv to execute 
them. 

The people of the disputed strip were between two fires, and yet 
their fortunes were liound up with the government of Ohio. They 
begged the Ohio authorities to protect them. The commission to surv-ey 
the boundary line Ijcgan to run the Harris line, and had proceeded as 
far west as Tecumseh, where Ohio people say they were attacked, Mich- 
igan people that they were arrested. Governor Lucas called an extra 
session of his legislature to increase his army. The peace commissioners 
proposed that Ohio run her line, and that there be concurrent jurisdic- 
tion until settlement bv the federal judiciary. Lucas consented to both. 
Mason was willing to let the line be run, liut spurned the idea of concur- 
rent jurisdiction. 

A[ length the Ohio legislature voted to abide by the proposals of 
the peace cummissioners if the United States would compel Michigan 
to do so ; but as a safeguard Ohio passed an act against kidnappers, and 
appropriated $300,000 to carry out her plans. During the same time the 
Michigan constitutional convention was in session at Detroit, and de- 
clared that Ohio might run the line, but no authorit_\- on earth save that 
of the United States should be exercised in the disputed strip. Ohio be- 
grm to carry out the proposal of concurrent jurisdiction, resulting in 
renewed preparations for war. On the se\-enth c.f Sejitember. 1835, ^^^^ 
Ohio iudges went to hold court at Toledo. Again troojis \\'ere mus- 
tered on both sides. But the court was held at midnight, and adjourned 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY .35 

just as tlie Michigan forces came up. Tlie troops were therefore dis- 
persed : tlie people on eitlier side, from many considerations, were as 
wilhng to follow their leaders to peace as to war. the Toledo war, or 
the Governor Lucas war. was over, and the dispute was destined to he 
settled by politicians nt \\'ashington. 

President Jackson had submitted the bnundary dispute to Attorney 
General Butler, who had decided that the disputed strip belonged to 
JMichigan. John Ouincy Atlams also, then secretary of state, said, 
"Never in the course of my life have I known a controversy of which all 
the right was so clearly on one side and all the power so ovenvhelminglv 
on the other, where the temptation was so intense to take the strongest 
side, and the duty of taking the weakest was so thankless." 

But the president was in a difficulty. The following year a presi- 
dential election would occur, and he desired that Martin Van Buren be 
the successful candidate. Indiana and Illinois, each of whicli states of 
course preferred its more northern boundary, naturally sympathized with 
Ohio. These three states had a large number of votes. On the other 
hand Michigai:, though having a state government, was only a terri- 
tory. Again, Arkansas as well as Michigan aspired to statehood, and 
the administration was anxious to have both admitted in time to vote 
at the next presidential election, as lx)th were supposed to be Democratic. 
Moreover, one was a slave state and the other a free state, and if only 
one were admitted the other would take ofifensc. Clearh- the onlv way 
to remove all difficulties was to settle the boundary dispute. The de- 
cision of the attorney general, though seeking to be just to Michigan, 
pointed out to the president that he might remove Governor Mason, and 
appoint for Michigan a governor who would not violate the law and yet 
who would not push matters to violence, until the question could be 
settled by Congress, an expedient to which the president finally resorted. 
This occasioned John Ouincy Adams to say that the attorney general's 
decision "was perfumed with the thirty-five electoral votes of Ohio, Indi- 
ana and Illinois."' 

Acts for the admission of both states were approved June 15, 1836. 
Arkansas was admitted unconditionally, but ^Michigan on condition that 
she give the di.sputed strip to Ohio, and receive as compensation the 
upper peninsula. In a convention at .\nn Arbor on the fourth Monday 
in September, Michigan rejected these conditions by a strong majority. 
But her senators and representatives were anxious to take their seats in 
the national Congress, men at Washington feared losing money on lands 



30 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

sold in Michigan, the administration was anxious to have the state ratify 
the act for her admission, and all these interested parties brought pressure 
to hear. Argimients in favor of the state's yielding were put in circula- 
tiiin and after much shrewd management a pipular cnnvcntinn was held 
at Ann .\rhor on Decemher 14th. which assented to the terms of the act 
of admission. This convention was not duly called, and it acted wholly 
without the proper authority ; hut strange to say, both houses of Con- 
gress by large majorities passed an act approved January 26, 1837, ac- 
cepting this convention as meeting the requirements of the case, and so 
Michigan was admitted into the Union. 

But for some years Michigan did not relincpiish her claims to her 
lost tracts of lan<l. In 1838 and again in 1842, the cpiestion was brought 
uj) in the I\Iichigan legislature, and eminent lawyers were consulted as 
to her right to the disputed tracts. And it is probable that she would 
have made a legal test of the question long ago but for the development 
of the immense wealth of her mines in the upper peninsula, which had 
been given her as a compensation for what she lost to Ohio. Tbis de- 
velopment began about the year 1845, '*"'' ?-ocm convinced her that her 
lost strips bore no comparison in value td the rich mining region which 
she had acquired. 

Such are the three boundary lines; first, tlie ordinance line, the 
Fulton line, or, as it is also called, the old Indian lioundary; second, the 
Karris line; and third, the Hendricks' line, which is the iiresent state line 
between Michigan and Indiana. From the foregoing we may see that 
the location of the line which now forms the south boundar}- of Cass 
county and of the state has been of exceeding great importance in the 
history of the Northwest, being the occasion of a dispute which lasted 
for fort}--nine years, through twelve administrations, extending o\-er the 
periods of se\'en jiresidents, and \\hich occasioned great contention, em- 
ploying much of the Ijest talent of the country, engaging many of our 
strongest characters, and very nearly resulting in a bloody war. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 37 



CHAPTER IV. 
EARLY SETTLEAIENT. 

In writing history tlie events and the personages of the past always 
fill more of the canvas than is given to the affairs and actors of the period 
within our ready remembrance. "No one has written a true histon- of 
his own generation." Events that are near deceive us because of their 
very proximity. To obtain their true relation to each other, all objects, 
historical as well as material, must be viewed "in perspective." We may 
chronicle events of a recent date, or place in some sort of statistical 
order the various activities and their representatives ; but to do more is 
to incur the risk of having all such historical judgments set aside in 
the future. 

There is another reason, not based on the historical difficulty just 
slated, why "first things" should receive a seemingly disproportionate 
share of our attention. It is to the pioneer generation of everv locality 
that its present inhabitants ow-e most of the advantages they enjoy. The 
American youth of to-day enters into the full use of a magnificent heritage 
that has teen won only through the toil and struggle of others. He 
begins life among luxuries that hardly existed in the wildest dreams of 
his ancestors. All the superstructure of civilization, its home and insti- 
tutional life, rests upon a foundation laid at the cost of tremendous self- 
sacrifice and effort by generations that have passed or are now passing. 

It is with this in mind that we should view- the actors and e\'ents of 
the pioneer past. With them the histor\' of Cass county began. The work 
they Ijegan and the influences they set in motion have not ceased to 
Idc operative to the present time. Character is pervasive and continuous, 
and the character of our pioneers has not yet spent its force in Cass 
county. 

Of transient residents within the borders of the present Cass county 
there were many. Perhaps some of the followers of La Salle got this far 
in the closing years of the eighteenth century. French trappers and ex- 
plorers and missionaries certainly were birds of passage during the fol- 
lowang century. Then, after the countrv passed from French to English 
control in 1763, there must have been some under the protection of the 



38 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Union Jack \\lio ventured far from the strongholds of settlement into 
this then untamed wilderness. ,\d\'enturers of all nationalities explored 
the regiijn. 

But the only person who would have penetrated this country for 
husiness reasons was tlie trapper and fur-gatherer. Several are named 
who pur.sued this vocation within the limits of Cass county. One Zac- 
cheus W'linden, who penetrated the lake region of southern Michigan and 
set his traps among the lakes of Cass county as early as 1S14, w^as in the 
employ of John Jacob Ast(ir, who at that time, in rivalry with the 
British fur companies on the north, was spreading his fur-gathering 
activity throughout the western territory of the United States. There 
were doubtless many engaged in similar pursuits with Wooden wdio 
likewise at different times had their headquarters in Cass count}-. But 
this class can hardly be called settlers, and it is tmly necessary to call 
attention to the fact that there were such men. 

One other type of early resident may be mentioned before we i>ro- 
ceed to consider the "permanent settlers." There come down to us in 
the history of every community several instances of "relapses" from 
civilization — men who, because of natural aversion to their fellow men, 
by reason of some sorrow or the commissi(in of crime, turned their backs 
to the life in which they had been reared and severing all connection with 
social usages thenceforth chose to li^•e apart from the w^orld and bury 
their existence and their deeds in the depths of the wilderness. Of these 
restless wanderers, haunting the midshores between civilization and bar- 
barism, and making common cause with the Indians and other creatures 
of the wild, one example may be given. 

The story of the eccentric, misanthropic Job Wright is well told 
in the Cass county history of 1882. Born in North Carolina, he was 
the first settler of Greenfield, Ohio, in 1 799. He built a log cabin there, 
and, like the literary Thoreau, satisfied his slender needs by making hair 
sieves. The wire sieve not yet having been introduced, he found a good 
market for his products in the households of the neighborhood. But it 
was contrai-y to his nature to follow this or any other pursuit on a per- 
manent business basis, and with enough ahead for his wants in the 
immediate future he turned to the more philosophic, if less profitable, 
occupation of fishing. According to the account, he "followed it with a 
perseverance and patience worthy of his biblical protonym and with a 
degree of success of which even Isaak Walton might be proud." 

Job soon found that his happy environment was being taken away 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 39 

from him. The woods and meadows that had existed without change 
throughout the centuries were being occupied by an energetic people. 
Even the streams were being obstructed to furnish power to grind the 
settler's corn, and the fish felt their imprisonment and were leaving. Tlie 
countrs' was getting crowded. It was no place for a lover of nature in 
its first dress. The Indians had gone, the deer were leaving, and it was 
not long before ci\-ilization cro\\ded Job farther west. 

Various corners of the world knew him after that, but the virgin 
wilderness was always his best loved home. Onlv the promptiiigs of 
patriotism brought him forth to serve his country in the war of 1812. 
Then he returned to his wanderings. He is said to -have made his ap- 
pearance in Cass county in 1829, very naturally selecting as his location 
the island in Diamond Lake. He built a small log cabin near the north 
end of the island, and for some time lived there as a "squatter," but 
finally entered the land, when there appeared to be danger that it might 
pass intO' the hands of some one else. 

At his island home Job led, the greater part of the time, a hermit's 
life. Diu-ing a portion of the time he spent upon his little domain, 
however, hi=; mother, son and son's wife, whom he brought from Ohio, 
lived witli liim. Jnl) Wright was tall and gaunt, but powerful. His hair 
was red and lie wore a long beard. On one hand he had two thumbs, 
and claimed that this peculiar formation was the badge and token of 
the gift of prophecy and other endowments of occult power. By many 
persons he was said to have a knowledge of witchcraft, and they re- 
lated, with impressive confidence, how he could stop the flowing of blood 
by simply learning the name and age of the person whose life was en- 
dangered, and pronouncing a brief incantation. Most of his time was 
spent in hunting and fishing, but he cultivated a small part of the island, 
raising a little corn and a few vegetables for his ov\'n use. 

Despite his isolation in the center of the lake, he was very much 
disturbed by the rapid settlement of the surrounding country. He again 
set out on his wanderings. But the years had now laid their weight 
upon him and denied him the strength of middle age. He returned to 
his island refuge, where, amid the trees and in sight of the sparkling 
water, he soon passed away. 

The rest of the account reads as follows: "A few friends and ac- 
quaintances among the settlers of the neighborhood, not more that a 
dozen in all, followed the remains of the old recluse to the Cassopolis 
burying ground. George 3. Turner, passing, and happening to notice 



40 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

the little knot of men gathered about an open grave, was led by curios- 
ity- to join them. There was no minister present. The preparations were 
all made, and the rude whitewnod coffin was about to be lowered into 
the ground when one of the men, a rough-spoken luit tender-hearted 
and humane nld farmer, uttered a suggestion to the effect that some re- 
marks ought to lie made before the remains of a fellow mortal were 
laid away to rest. He called upon Mr. Turner, who, after a moment's 
hesitation, stepping upon the little mound of fresh earth at the side of 
the grave, delivered Job Wright's funeral sermon. 

"The secret of the cause which had driven the eccentric pioneer to 
this life of seclusion was buried with him." 

In discussing the first settlements of Cass county, the presence of 
the near-bv Carey Mission must be constantly borne in mind. We 
have alluded to the importance of that establishment in rendering the 
surrounding country more ax-ailable for settlement. The ^lission was 
the radiating point for the streams of settlers. \\'hile prospecting for a 
suitable location, the homeseeker would make his headquarters at the 
Mission. 

It is due to this fact that the first settlements in Cass county were 
made on the western edge ni the county. The pioneers entered the 
countv from die west, not fr(.im the snuth or east, as might be supposed. 

The beautiful Pokagon prairie, in the township of the same name, 
was the spot selected by the first permanent settler of Cass county. The 
man who will always be honored as the first citizen of the county was 
I'zziel Putnam. Right wnrthy he was to bear this distinction. It would 
seem not to have been a futile chance that directed him toward this re- 
gion. The qualitv of his character had nothing in common with the 
restless Job Wright. A purpose supplemented by all the rugged vir- 
tues of the true pioneer directed him in the choice of a home in this then 
wilderness. 

He came of a stock fit to furnish pathfinders and builders of a new 
country. Bom in Wardsboro, Vermont. March 17, 1793, inheriting the 
peculiar strength and courage of the Green Mountain New Englander, 
when f(Xirteen years old he moved with his parents to western New 
York, .\fter serving a full apprentice period with a clothier, he proved 
his fitness for the hardships of a new country liy making a journey of 
fi\-e hundred miles, most of the way on foot, to the home of his parents, 
who had located near Sandusky. Ohio. He experienced in youth all 
the disadvantages of poverty, but tliere is little account to be made of 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 41 

this, for in a new country a manly strength and the homely virtue of 
patient industry were the best capital. While in Ohio he was a soldier 
in the war of 1812. In 1822 he married Ann Chapman, with whom he 
lived more than a half century, and their pioneer experiences were en- 
dured together. 

As early as 182 1 the fame of the valley of the St. Joseph had been 
carried by Indians, trappers and traders to the frontier settlements in Ohio, 
and it excited in the minds of the many adventurous individuals a desire 
to explore the region and to substantiate the representations made of its 
beauty, fertility and natural resources. Among the number was Bald- 
win Jenkins, who, leaving Ohio in October, 1824, pursued his investi- 
gations in northern Indiana and about the St. Joseph in Cass and Ber- 
rien counties, after which he returned home. Another was Abram 
Townsend, who in the same year as Jenkins visited the valley of the 
St. Joseph, and on his return tO' his home in Sandusky county, Ohio, gave 
a most flattering account of what he had seen, and announced his inten- 
tion to remove with his family to Pbkagon prairie. His praises of the 
region were echoed by an Indian trader named Andrus Parker, who 
had also explored along the course of the St. Joseph. 

Among those who listened with interest to the narratives of Town- 
send and others was Uzziel Putnam, then thirty-two years old and in 
the prime of his strength. He was foremost among the many who be- 
came convinced that the fertile region about the Carey Mission held in 
waiting the opportunities that his ambition craved. And having made 
up his mind to emigrate to the Michigan country, he at once began to get 
ready for the long and difficult journey. 

He was not alone in this undertaking. When the eventful journey 
began on the 17th of May, 1825, the party consisted of Putnam with his 
wife and child, and Abram Townsend and son Ephraim, and Israel 
Markbam. A most detailed description would not enable us to under- 
stand and appreciate the arduousness of such a journey. Their custom- 
made wagon, strong though it was, was hardly equal to the strain put 
upon it by its great load of domestic goods and by the roughness of the 
way. Three yoke of oxen furnished the traction, and between sunrise 
and sunset they had often advanced not more than seven or eight miles. 
Rains constantly hindered them, the wagon mired down in the unbeaten 
way that they chose in lieu of anything like a modern highway, which, 
ot course, did not exist. The bad roads and the heavy pull caused the 
oxen to go lame, with conseciuent delays. And in the end it was found 



42 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

necessary to improvise a bark canoe and transport most of the goods by 
\\ater to l-'ort Wayne. 

Through the gloom of rainy days, the vexatious delays caused by 
mud and accident, and the constant fatigue and exposure inseparable 
from sucli a journey, the courage of the pioneers was all the more lus- 
trous; their patient perseverance the more admirable; and the more in- 
spiring is their success in overcoming all obstacles and finally making 
a home in the wilderness — not for themselves alone, but for all future 
generations. The journey of the I'utnam party was tyijical. Thou- 
sands of pioneers, both before and after, had similar experiences, and 
we dwell some\\hat at length on those of the first Cass county settler to 
illustrate some of the ditficulties that were as a matter of course in the 
opening of a new country to civilization. 

But finall}' they reached the land they sought. Crossing the St. 
Joseph at the mouth of the Elkhart, and following the track by way of. 
Cobert's creek and Beardsley's prairie, they reached in safety the cabin 
of William Kirk, which then stood about sixty rods east of the present 
railroad depot at Niles. On the following day Baldwin Jenkins (who 
had alread)- arri\ed on the scene) and Mr. Kirk pik.ited Putnam and 
Townsend through the woods to Pokagon prairie, a distance of six 
miles, where they examined the ground and selected places for farms. 
They found small bands of Pottawottomies living on the prairie, and 
when they explained to Chief Pokagon their wish to settle there and 
cultivate the land, the old Indian objected, saying that tlie Indians' corn 
would be destroyed by the settlers" cattle and that his people would 
move oft in the fall tO' their hunting grounds, after which the whites 
could come and build their houses. 

i\Ir. Putnam, ha\-ing selected his location, now returned to Fort 
Wayne and in the last days of October brought his family and the rest 
of his goods to the new settlement, reaching ]Mr. Kirk's after a week's 
travel. 

The 22nd day of November, 1S25, is the date fLxed for the first 
permanent settlement in Cass county. On that day Uzziel Putnam moved 
his fanrily into his new home on Pokagon prairie, and from that time 
until his death on July 15, 1881, this pioneer had his residence on the 
Ijeautiful prairie which it was his privilege to see become the home of 
many prosperous and happy people. His first house was a shanty twelve 
feet square, covered with bark and without floor or chimney, which Mr. 
Markham had put up for his convenience while cutting hay there during 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 43 

the previous summer. Poor as this sheher was they remained in it until 
Mr. Putnam had completed a new and more comfortable one. Even 
the new one at first had neither floor, door nor windows. All the tim- 
bers had to be hewn into shape with an ax or cut with a hand saw, 
since there was no sawmill within a hundred miles. 

Six days after ]\Ir. Putnam mo\'ed into this rough cabin on Poka- 
gon prairie, Baldwin Jenkins located in the same neighborhood, a short 
distance north of Sumnerville. where he is said to have utilized an 
Indian wigwam as a place of abode during the winter. As already men- 
tioned, he had arrived at the Mission some time before Mr. Putnam, 
and during the summer had succeeded in raising a small crop of com 
near by. In the fall he returned to Ohio, and brought his family over- 
land to Pokagon, arriving just a little too late to be regarded as the 
first settler. 

At this time it is said there were but nine families in Cass and 
Berrien counties, excepting those at the Mission — two in Cass and 
seven in Berrien. 

Before gi'ing further in the settlement of this region, a few words 
might be said concerning the life of the second settler of Cass county, 
Baldwin Jenkins. His was an unusual character, in an age and country 
that called for distinctive attributes of mind and body. Born in Greene 
county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1783, he lived to be sixty-two years 
old. At the age of sixteen he accompanied the family to the timber re- 
gion of middle Tennessee, where he had the training and environment 
of a frontiersman. To avoid slavery the famil_\' later moved to Ohio, 
and from there Baldwin made his various ji:>urneys of investigatiiin to 
the west, and eventually moved out to Michigan. He was one of the 
largest land owners among the early settlers. Possessed of that broad 
spirit of hospitality which was the noblest characteristic of new coun- 
tries, his home, situated on the direct line of emigration, became a noted 
stopping place for travelers and homeseekers, from whom he would 
receive no compensation. He carried this hospitality to such an extent 
that the products of his farm and labor were largely consumed by the 
public. He possessed great confidence in his fellow settlers, loaning 
them money, selling them stock and farm products on time, without re- 
quiring written obligations and charging no interest. He was a man 
of parts. In religion he was a devout member of the Baptist church. 
He had a remarkably retenti\-e memory, and his mind was an encvclo- 
pedia of li.cal knowledge, so that he cciuld not only tell the names but 



44 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

also the ages of nearly all his neighliors. He was one of the first just- 
ices of the peace in western INIichigan, having been appointed by Gov- 
ernor Cass for the township of St. Joseph, which then comprised all 
the territory west of Lenawee county. He was the first road commis- 
sioner in Cass county, was one of the first associate judges appointed 
under the territorial government, and one of the delegates to the first 
constitutional convention of the state. 

The settlement on P'okagon prairie soon began to grow. In the 
summer of 1826 was added to the little community Squire Thompson. 
It is said that he and William Kirk were the first permanent settlers, 
under the influence of the Carey Mission, to cross the St. Joseph and 
make their homes on its north side in Berrien county. Mr. Thompson 
had visited the vicinity of the Mission in 1822, before tlie completion 
of the buildings, and in the spring of 1823 returned and made choice 
of a location and built a cabin on the banks of the river. He lived there 
without neighbors until the arrival of William Kirk in the following 
spring. On moving to Pokagon, he settled on section 20, and lived there 
until iiis departure for California during the height of the gold excite- 
ment. 

Other arrivals were Abram Townsend, who, we have seen, ac- 
companied Uzziel Putnam hither, and who now returned as a settler: 
and Gamaliel Townsend and his family, together with the Markhams 
(Israel, Jr. and Sr., Samuel and Lane) and Ira Putnam. Gamaliel 
Townsend should be remembered as being the first postmaster in the 
township, recei\'ing and distributing the scanty mail at his father 
Abram' s house. 

Most inijiortant of all was the arrival, on August 12, 1826, of Uz- 
ziel Putnam, Jr., wlio was born on that day, and as nearly as can be 
ascertained in such uncertain problems as priority of birth or residence, 
he was the first white child born within the present limits of Cass county. 

Through the leafless forests and over the prairies swept by the 
wintry blasts there came in the early months of 1827, from Warren coun- 
ty, Ohio, Lewis Edwards and his family. Their journey was replete 
with hardships, and it was with difficulty that Mrs. Edwards and her 
year-old baby kept from freezing to death. Lewis Edwards became the 
first collector and first justice in the county, and was one of the prom- 
inent pioneers. Of Welsh descent, he was born in Burlington county. 
New Jersey, in 1799, and at the age of twenty-one was adventuring in 
various enterprises in the Ohio valley. He had all the versatile genius 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 45 

of the typical frontiersman, and 1)efure moving out to Cass county had 
been employed several years in the carpenter's trade, so that he was 
probably the first regular carpenter to settle on Pokagon prairie. He 
brought along with him his set of tools, and while his family was shel- 
tered under the roof of Uzziel Putnam he was engaged in construct- 
ing a model home for those days. His cabin contained well made win- 
dows and doors, and his skill also improvised practically all the house- 
hold furniture. His interest in fruit culture is also noteworthy. He 
brought from his father's New Jersey orchard some fine apple grafts, 
and for some years he raised the liest and greatest variety of apples in 
the county. As "Squire Edwards," he Ijecame one of the noted charac- 
ters of the vicinity, and numerous incidents connected with the transac- 
tion of ofiicial business are associated with his name. 

Beginning with 1828, the settlers came in too great numbers to 
receive individual mention, .\lexander Rodgers and family of wife aild 
eight children located in the township. He was the first supervisor 
elected after the organization of the county, although he did not serve 
on account of illness. From Giles county, \"irginia, came the Burk 
family and also Archibald Clyborn (the family name also spelled Cly- 
biourne and Clyburn), who was a member of that noted family who 
were prominent in many communities of the middle west, furnishing at 
least one of the liistoric characters of early Chicago. 

ONTW^V TOWNSHIP. 

From Pokagon we turn to historic Ontwa, which was settled al- 
most contemporaneously with Pokagon. In the western part of the 
township, near tlie beautiful sheet of water rightly named Pleasant lake, 
and on the broad pran-ie where now stands the town of Edwardsburg, 
Ezra Beardsley, who had come from Butler county, Ohio, unloaded his 
household goods in the spring of 1826 and became the pioneer of the 
locality which has since borne the name of Beardsley's prairie. In the 
previous year he had prospected this site, decided upon it as his perma- 
nent home, and erected a rude cabin to shelter his family when they 
should arri\'e. During the first year his household was the only one on 
the prairie. But in the following spring the nucleus of a settlement was 
formed by the arrival of George and Sylvester Meacham, George Craw- 
ford and Chester Sage. The latter two remained only a year or so, 
when they moved to Indiana and took a prominent part in the found- 
ing of the now city of Elkhart, Mr. Crawford surveying the first plat 



40 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

and Lliester Sage"s home serving as the first cnurl huuse of l"'lkhart 
county. 

The Beardsley settlement became a fa\-nrite rendezvous for liome- 
seekers passing through or preparing to locate in the vicinity, and to 
accommodate tliis stream of visitors Ezra Beardsley commenced keep- 
ing a tavei'u, which was the first in the county. When the Beardsley 
house was crow-ded to its limit, as was often the case, the overflow w'as 
sent to the Meacham cabin, otherwise known as "bachelor's hall." Suf- 
ficient plain food and a shelter between their bodies and the sky were all 
that were asked by pioneer travelers, and this furnished they were con- 
tent. 

The pioneer merchant of Ontwa, Thomas H. Edwards, was also 
selling goods from a pole shanty on the south bank of Pleasant lake, 
and thus the central settlement of the township was somewhat distin- 
guished 1)v its commercial character from the agricultural community 
wliich was growing on Pokagon prairie. 

.\ccording to the former Cass county history, Ontwa township at 
this time contained a resident whose peculiarities entitled him to a place 
with the hermit, Job Wright. Tliis individual, whose name was Gar- 
\-er and who came from Virginia, is said to have lived in his log cabin 
for nearly a month without any roof, subject to the rain and inclemen- 
cies of the weather, waiting for the moon to be in the right position in 
the zodiac before shingling his cabin, so that the shakes would not warp 
up. A few years later he became so annoyed by the increasing num- 
ber of his neighbors, and especially by the surveying of a road past his 
dwelling, that he sold out and moved to a thick wood in Indiana, miles 
from any habitation. One house within five miles, and that a tavern, 
where whiskey could be obtained, constituted his idea of Paradise. 

L.\ GRANGE TOWNSHIP. 

Next to Pokagon, and excepting the small settlement in Ontwa, 
La Grange prairie attracted a small rivulet of that great stream of emi- 
gration which at this time was flowing with increasing volume from east 
to west. The first settler in La Grange township was that pioneer with 
whom wc are already familiar, Abram Townsend, w'hose first home in 
this county was in Pokagon. He had followed the receding frontier 
for many years. Born in New York in 1771, he had moved to Upper 
Canada when young, in 18 15 settled in Huron county, Ohio, thence to 
Sandusky county (where a township was named for him), and in 1825 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 47 

began the series of explorations wliich ended in his becoming a settler 
of Cass county. 

Mr. Townsend soon had as neighbors Lawrence Ca\'anaugh and 
wife and son James; Abraham Loux, a son-in-law of Townsend; and 
Thomas McKenney and James Dickson, who located on section 17. In 
the autumn of this year, after a dreary drive from southwestern Ohio, 
the Wright family arrived. William R. Wright was one of the able 
pioneers of this vicinity, and the family connections and descendants 
have long been prominent in the countv. 

Two other familiar names may be mentioned. Isaac Shurte, who 
came to the settlement in 1829, was born in New Jersey in 1796; moved 
to Butler county, Ohio, where he married Mary Wright, and from there 
came in 1828 to Niles and in the following year to his home in La 
Grange. It was in his house that the first election in the township was 
held, and his name often appears in the early accounts of the county. 

John Lybrook, who came to the township in 1828, was a member of 
the Virginia family of that name that sent numerous of its scions to this 
portion of the middle west, and most of them came in for prominent 
mention in connection with the early and formative history of their re- 
spective communities. John Lyhrook had come to Michigan as early 
as 1823, assisting Squire Thompson to mo\-e his goods to Niles. Sev- 
eral years later he brought his parents and sisters to this localitv. and 
lived there until his removal to La Grange. It is claimed that he sowed 
the first wheat in the St. Joseph country. He also' imported the first 
grindstone seen in this region, carrying it on horseback from Detroit. 
So useful was this instrument that it became almost an institution, and 
many settlers came twenty, thirty and even forty miles for the purpose 
of sharpening their implements. 

At the time of this writing (May, 1906), there lives in Berrien 
township of Berrien county, some six or seven miles north of Niles, 
the venerable Isaac Lybrook, who is without doubt the oldest of Cass 
county's sui-viving pioneers. Born in 1825, he was a member of this 
well known Lybrook family, his father being a brother of John Lybrook, 
and his mother a sister of A. L. Burk, also a pioneer of Cass. Isaac was 
brought to Pokagon township by his mother in October, 1828, and lived 
there until he was fifteen years old. He went to Berrien county in 1840 
and has followed farming through his active career. 

Many other names might be added if it were our purpose to make 
a complete catalogue of those identified with the occupation of this town- 



48 HISTORY Ol^' CASS COUNTY 

ship. Many nf these ]:)ersons will be mentioned in the later history of 
the township, and as this acconnt must stop short of being encyclopedic, 
some familiar names ma\- be entirely passed over. Our purpose here 
is to indicate the most prominent of the "first settlers" of the county, 
those upon whom (le\-ol\-etl the labor of organizing and setting in mo- 
tion the ci\il machinery of the county and its divisions. Of pioneer 
history and the interesting stories told of men and events of the time, 
volumes could be written. Even so we could but feebly re-illumine 
the features and spirit of tliose times; for, truly. 

"Round aliout their cabin door the glory that blushed and bloomed 
Is but a dim-remembered story of old time entombed." 

PENN TOWNSHIP. 

Another locality that received immigration before the civil organ- 
ization of the county was Penn township. Here the matter of priority 
of settlement is uncertain. The first settlers appear to have been of 
transient residence. During the years 1827 and 1828 Joseph Frakes. 
Rodney Hinkley, Daniel Shaffer, John Reed and others took claims here, 
but all except Shaffer left the following year. In 1829 came George 
Jones and sons, from Butler county, Ohio. He was the largest land- 
holder in the township, according to the list of original entries. Other 
settlers of the same year were John Price, John Rinehart and sons, Ste- 
phen Bogue, William McCleary and Martin Shields. In the person of 
Martin Shields the township received a representative of the saddler's 
trade, although, like all followers of a trade in a new country, he based 
his occupation on land and agriculture. When the residents of the com- 
munity met to cast their first ballots in the new county, they found his 
house the most convenient polling place, and perhaps for that reason he 
was also the first postmaster of the town. He was evidenth' of a more 
visionarv natiu'e than most of the practical pi(jneers of this section, for 
at one time he felt called upon to preach the gospel, although when he 
opened his mouth to speak no words followed his inspiriition and his 
spiritual leadership was short-li\ed. 

This township bears a name suggestive of the character of its early 
inhabitants. The co-religionists of William Penn settled in large num- 
bers not only in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania, but all along the 
Atlantic coast. But in the south, where slavery was the predominating 
feature of the economic system, their fundamental principles of faith 
set the Friends at variance with the majority of their fellow citizens. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 49 

Northwest Territory, with its basic principle of prohibition of slavery, 
attracted to its broad, new lands a great immigration of these simple 
people, and consequently there is hardly a county in the middle west 
that has not had a Quaker settlement. Penn township was the locality 
to which most of the Quaker immigration to Cass county directed its 
settlement, where they had their meeting house and where their sim- 
plicity of creed and manner and dress were for many a year the most 
marked characteristics of the township's population. 

To refer at this point to one such settler, who was not the less 
prominent in the general history of the county than as a member of his 
sect. Stephen Bogue was torn in North Carolina in 1790: in 181 1, 
owing to their abhorrence of slavery, the family moved to Preble county, 
Ohio. In 1829 he came to the St. Joseph country and entered for his 
prospective home a tract of land in Penn township, whither his sister, 
the wife of Charles Jones, had arrived in the preceding year. Mr. Bogue 
returned in 183 1 to a permanent residence in this township until his 
death in 1868. He comes down to us as one of the clearest figures of 
the pioneer times. His connection with the "underground railroad" and 
the "Kentucky raid" of ante-bellum days is elsewhere recorded. He 
took a foremost part in the organization of the Birch Lake Monthly 
Meeting of the Society of Friends. His name is also mentioned in con- 
nection with the platting and establishment of the village of \'andalia. 

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP. 

Pioneer settlers in the township of Jefferson were the four families 
whose heads were Nathan Norton, Abner Tharp, whose son Laban 
turned the first furrow in the township, and Moses and William Reames. 
These men had learned of the attractions of Cass county through John- 
Reed (related by marriage to Tharp and Norton), who, we have seen, 
was one of the first settlers in Penn. In the fall of 1828 the four fam- 
ilies whose heads have been named left Logan county. Ohio, and after 
the usual hardships of primitive traveling arrived in Cass county. They 
passed through the site of Edwardsburg. where they were greeted by 
Mr. Beardsley and Thomas H. Edwards, and after spending a few days 
with John Reed on Young's prairie, they proceeded to the southwest 
shore of Diamond lake, and on section i they erected the first houses 
of white man in what is now Jefferson township. In the latter part of 
1829 John Reed joined these pioneers, and his date of settlement in the 
township is placed second to that of the Tharps, Nortons and Reameses. 



60 HISTORY OF CASS COUiNTY 



CALVIN TOWNSIIIl'. 



From this nucleus of settlers in Jefferson in the spring of 1829 de- 
parted Abner Tharp to a suitable spot in Calvin township, where he 
erected a log cabin, plowed ten acres on the opening, and by reason of 
these improvements and the crop of corn and potatoes which he raised 
that }'ear is entitled to the place of first actual settler in that township. 
It is said that he was the sole occupant of the township throughout the 
first summer. He was not a permanent settler, however, for in 1830 
he returned to Jefferson, and in subsequent years lived in various parts 
of the west, only returning to pass his last years in Calvin township at 
the ^•illage of Brownsville. 

rOUTER TOWNSHIP. 

Only a few more names can be mentioned among those of the first 
comers to Cass county. In Porter township there located in 1828 a 
settler who ^'aried consideraljly from the regular type of ])ioneer. both 
as to personal character and the e\ents nf his career. John Baldwin was 
a southerner; a\erse to hard labur; never made impro\ements on the 
tract which he tnok up as the first settler in Porter; but, for income, 
relied upon a tavern which he kept for the accommodation of the trav- 
elers thrriugh that section, and also on his genius for traffic and dicker. 
He had hardly made settlement when bis wife died, her death being 
the first in the township. It appears that Baldwin carried to extreme 
that unfortunate trade principle of giving the least possible for the 
largest value obtainable. In on.e =ucli transaction with his neighbors the 
Indians, he l)argained for tb.e substantia! possession of certain oxen by 
the ofl:'er of a definite \-olume of fire water. There were no internal 
re\"enue officers in tliose days to determine the grade and qualitv of fron- 
tier liquor, and the strength of the potation was regulated by in(li\-idual 
taste or ilie exigencies of supply and demand. Certain] v in this case 
tlie customers of Mr. Baldwin were somewhat exacting. Having con- 
.sumed an amount of their favorite I'everage sufficient, as they judged 
from former ex])eriments, to transport then.i temporarilv to the happv 
hunting grounds, and waiting a reasonalile time for the desired effect 
with no results. the\' at (ince waited upon Mr. Balrlwin with the laconic 
explanation that the liquor contained "he:q:) too much bish" (water). 
Evidently this deputation of protest ]iro\'ed ineffectual, for a few nights 
later the aggrie\ed former ()wners of the oxen rej^aired to the Baldwin 
tax'crn. and, arming themseh'cs with shakes ]nilled fi'om the door, forced 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 61 

ail entrance, and, pulling the unfortunate landlord out of bed, proceeded 
to beat him about the head and shoulders in a most merciless manner, 
not !ea\-ing oft their fearful punishment until they thought life was ex- 
tinct. Air. Baldwin finally recovered, however, Iiut not for a long time 
was he able to resume business. This event was the subject of much 
comment among the settlers for many years, aiid was one of the very 
few Indian atrocities to be found on the annals of the county. No ar- 
rests were made, but the Pottawottomie tribe paid dearly for the assault, 
for Mr. Baldwin filed a bill with the government, claiming and event- 
ually receiving several thousand dollars in damages, which was retained 
from the Indians' annuities. 

A number of settlers arrived in Porter in 1829, among them Will- 
iam Tibbetts, Daniel Shellhammer, Caleb Calkins (who was a cai-pen- 
ter and joiner by trade), Nathan G. O'Dell, George P. Schultz. With 
Mr. Schultz came his step-son, Samuel King, then fourteen years old, 
but whO' became one of the most successful men in Porter township 
and at one time its largest land owner. 

VOLINIA TOWNSHIP. 

The rather remarkable history of Volinia township had also begun 
previously to organization. During the twelvemonth of 1829 many 
people located in this portion of northern Cass county, among those 
named as first settlers being Samuel Morris, Sr., J. Morelan, H. D. 
Swift and Dolphin Morris. One does not go far in the history of this 
township, either in pioneer times or the present, without meeting the 
name Gard. With some special mention of the family of this name we 
shall close this chapter on early settlement. 

Jonathan Gard was born in New Jersey in 1799, was taken to Ohio 
in 1801. and spent his ynuth and early manhood in the vicinity of Cin- 
cinnati and in Union county, Indiana. He was well fitted by nature and 
training to lie a pioneer, possessing the rugged cjualities of mind and 
body that are needed to make a new civilization. While prospecting 
about southern Michigan in the fall of 182S. in search of a place for a 
new home, chance brought him together with a party who were bound 
on a like mission, consisting of Elijah Goble, Jesse and Nathaniel Win- 
chell and James Toney. They stopped a few days at the home of their 
old friend, Squire Thompson, on Pokagon prairie, and then proceeded 
to the region that is now comprised in Volinia township. Little Prairie 
Ronde was the spot that most attracted them, and there Mr. Goble and 



52 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Mr. Card selected farms, wliile Mr. Toney cliose a tract on what later 
becanie known as Card's prairie. In the following spring Mr. Gard, 
Mr. Coble and Samuel Rich came to take possesion of their new homes. 
Because of the fact that Mr. Tbnev had been unable to leave his former 
home, Mr. Card t(X)k the claim that had been chosen bv Mr. Tonev, 
and thus it came about that he was the original settler on Card's prai- 
rie and gave it its name. Jonathan Card spent the remainder of his 
life at this spot, until his death in 1854. He was the founder of the 
family which has included so many w-ell known men of Cass county, 
a grandson of this pioneer being the present treasurer of Cass county. 

It is very remarkable that this beautiful region of country should 
remain absolutely unsettled until the late twenties, and that settlers from 
different parts of the United States, without any preconcerted action or 
communication with each other, should begin to pour in at just this 
time; but so it was. Here different families for the first time met each 
other, and here their lives were first united in the same community, and 
in many cases by marriage in the same home. 

None of those early settlers whom we have named remain. On the 
long and weary march they have been dropping out one by one until of 
the pioneer warfare not a veteran is left. It would be impossible, in a 
work like this, to trace the life history and describe the end of each 
one of them, and for this there would not lie sufficient space. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 53 



CHAPTER V. 
"PIONEERS OF CASS COUNTY." 

■'All members of the society who came into or resided in Cass 
county prior to 1840 shall be deemed 'Pioneers of Cass County.' " 

This extract from the constitution of the Pioneer Society has sug- 
gested an appropriate record of the pioneers, in such a form as to sup- 
plement the preceding pages and to add many details of personal chro- 
nology such as the narrative could not present. Therefore it has been 
determined to bring together, in alphabetical order, a very brief and 
matter-of-fact mention of the deceased pioneers, considering under that 
designation only those who became identified by birth or settlement with 
the county not later than the year 1840. 

Completeness of the recoid is quite beyond the limits of possibility 
and has not been attempted. Yet it is believed that the pioneers of the 
county are well represented here, and in a form for easy reference. 

Moreover, a study of the following records is extremely instructive, 
as documents on the early history of the county. Records of dates and 
localities though they are, they suggest entire stories of immigration 
and settlement. The sources of the county's early citizenship, and the 
character of the stocks which determined in large measure the institu- 
tions and social conditions in the county, are indicated in these annals 
almost at a glance. 

The first deduction to be drawn is tlie overwhelming preponderance 
of New York's quota among the pioneers. Some few well known fam- 
ilies, notably the Silvers from New Hampshire, were native to the strict- 
ly New England states. Delaware furnished several worthy families, 
Vermont is honorably represented, liut either directly or as the original 
source New York state was the alma mater to more pioneers than any 
other state. New York was the recruiting ground, as is well known, for 
the western expansion which began early in the nineteenth centuiy. 
That was true, in large measure, when the practicable route of that im- 
migration was through the gateway of the Alleghanies at Pittsburg 
and down the vallev of the Ohio. But New York did not reach its full 



54 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

])re-eniint'nce in the westward m<i\-ement until the opening of the Erie 
canal in iHj-,, after which the full tide of homeseekers was rolled along 
that highwa\' into the luUricd wilderness of the west. 

l'"or a long time Ohio was an intermediate place of settlement he- 
tween the east and the far west. Also, it was a focal ground upon which 
lines of migration from New England, from the middle Atlantic and 
from siiuthern states converged. Ohio occupies, a position only second 
to New ^'ork in furnishing pioneers to Cass county. And of Ohio's 
counties, Logan, Butler and Prehle seem foremost in this respect. Here 
the uncom])romising atolitionists from North Carolina first settled be- 
fore Cass county became a goal for many. 

Carefully studied, these records tell many other things about the 
pioneer beginnings of Cass county. The stages l>y which many families 
gradually reached this point in their westward migration are marked 
by children's births at various intervening points. And sometimes the 
l)onds of marriage united families from widely sundered localities, the 
communit)' of residence which brought this about loeing now in Ohio, 
now in Indiana, and perhaps more often here in Cass county. 

These are but a few of the inferences and conclusions that mav be 
found in the annals which follow, and besides the historical value they 
thus possess, this is a means ni preserving permanently many individ- 
ual records which ha^•e a personal interest to hundreds in Cass county. 

Ashley, Thompson — Born in Penn township in 183 1 ; in 1853 went 
to California, where he died June 8, 1906. 

Abbott, Joseph H. — Born near Toronto, Canada, January 12, 1812; 
came to Howard township in 1834. where he died November i, 1878. 

Alexander, Ephraim: — Born in Pennsylvania November 6, 1819; 
came to Cass county in 1831 ; died in Dakota December 9, 1885. 

Allen, Mrs. Demarias — Born in 1799; came to Ontwa township 
in 1835; died in Jefiferson township August 5, 1887. 

Arnold, Heniw — Born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, July 25, 1807; 
came to Cass county in 1835: died August 25, 1889. 

Andrus, Mrs. Fanny — Born in Cayuga county. New York. No- 
vember 4, 1808; came to Ontwa township in 1835; died in Mason town- 
ship January 291, 1894. 

Andrus, Hazard — Born in New York in 1789; came to Ontwa in 
1834; died March 3, 1862. 

Anderson, Lemuel LI. — Born in Warren county, Ohio, July 20, 
1829; came to Cass county in 1833; died in South Bend August 5, 
1895. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 55 

Anderson, Mrs. L. H. — Born in Erie county, New York, in 183 1; 
came to Cassopolis in 1833; died in South Bend May 23, 1883. 

Ayers, David — Born in Wood county, New York, in 1829; came 
to Penn township in 1839, where he died October 30, 1895. 

Adams, Uriah M. — Bom in Sandusky county, Ohio, November 2, 
1832; came to Porter township in 1837; died July 5, 1900. 

Alexander, John — Born in Richmond, Indiana, December 22, 1824; 
came to Young's prairie in 1830; died at Michigan City, Indiana, No- 
vember 2-j, 1900. 

Alexander, Leah E. — Born in Wayne county, Indiana, April 23, 
1818; came to Penn township in 1832; died in South Dakota January 
16, 1901, as Mrs. G. H. Jones. 

Aldrich, Henry — Born in Smithfield, Rliode Island, May 5, 1813; 
came to Milton township in 1837, where he died February 8, 1901. 

Atwood, I^fayette — Born in Cattaraugus coimty, New York, 
March 18, 1824; came to Wayne township in 1836; died at Dnwagiac 
March 18, 1906. 

Aldrich, Dr. Levi — Born in Erie county, New York, January 2"]. 
1820; with his parents came to Milton in 1837; died at Edwardsburg 
December 16, 1892 ; his wife, Evaline A. Sweetland, born in Tompkins 
county. New York, September i, 1822; killed in railroad collision at 
Battle Creek, Michigan, October 20, 1893. 

Aldrich, Nathan — Born in Rhode Island January 24, 1816; came 
to Milton in 1837; died Marcli 26, 1894; his wife, Harriet M. Dunning, 
born in New York July 21, 1816; came to Ontwa in 1834; died Jan- 
uary 24, 1858. 

Alexander, John — Born in North Carolina in 1791 ; came to Penn 
in 1831 ; died in 1850; Ruth, his wife, born in 1785; died in 1845. 

Anderson, Samuel F. — Born in Rutland county, Vennont, Feb- 
ruary 19, 1803; came to Cassopolis in 1835; died April 14, 1877; 
Mahala Phipps, his wife, born in New York July 10, 1807: died Jan- 
uary 21, 1877. 

Hannah Phelps, wife of John T. Adams, born in Norwich. Con- 
necticut, April 30, 1808; came to Edwardsburg in 1835 and there died 
June 20, 1838. 

Bement, David — Born at Hartford, Connecticut. October 17, 1813; 
came to Mason township in 1836: died in Ontwa township December 
18, 1879. 

Barnard, Dr.-^Came to Cass county in 1828: died in Berrien 
Springs April 6, 1881. 

Beckwith, Walter G. — Born in New York in 1810; came to this 
county in 1836; died in Massachusetts May 18, 1884. 



56 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Beck'.vith, Mrs. Eliza A. — Born in Ontario county, New York, 
December j. 1811; came to Cassopolis in June, 1838; died in Jefferson 
township June 27, 1880. 

Brady. David — Born in Sussex county, New Jersey, in 1785; came 
to La Grange prairie in July, 1828; died in La Grange township July 12, 
1878. 

Bates, John — Born in Chautauqua county, Xew York, [ulv 7, 
1821; came to Summennlle in 1839; died May 18, 1879. 

Barnhart, Mrs. Casander S. — Born in Franklin county, Virginia; 
came to Cass county alxiut 1828; died October 12, 1878. 

Bonine, Mrs. Elizabeth G. — Born in Penn township in 1S33; daugh- 
ter of Amos Green ; died October 26, 1875. 

Bement, Mrs. Jane — Born in Cayuga, New York, September 17, 
1824; came to Mason township in 1836, where she died April 2, 1887. 

Ball, Israel — Born in Butler county, Ohio, October 2, 1814; came 
to Cass county in 1830; died in Wisconsin April 30, 1887. 

Bosley, Hiram — Born in Ohio in 1829; came to Cass county in 
1838; died m Iowa in 1889. 

Beeson, Jesse G. — Born in Wayne county, Indiana, December 10, 
1807; came t(j La Grange township in 1830, where he died February 
18, 1888. 

Bacon, Cyrus — Born in Saratoga county, New York, October 26, 
1796; came to Ontwa township in 1834; died October 4, 1873. 

Bacon, Mrs. Malinda — Born in Saratoga county, New York, March 
IS, 1802: came to Ontwa township in 18^4, where she died April 3, 
1888. 

Bacon, David — Burn in Saratoga county. New York, September 
9, 1827: came to Ontwa tuwnship in 1834; died at Xiles, Michigan, 
July 25, 1899. 

Bacon, James G. — Born in Saratoga county, New York, November 
24, 1834; came to Ontwa township in 1834, where he died August 20, 
1904. 

Barton, Martha A. — Born in X'irginia September 16, 1822; came 
to Cassopolis in 1830; died September 8, 1889'. 

Baldwin, William — Born in Warren county, Ohio. April 5, 182 1; 
came to Cass county in 1828 ; died in Pbkagon township August 28, 
1904. His wife, who came tO' the county in 1835, died in Pokagon Jan- 
uary II, 1892, aged 70. 

Bigelow, Harvey — Born in New York July 4, 18 16: came to La 
Grange township in 1837; died at Dowagiac November 3, 1893. 

Blish, Daniel — Born in Gilsun, New Hampshire. June 17, 1812- 
came to Silver Creek in 184O'; died November 5, 1893. 

Breece, Jac(ib B. — Born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, March 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 57 

26, 1816; came to Ontwa township in 1836; died in Jefferson January 
29, 1896; Sarah M. Wilson, his wife, torn January 19, 1S22; died 
May 5, 1885. 

Brady, James T.— Born in Ireland March i, 1802; came to Ontwa 
township in 1836; died at Elkhart December 19, 1881. 

Brady, Mary Ann Jones — Born in New Jersey June 13, 1809; 
came to Ontwa in 1836: died June 12, 1895. 

Blair, William C— Born in Middlefield, New York, May i, 1817; 
came to Edwardsburg in May, 1835, where he died July 17, 1895. 

Beeson, Benjamin F'. — Born in Indiana in 1832; came to La 
Grange township in 1832; died in Calvin township August 31, 1896. 

Baker, Alfred — Born in 1816; came to Geneva in 1829; died in 
Iowa F^ebruary 10, 1898. 

Bump, Eli — Born in Urbana, Ohio, March 13, 1819; came to Jeff- 
erson township in 1837; (hed in Vandalia May 2;^, 1899. His wife, 
Naomi Reames, Iiorn in Logan county, Ohio, September 22. 1822; 
came to Jeft'erson in 1834; died at Vandalia, March 2, 1904. 

Bonine, James B. — Born in Wayne county, Indiana. July 18, 1825; 
came to Penn township in 183 1 : died November 28, 1900. 

Baldwin. Josephus — Born in New Jersey OctolDer 15, 1812; came 
to Cass county in 1828; died in Indiana May 16, 1901. 

Brady, Noah S. — Born in Ontwa March 17, 1839; died July 5, 
1902. 

Byrnes, Rev. John — Born in Ireland in 1815; came to- Pokagon 
in 1837, where he died March 12, 1903. 

Bishop, Joseph C. — Bom in New York in 1S20; came to Ontwa 
township in 1832 ; died at Edwardsburg December 26, 1902. 

Beardsley, David — Born in Butler county, Ohio, March 31, 1824; 
came to Mason township in 1832; died December 28, 1903. 

Benson, Catherine Weed — Born in Steuben county, New York, 
September i, 1816: came to Porter township in 1836; died September 
3. 1903- 

Beardsley, Hall — Born in New York in 1830; came to Porter 
township in 1838, where he died December 7, 1905. 

Bogue, Elvira — Born in Penn township Januar}' 19, 1836; died at 
Vandalia April 12, 1906, as Mrs. Thomas. 

Bacon, William H. — Born in New York in 1809; came to Ontwa 
in 1834; died October 6, 1856; his wife, Elizabeth Van Name; torn 
in 1820; died February 4, 1897, as Mrs. Starr. 

Bugbee, Dr. Israel G. — Bom in Vermont March 11, 18 14; first 
came to Edwardsburg in 1835; died May 18, 1878; his wife, Eliza- 
beth Head, born in England Septemtor 12, 1817; died June 20, 1903. 



58 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Bog'je, Stephen — Born in Nortli Carolina October 17, 1790; came 
to l^enn township in 1829, wliere he died October 11, 1868. 

Bog'ue, Mrs. Hannah — Born in 1798; came to Penn township in 
183 1, where she died December 14, 1891, wife of Stephen Bogue. 

Bisiicp, Ehjah — Born at Saratoga Springs, New York, in 18 11: 
came to ]\Iason township in 1838; died 

Barney, John — Born in Connecticut; came to Wayne in 1836; 
died in 1852. 

Barney, Henry, Sr. — Born in Connecticut in 1763; came to Sil- 
ver Creek in 1838; died in 1850. 

Blackman, Wilson — Born in Connecticut in 1 7912; came to Ed- 
wardsburg in 1829: the county's first postmaster; died -. 

Bishop, Calvin — Born in New York in 1780; came to Cass county 
in 1833; died in Ontwa February 12. i8r)7; his wife, ^lary Ann. born 
in 1791; died February 26, 1861. 

Boyd, James — Born in New York August 3, 1806; came to Ed- 
wardsburg in 1831; died at Cassopnlis Septemlser 9, 1890; his wife, 
Mary, born in 1796; died 1877. 

Beckwith, Sylvanusi — Born in New York in 1776; came to Cass- 
opolis in 1838; died February 24, 1859; Lydia, his wife, born in 
1785; died September 15, 1875. 

Bishop, Elijah — Born in New York in 181 1; came to ]\Iason in 
1838; died in 1851. 

Blackmar, Nathaniel Bowdish — Born July 3. 181 7, in New York; 
came with father, Willson Blackmar, to Edwardsburg, July 3, 1828, 
where he died May 24, 1878. His second wife, Sophronia Lee Quimby, 
born Strafford county, N. H., May 24, 1830, came to Edwardsburg July, 
1836. 

Colyar, Mrs. Catherine — Born in Logan county, Ohio, April 27, 
1814; came to Jefferson township in 1832; died January 24, 1881. 

Curtis, Mrs. Deborah A. — Born in Madison, Ohio, July 13, 1822; 
came to Mason township in 1832 ; died in 1880. 

Curry, Mrs. Elizabeth Card — Born in Union county, Indiana, De- 
cember 16, 181 1, daughter of Josephus Card; came to Volinia in 1830; 
died in Van Buren county, June 22, 1878. 

Cooper, Mrs. Nancy Brady — Born in New Jersey, May 5, 1808; 
came to LaGrange Prairie in 1831 ; died in Dowagiac, July 30, 1878. 

Curtis. Jotham^ — Born in Genesee county. New York, February 24, 
1809; came to MasOn township in 1842, where he died December 91. 
1879- 

Curtis, Mrs. Elizabeth — Born in AIl>any, New York, February 7, 
1781 ; came to Mason toA\nship in 1832, where she died October 5, 1878, 
wife of Jotham Curtis. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 59 

Condon, William — Born in Ireland, October 17, 1815 ; came to La- 
Grange township about 1839; ^i^^ March 15, 1889;; his wife. Rosanna- 
Hain, born in Ohio> June 22, 1827; came to LaGrange township in 
1830; died in Jefferson township, July 28, 1882. 

Carmichael, Arthur C- — Born in. sHarrison county, Virginia, Jan- 
uary 23, 1825: came to Jefferson in 1836: died near Benton Harbor, 
August 28, 1885. 

Colyar, Jonathan — Born in North Carolina, September 13, 1810; 
came to Jefferson township in 1831, where he died Januai-y 14, 1887. 

Carpenter, Mrs. Eliza C. — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, Octo- 
ber 14, 1802; came to Cass county in 1837; died in Milton, June 15, 
1887. 

Clendaniel, George — Born in Essex county, Delaware. January 15, 
1805; came to Milton township in 1836; died in Indiana, July 3, 1887. 

Cooper, Benjamin — Born in St. Lawrence county, New York, Au- 
gust, 1794; came to Cass county in 1833; died in Howard township, 
September 9, 1887. 

Clisbee, Charles W. — ^Born in Ohio, July 24, 1833; came to Cas- 
sopolis in 1838. where he died August 18, 1889; secretary and historian 
of the Pioneer Society. 

Copley, David B. — Born in Otsego county. New York, July 13, 
1817; came to Cass county in 1835; died August 25. 1889. 

Churchill. Rebecca Hebron — Born in Porter township, January 24, 
1835, where she died February 4, 189-1. 

Copley, Jane Helen — Born in 1827: came to Volinia township in 
1838; died Septemljer 20, 1890. 

Copley, Alexander B. — Born in Jefferson county. New York, March 
II, 1812; came to Volinia in 1833; died in Cuba. March 28, 1899. 

Curtis. Delanson — -Born in OtsegO' county. New York, May 28, 
181 1 ; came to Pokagon in 1834, where he died June 10, 1893. 

Cooper, Lovina Bosley — Born in Lake county, Ohio, April 29, 1834; 
came to Jefferson township in 1839; died June 17, 1894. 

Carpenter, Messick — Born in Delaware in 1800; came to Milton 
township in 1837; died at Edwardsburg, March i, 1895. 

Colyar, William — Born in Ohio, 1807: came to Jefferson township 
in 1831; died in Van Buren count)^ January 15, 1898. 

Copley, Ebenezer — Born in Otsego county. New York, May 30. 
1820; came to Cass county in 1834: died in Wayne township. .Septem- 
ber 16, 1897. 

Cooper, Benjamin — ^Born in New York, September 19, 1820: came 
to Howard township in 1834; died in Dowagiac, June i, 1899. 

Clark, John C. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, August 25. 1814; 
came to Wayne township in 1836; died in LaGrange township. July 5. 
1899. 



60 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Chapin, Henry A. — Born in Leyden, iMassacliusetts, October 15, 
1813; came to Edwardsburg in 1836; died in Niles, December 17, 1898; 
his wife. Ruby N., who came to Edwardsburg in 1836, died in Chicago, 
Octoljer 30, 1902. 

Carpenter, James — Born in Delaware ; came to Milton township in 
1837; died at Edwardsburg, February 28, 1899. 

Carlisle, Orville D. — Born at Ontario, New York, August 31, 1833 ; 
came to Edwardsburg in 1839; died in Alabama, June 29, 1900. 

Carpenter, Purnell W. — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, August 
28, 1825; came to Milton township in 1837, where he died April 2, 1901. 

Chapman, Emily S. Harper — Born in Cassopolis, March 30, 1838, 
where she died January 7, 1902. 

Coates, Jason B. — Born Ontario county. New York, November 11, 
1817: came to LaGrange township in 1831, where he died February 23, 
1902. 

Coats, Mrs. Jason B. — Born in Howard township. May 27, 1836, 
daughter of William Young: died in LaGrange township, January 20, 
1880. 

Copley, Asel G. — Born in New York, July 23, 1815 ; came to Volinia 
in 1835; died May 9, 1903. 

Cays. Abram H. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, April 30, 1827; 
came to Cass county in 1839; died in LaGrange township, August 31, 
1904: his wife, Margaret Foster, born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1833; 
came to Jefferson in 1839; died in Dowagiac, October 28, 1901. 

Coates, Laura — Born in Ontario county, New York, May 13, 1812; 
came to LaGrange in 183 1 : died at Cassopolis, March 17, 1902, as Mrs. 
William Arrison. 

Coulter, James — Born in Henrietta county, Ohio, j\Lay 17, 1808; 
came to Howard in 1834; died February iG. 1874; his wife, Ann Wil- 
son, born in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1809; died ALay 18, 1893. 

Crawford, Robert — Born in Ireland in 1782; came to Jefferson 
in 1836; died in 1858; his wife, Elizabeth, born in 1786; died in 1844. 

Coates, Jason R. — Born in New York in 1789; came to LaGrange 
in 1831; died August 7, 1832; the first buried in Cassopolis cemetery; 
his wife, Jane, born in 1787; died Octoljer 26, 1844; their daughter, 
Jane Ann, born February 29, 1823; died at Cassopolis January 24, 
1904, as Mrs. Allen. 

Deal, Owen — Born at Amsterdam, New York, July 2. 1816: came 
to Diamond Lake. December 18. 1836: died at Constantine, Michigan, 
March 22, 1880. 

Deal, Angeline Nash — Wife of Owen Deal ; born in Chenango 
cout}^ New York, July 10, 1820: came to Geneva in 1830: died at 
Constantine July 3, 1884. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 61 

Denton, Cornelius W. — Born in Amenia, New York, June i, 1800; 
came to Porter township in 1836, where he died November i, 1878. 

Davidson, Samuel — Born in Ohio in 1810; came to Porter township 
in 1828; died at Cassopolis November 17, 1882. 

Davis, Allen— Born July 12, 1817; came to Porter township in 
1833; died at Cassopolis April 29, 1883. 

Davis, Reuben B. — Born in Hanover county. \'irginia, January i, 
1804; came to Jefferson township in 1840, where he died in 1884. 

Driskel, Daniel — Born in Pennsylvania in 1812; came to Newberg 
township in 1833, where he died September 29, 1885. 

Dcane, William H. — Born in Greene county. New York, in 1809; 
came to Howard township in 1835, where he died May 13, 1887. 

Dickson, Edwin T. — Born in 1821 ; came to !McTvinney"s Prairie 
in 1828: died in Berrien county in i8qi. 

Dunning. Allen — Born in Albau}-. N. Y.. Julv 2"/, 1796: came to 
]\Iilton in 1836; there died December 10. 1869; his wife — 

Dunning, Minerva Reynolds — Born in Tompkins countv. New 
York, January 12. 1824: came to Milton township in 1836, where she 
died March 31, 1892. 

Dickson, Austin M. — Born in LaGrange in 1832; died in Wis- 
consin, April 29, 1895. 

Dodge, Joseph — Born in Johnstown. New York, December 2, 1807; 
came to Cass county in 1839; died in Vandalia. September 2. 1895. 

Decker. Barney — Born in Ontario county. New York. September 
20. 1812; came to Cassopolis, in 1838; died in LaGrange township, Jan- 
uary 20', 1900; his wife, Martha Wilson, born in Franklin county, 
Ohio. August 10, 1816. came to LaGrange Prairie in September. 1829': 
died October 19, 1905. 

Driskel, Dennis — Born in Tennessee; came tO' Porter township in 
1833. where he died June 16. 1901 ; his wife. Mary Bair. born in Ohio, 
Februaiw 19. 1828. came to Newlierg in 1832; died in Llaho. June 24. 
1903. 

Draper. John — Born in Syracuse. New York. July 17. 1836; came 
to Cass county in 1840; died at Jones, Michigan, October 17. 1905. 

Dunning, Horace B. — Born in Cayuga county. New York. Sep- 
tember 18, 1802; came to Edwardsburg in 1834 and to Cassopolis in 
1841 ; died May 30, 1868; his wife. Sarah A. Camp, born in 1807; 
died September 30, 1894. 

Davidson., Armstrong — Born in Virginia in 1784; came to Porter 
in 1829; died in 1850. 

Dickson. James — Born in Pennsylvania in 1794; came to La^ 
Grange in 1828; died September 16. 1866. 

Dennis, Nathaniel B. — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, March 



62 HISTORY OF CASS COl'XT\' 

13, 1813; came to JMichigan in 1833; died in Alilttjii Fehruan- (>, 1899; 
his wife, Margaret McMichael, born in Pennsylvania July 19, 18 19; 
died April 27, 1895. 

Drew, Albert L. — Born on Beardsley's prairie July 5, 1834; died 
in Berrien county; first white child born on the Prairie; Helen Sher- 
rill, his wife; born in Jefferson February i, 1839; died December _'8, 
1894. 

Dunning, Dr. Isaac — Born in New Y(irk in 1772; came to Fd- 
vvardsburg in 1834; died March 1, 1849. 

Edwards, Lewis, Sr. — Born in L.'unbert()n, Xew York, ]\Iay 29, 
1799; came to Pokagon Prairie in 1826. where he died June 24. 1878. 

F^dwards, Mrs. Ellen Collins — Born in Pokagon township January 
18, 1838; died January 28, 1879. 

East, James \V. — ^Born in 1803 ; came to Calvin township Novem- 
ber. 1833, where he died April 19, 1887. 

East, Jacob Tallxjt — Came to Cass countv in 1834; died in Volinia 
October 8, 1887. 

East, Emeline O'Dell — Born in Hyland county, Ohio, Novemlier 
6, 1813; came to Porter township in 1832; died February 2, 1899. 

East, John H. — Born in Indiana March 25, 1827; came to Calvin 
township in childhood; died at Cassopolis January ig, 1891. 

Everhart, Sarah — Born in Wayne county, Ohio; came to Porter 
township in 1830, where she died January 14, 1891. 

Eby, Mrs. Gabriel — Born in Cermany in 1826; came to Porter 
township in 1837. where she died No\ember 7, 1891 ; maiden name 
Caroline Wagner. 

Emmons, John — Born in Giles county, Virginia, August 18, 1808; 
came to Pokagon township in 1834, where he died October i, 1893. 

East, James M. — Born in Wayne county, Indiana, April 7, 1825; 
came to Cass county in 1833; died in Vandalia March 13, 1895. 

Eby, Mary Traverse — Born in West Morland, Pennsylvania, April 
3, 1813; came to this county in 1834; died June 26, 1895. 

East. .\nna Jones — Born in Tennessee April 5, 1805 ; came to- Cass 
county in 1833; died in Calvin township Octolaer 22, 1896. 

East, Emily J. — Born in Porter township July 26, 1834, where she 
died June 10, 1898, as Mrs. Hughes. 

East, Jesse S. — Born in Henry county. Indiana, June 2, 1829 ; catue 
to Cass county in 1832; died at Buchanan July 29, 1904. 

East, Enos — Born in Calvin township October 24, 1839, where he 
died March 19, 1905. 

East, Thomas J. — Born in Calvin township May 24, 1833; died 
at South Haven. Micliigan. June (>. 1905. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 63 

East, Calvin K. — Born in Calvin township October 7, 1834; died 
at Vandalia April 17, 1906. 

Emerson, Matthew H. — Born in Hopkinton December 11, 1808; 
came to Edwardsburg in 1839, where he died March 17, 1877. 

Follett, Mrs. Mary — Born in Canandaigua county, New York, Feb- 
ruary 16, 1798; came to Mason township in 1835; died November 30, 
1880, widow of Dr. Henry Follett, who died in Mason in 1849. 

Fredericks, Henry — Born in Pennsylvania; came to Porter town- 
ship in 1840, where he died August 10, 1885. 

Frakes, Mrs. Joseph — Born in Ohio in 1804; came to Cass county 
in 1829; died March 15, 1887. 

Fox, Mrs. Sarah C. — Born in Kent county, Delaware, Februaiy 27, 
181 s; came to Howard township in 1839, where she died October 12, 
1889. 

Fisher, Daniel — Born in Giles county, Virginia, in 1801 ; came to 
Howard township in 1830, where he died February 14, 1896. 

Foster, John McKinley — Born in Holmes county, Ohio, March 24, 
1835; came to Jefferson township in 1839; died at Edwardsburg Jan- 
uary 27, 1902. 

Foster, Andrew — Born in Pennsylvania in 1779; came to Beard- 
sley's prairie in 1833; died November 30', 1870; his wife, Rachel Mc- 
Michael, born in 1804; died April 26, 1884; his daughter, Margaret, 
born in 1833 ; was drowned at Picture Rock, Lake Superior, October 
29, 1856. 

Foster, James — Borji^n Pennsylvania in 1792; came to Cass 
county in 1839; ^'^^1 i" Jefferson 1872: his wife, Ann McKinlev, born 
in 1809; died in 1841. 

Green, JNIrs. Mary — Born in Volinia township June 13, 1832, daugh- 
ter of Jonathan Guard; died in Wexford county, Michigan, July i^, 
1879. 

Grubb, Fanny — Born in Logan county, Ohi<:), January Ji, 1816: 
came to Cass county with Father Andrew in 1830; died January 27, 
1881. 

Goddard, Anson A. — Born in Canton, Connecticut, March 11, 1806; 
came to Mason township in 1836, where he died December 5, 1880. 

Goodspeed, William L. — Born in Wyoming county. New York, 
August 9, 1829; came to Volinia in 1836, where he died February 26, 
1879. 

Gawthrop, Minerva Jane — Born in LaGrange township May 12, 
1840; died in Dowagiac Noyernber 9, 1878. 

Garwood, Rachel P. — Born in Richmond, Indiana, in 1807; came 
to Cass county in 1832 ; died in Pokagon December 27, 1886. 



64 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Griffith, Mattliew — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, ]\Iarcli lo, 
1811; came to Cass countv in 1837; died in Milton township January 
28, 1879. 

Goodspeed, Mrs. Sarah D. — Bom in the state of Massachusetts 
October 14, 1883; came to Volinia November, 1836. where she died 
November 12, 1878. 

Givens, John — Born in Virginia about 1803; ciime to LaGrange 
tounshi]) in 1835. where he died January 4, 1879; his wife, Elizabeth 
P., died October 15, 1878, aged 66. 

Grennell, Jeremiah S. — Bom in Onondaga county, New York, Sep- 
tember 30, 1824 ; came to Cass county in 1834: died in Newberg town- 
ship August 16, 1888. 

Gill, John — Born on the Isle of Man November 12, 1803; came to 
Cass county in 1835; died at Jones August 6, 1888. 

Gard, Mrs. Elizabeth Bishop — Born in Preble county, Ohio, Decem- 
ber 5, 1804; came to Volinia in 1829, where she died September 3, 1887. 

Goble, James — Born in Pokagon in 1836; died December 3, 1891. 

Green, Selina Henshaw — Born in Randolph county. North Caro- 
lina, November 12, 1819; came to Cass county in 1831 ; died in Vandalia 
February i, 1896. 

Green, Marj- Huff — Born in Preble county, Ohio, July 29. 181 5; 
came to Wayne township in 1833, where she died August 8, 1896. 

Garchier, Julius M. — Born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in 1S23: 
came to Cass county in 1835; died in Mason township January 21, 1900. 

Gard, ^Milton J. — Born in Butler county, Indiana, March 11, 1824: 
came to Volinia in 1829; died July 19, 1900. 

Gard, Benjamin F. — Born in Butler county, Indiana, July 30, 1829: 
came to Volinia in 1829, where he died September 23. 1900. 

Gard, Isaac N. — Bom in Union county, Indiana, July 9, 1827: 
came to Volinia in 1829, where he died July 25, 1902. 

Gard, Reuben E. — Born in Union county, Indiana, August 6, 1825; 
came to Volinia in 1829; died at Pokagon April 2, 1905. 

Goodspeed, Marshall — Born in Cayuga county. New York, .April 
I. 1830; came to Volinia in 1830, where he died September 3, 1900. 

Goodenough, Edward B. — Bom in Cayuga county. New York, in 
1835; came to Volinia in 1837; died October 15, 1900. 

Graham, Arthur — Born in Scotland in 181 2: came to Wayne town- 
ship in 1839; died at Dowagiac, April 23, 1901. 

Glenn, Thomas H. — Born in Milford, Delaware, in 1828; came 
to Milton township in 1834; died in Chicago July 21, 1901. 

Goodspeed, Edwin — Born in Cayuga county. New York, January 
15, 1835; came to Volinia same year; died April 5, 1903. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 65 

Gardner, Rachel Ai. Roberts — Born in Erie county, New York, 
October 13, 1833;' came to jNIilton township in 1839, where she died 
August 12, 1901. 

Green, EH — Born in Wayne township in 1835; died in Mapleton, 
North Dakota, September 7, 1906; his wife, Esther Gard, born in 
VoHnia in 1838, died October 8, 1902. 

Goodrich, Robert — Born in Butler county, Ohio, December 18, 
183 1, • came to Jefferson township in 1835; died March 30, 1904. 

Gawthrop, David B. — Born in LaGrange township September 4. 
1833, where he died January 25, 1905. 

Gifford, H. Leroy — Born in Genesee county, New York, in 1825; 
came to Cass county in 1840: died at Dowagiac August 18, 1905. 

Gar\rey, Sarah Aliller — Born in Franklin county, Ohio, July 21, 
1829; came to Jefferson township in 1832; died at Cassopolis July i, 
1905. 

Gilbert. William — Born in Long Island, New York. September 6, 
1822; came to Indian Lake in 1839; died October 22, 1905. 

Glover, Orville B. — Born in Upton, Massachusetts, April 11, 1804; 
came to Edwardsburg in 1839, where he died Alarch 19, 1852. 

Carr, Julia A.— Wife of O. B. Glover; born in Albion, N. Y.. 
June 2S. 1818; cnine tn Edwardsburg in 1839: died at Buchanan. 1893, 
as Mrs. Hall. 

Glover, Harrison — Born in Orleans county, New York, Februarv' 
3, 1837 ; came to Edwardsburg in 1839 ' died at Buchanan in April, 
8, 1876. 

Glenn, James L. — Born in Pennsylvania: came to Cass county about 
1835; died January i, 1876. 

Gage, John S. — Born in New York: came to Wayne township Sep- 
tember, 1839'; died 

Gage, Justus — Born in Madison count}-, New York, Alarch 13, 
1805; came to ^^'ayne in 1837; died Januar}- 21, 1873. 

Green, Amos — Born in Georgia December 10. 1794: came to 
Young's prairie in 1831: died August 6, 1854; his wife. Sarah, born 
in 1796; died December 13, 1863. 

Goodspeed, Joseph — Born in Massachusetts April i, 1797; came 
to Volinia in 1836; died April 30, 1850. 

Gilbert, Wm. J. — Born on Long Island, New York, in 1790: came 
to Silver Creek in 1839; died February 18, 1864. 

Goble, Elijah — Born in Ohio in 1803: came to Volinia in 1828: 
died . 

Hain, John — Born in Lincoln county. North Carolina, August 13, 
1799; came to LaGrange township in 1830, where he died Julv 8, 1879. 



66 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Hardenbrook, Ailolphus — Born in Baltimore county, Maryland, 
January i8, 1823; came to Cassopolis in 1836; died in Wayne township 
Decemlier 30, 1880. 

Huff, Mrs. Margaret Case — Born in Northumberland county, Penn- 
sylvania, March i, 1804: came to Cass county in 1834; died in Volinia 
townshij) in 1881. 

Hunt, Eleazur — Born in North Carolina, Februar}- 4, 1792; came 
to Calvin in 1831, where he died August 4, 1878. 

Hunt, Mrs. ■Martha — Born in Knox county, Tennessee, October 25, 
1795; came to Cass county in 1831 ; died August 27, 1880. 

Hull, John V. — Born in Calvin township June 14, 1840; died in 
Iowa i-Vugust 23, 18S0. 

Hutchings, Hiram^ — Born in New York May 2, 182 1 ; came to 
Nevvberg township in 1836, where he died January 8, 1881. 

Henshaw, Abijah — Born in Randolph county. North Carolina, Jan- 
uar)- 3, 1812; came to Young's Prairie in 1830; died July 10, 1878. 

Hutchings, Samuel — Bom in Ulster county. New ^'nrk, Septem- 
lier 14, 179O: caiue to Newberg township in 1836, where he died Au- 
gust I, 1876. 

Hain. Da\i(l — Born in Lincoln county. North Carolina. March 25, . 
1805 ; came to LaGrange township in November, 1831, where he died 
October 26, 1878. 

Hutchinson, Jesse — B(irn in Vermont in 1809; came to Calvin 
tdwnshi]) in 1834; died in ]owa January 19, 1879. 

Harjier. Wilson- -Born in Pennsyh'ania in 1809: came to Cas- 
sopiilis in 1833; died in Berrien county August 12, 1883. 

Houghtaling, John — Born in New York June 8, 1832; came to 
Cass county in 1835; died in Newberg September 27, 1885. 

Hain, Jacob — Born in IJncoln county North Carolina: came to La- 
Grange tiiwiT^hip in 183 1 : died in Iowa in 1886. 

Hull, Isaac — Born in Pennsylvania July 3. 1807: came to Cabin in 
1837, where lie died December 19, 1873. 

Hull, Mrs. Maria Grulib^ — Born in Loudoun county, Virginia, Octo- 
ber, i8o(): came to Cass county in 1837; died November 15, 1887. 

llebrnn. N;uicy L. — Born in New York city Feliruary 17, 1822: 
came to i'urter township in 18^6; died in I'enn township. No\-ember 

28, i8.,3. 

Har|)er, Caroline Guilford — Born in Northampton, Massachusetts, 
September 4, 1816: came to Cassopolis in 1835. where she died January 

29, 1902. 

Harper, Joseph — Born in Washington countv, Pennsylvania, De- 
ceml'll'' 19, 1803: came tij Cassoixilis in Februarw 1835, wlis'"e he died 
Au;:- 18. 1894. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 67 

Huyck, Richard R. — Bom in New York, February 21, 181 1 : came 
to Little Prairie Ronde in 1832: died December 14, 1893. 

Hathaway, Benjamin — Born in New York in 1822; came to- Cass 
in 1838: died in Vobnia March 21, 1896. 

Hebron. Gideon — Born in England in 1816: came to Porter town- 
sliip in 1833. where he died January 25, 1897. 

Harrison, Jesse — Born in Richmond, Indiana, August 17, 1822; 
came to Calvin townsbi]> in 1833; died at Cassopolis February 13, 1898. 
Hardenbrook, Adolphus T. — Born in Maryland in 1823 ; came to 
LaGrange township in 1832; died in \\'ayne in December, 1880. 

Hardenbrook, Margaret Shurte — Born in Marion county. Ohio, 
March 29, 1827; came to LaGrange about 1830; died in Wayne town- 
ship February 6, 1902. 

Hathaway, Orrin — Born in Stulien county. New York, May 20, 
1823; came to Penn township same year; died March 12. 1903. 

Hitchcox, James H. — Born in Erie county. New York, January 5, 
1826; came to Porter township in 183 1, where he died March 26, 1903. 
Haney, Charles — Born in (iermany January 29, 1809: came to 
Ontwa township in 1833; died January 8. 1892. 

Haney, Jane Smith — Born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, 
August 24. 1817; came to Ontwa township in 1829: died August 14, 
1903. 

Hunt, Eliza Worden — Born in Niagara county. New York, April 
9. 1832; came to Edwardsburg in 1833; died at Brownsville August 26. 
1903. 

Harwood, Nathan — Born in Bennington, Vermont, September 9. 
182 1 : came to Newberg in 1837; died September 29, 1903. 

Harwood, Clarissa Easton — Born in Allegany county. New York, 
October 16, 1834; came to Ne\\berg in 1834: died Feliruary 2. 1904. 
wife of William N. Harwood. 

Hanson, James — Born in Fulton county. New York. May 7, 1831; 
came to Jefferson in 1835; died in Howard township May 7, 1904. 

Hurd, Rev. John — Born in England November 27, 1823; came to 
Newberg in 1836; died at Paw Paw, Michigan, April 22, 1905. 

Hatch, Jerome B. — Born in Medina county, Ohio, March 9, 1827; 
came to Mason township in 1837 : died in Illinois April 9, 1905. 

Hitchcox, Thomas Addison — Born in Erie county. New York, 
June 22, 1829; came to Porter township in 183 1 ; died May 29, 1905. 

Hanson, \Villiam — Born in Montgoinery county. New York, No- 
vember 14, 1824; came to Ontwa in 1835; died at Edwardsburg March 
16, 1905: his first wife. Elizabeth Crawfnrd. born in 1822; died Septem- 
lier 7, 1865. 



68 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Hcjward, I.everett C. — Born in Jefferson county, New York, No- 
vember 7, 1822; came to Cass county in 1834; (li(?cl in Dowagiac Octo- 
ber 3, 1903. 

Harwood, Silas — Born in New York October 13, 1828; came to 
Newberg in 1836, where he died December 31, 1905. 

Harmon, EHza Grubb — Born in Calvin August 13, 1837; died at 
Cassopolis March 15, 1906. 

Hicks, Edward P. — Born in England February 15, 1821; came to 
Ontwa in 1835; died in Milton township June i, 1906. 

Hicks, Richard V. — Born in England November 17, 1819; came to 
Ontwa in 1835; died in Milton township March i, 1906. 

Hathaway, Sarah E. — Born in Cayuga county, New York, June 
16, 18301; came to Volinia in 1837, where she died in Copemish, Mich- 
igan, April 24, 1906, as Mrs. H. S. Rogers. 

Huff, Amos — Born in New Jersey January 30, 1799; came to 
Volinia township in 1834, where he died July 4, 1881. 

Huyck, John — Born in New York September 27, 1783: came to 
Nicholsville in 1836; died at Marcellus September 15, 1881. 

Huyck, Abijah — Born in Delaware county. New York, October 

18, i8j8; came to Volinia township in 1836; died 

Hanson, Ephraim, Sr. — Born in New York in 1784; came to Cass 
county in 1S35; died September 4, 1837; his wife, Alida, born in 1791; 
died September 5, 1882. 

Huntley, Ephraim — Born in Saratoga county Septemlicr 10, 1798: 
came to Howard in 1833; died at Niles October i, 1881 ; his wife, Eli- 
za Ross, born 1800; died in Howard in 1S56. 

Howell, David M. — Born in Champaign county, Ohio, May 27, 
1817; came to Berrien county in 1834 and to Howard in 1840; died in 
Pemi December 12, 1883: his wife, Martha Anderson, born on March 
29, 1827; died January 11. 18G9. 

Harper, Calista — Wife of Wilson Harper; born in New York April 
II, 1819; died at Cassopolis November 24, 1843; Nancy Graves, second 
wife, born May 27, 1822: died in Berrien county April 25, 1904. 

Hopkins, David^Born in Washington county. New York, in 1794; 
came to Volinia in 1836: died April 7, iSSo. 

Hitchcox, James — Born in Ontario county. New York, in 1795; 
came toi Porter in 1830; died April 14, 185O'. 

Hirous, Joseph H. — Born in Delaware in 1805: came to Milton in 
1833; died May 25, 1873; his wife, Eleanor Shanahan, born January 12, 
1808; died October 16, 1891. 

Jo'ies, Albert — Born in Seneca county. New York. February 27, 
1828: came to tiiis C(juntv in 1836; died in Penn township December 
26, 1880. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 69 

Janas, Benjamin — Born in Wayne county, Indiana, May 4, 1824; 
came to Cass county in 1834; died at Pbkagon December 29, 1879. 

Jewell, Elias- — Born in Monmouth county, New Jersey, in 181 1; 
came to McKinnev's Prairie in 1830; died at Dowagiac [anuarv 21. 
1887. 

Jewell, Hiram — Born in Monmouth county, New Jerse}-, in 1805; 
came to LaGrange township in 1830, where he died September 28, 
1887. 

Jones, Mrs. Rebecca — Born in 1810; came to Cass county in 1837; 
died January 28, 1890. 

Jones, Stephen — Born in Ohio in 1821 : came tn Cass county in 
1829; died January 12. 1891. 

Jones, Daniel S. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, May 2, 18 18; came 
to LaGrange township in 1833; died at Cassopolis July 28, 1893. 

Salina Miller — Wife of David S. Jones: hirn in New York Ma}- 5, 
1824; died at Cassopolis August 10, 1898. 

Jones, William — Born in Preble county, Ohio, March 8, 1813; 
came to Penn township in 1829, where he died March 29, 1894. 

Jones, William G. — Born in Penn township July 16, 1836; died 
in California May 11, 1895. 

Jones, George W. — Born in Preble county, Ohio, April 3, 1824; 
came to Cass county in 1830; died April 29, 1896. 

Emma Sherman — Wife of George W. Jones ; born in Cassopolis 
in 1836; died November 20, 1870. 

Jones, Jesse G. — Born in Penn township December 13, 1832, where 
he died March 16, 1884. 

Jones, Joseph — Born in Preble county, Ohio, in 1825: came to 
Cass county in 1829; died in Iowa February 16, 1897. 

Jones, Asa — Born in Erie county. New York, July 10, 1817; came 
to Cass county in 1835; died in Edwardsburg February 20, 1897: his 
wife, Nelly Massey, born in Sussex county, Delaware, October 15. 1823, 
came to Cass county in 1833; died in Edwardsburg April 30, 1899. 

Jones, George F. — Born in Seneca county, New York, August 11, 
1819, came to Newberg in 1837; died in Indiana August 22, 1898. 

Jones, Cordelia — Born in Newberg township in 1836 ; died at Van- 
dalia, November 14, 1900, as Mrs. Miller. 

Jones, Keziah — Born in Young's Prairie February' 4, 183 1 ; died in 
Penn township July 27, 1905, as Mrs. Brody. 

Jones, Nathan — Born in Preble county, Ohio, April 26, 1824 ; came 
to Young's Prairie in 1829, where he died December 8, 1905. 

Jarvis, Norman — Born in Rowan, North Carolina, April 14, 1820; 
came to LaGrange in 1834, where he died April 14, 1903. 



70 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Jones, Finney H. — Born in I'enn in l^ecemlier, 1830; died March 

Jones. Amos — Born in Prel)le county, Ohio, August 13, 1820; 
came to Cass county in 1830; died in LaGrange township April 20, 
1905. 

Jar\is, Burton — Born in Rowan count}-. North Carohna. Septemher 
6. i8i(); came to LaGrange townshi]) in 1834; died in Berrien countv, 
J;muar\ 2. njoi. 

Jewell, Jonathan M. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, March 8, 1835; 
came to LaGrange in 1839; died in \Va\ne township DecemlDcr 20, igO'5. 

Jenkins. William Baldwin — Born in Green county, Pennsyh-ania, 
October 4, 1783; came to Pokagon in 1825; died June 16, 1845. 

Jones, Henry — Born in Randolph count}'. North Carolina, in 1790; 
came to Penn township in 1830, where he died in 1851. 

Jacks. J(jseph L. — Born in hj-ie county. Pennsylvania. May 18. 
1804; arrixed at Edwardshurg July 4. 1829; flied January 7. 1885: 
Alvira Pennell, his wife, l^orn Octoljer 17, 1824; died January 23, 1872. 

Jewell. James — Born in Ohio January 7. 1803: came to LaGrange 
in 1832; died April it,. 1877; his wife. Mary, horn in 1806; ihed 
November 26, 1883. 

Keene, Leonard — Born in North Carolina January 13, 1810; came 
to Cass county in 183 1, where he died May 24, 1879. 

Keene, Mrs. Alcy — Born in Clark county. Ohio, in 1814: came to 
Calvin township in 1832; died in JefTerson township October 23, 1888. 

Kingsbin-y. Asa — Born in Massachusetts May 28, 1806; came to 
Cassopolis in 1836; died March 10, 1883. 

Keeler, Lucius — Bom in Onondag;i count}-. New York, April 23, 
1816; came to Porter township in 18:57, where he died September 26, 
1883. 

Kelsey, James — Born in Had(b.n-|. Connecticut, No\-emher 3, iSio: 
came to Wavne township in 1839; died in LaGrange township October 
5, 1883. 

Kelsey, Mary Conipton — Born in Ontario countv. New York, in 
1817; came to the count\' with her husliand : died Februarv 22, if}00. 

Kirkwood, j\ndrew — Born in Scotland Julv 17, 1808; came to 
Wayne township in 1836; died in California March 13, 1891. 

Kirkwood, Lieutenant Alexander — Born in Ohio Septeniber zj. 
1834: came to Wayne in 1836; died in Chicago March 27, 1891. 

Kirkwood. James — Born in Scotland April 12, 181 1 : came to Wayne 
township in T836. where he died April 20. 1892. 

King. Samuel — Born in Sonierset countv. Pennsvlvania. in 1818; 
canie to Porter township ii-i 1828, where he died April 24, 1896. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 71 

King, George — Born in Fairfield, Oiiio; came to Porter township 
in 182S, where he died April 26. 1896. 

Kingsley, Charles R. — Born in Franklin, Massachusetts, May 21, 
183 1 ; came to Ontwa township in 1839; died January 2, 1902. 

Kinimerle, Henry — Born in Butler county, Ohio, June 17, 1830; 
came to Casso^xjlis in 1834: died in LaGrange township Alarch 16, 
1905. 

Kingsbury, Charles — Born in Massachusetts ]\Iay 4, 1812: came to 
Cassopolis in 1835; died December 23, 1876. 

Kelsey. Dr. William J. — Born in New York August 20'. 1839; 
came to LaGrange in 1839; died at Cassopolis November 29, 1893. 

Kingsley, Elijah — Born in Franklin county, Massachusetts, Octo- 
ber 5, 1796; came to Mason in 1839; died in Ontwa October 29, 1890. 

Lincoln, Bela — Born in Clinton county. New York, June 19, 1822: 
came to Young's Prairie in 1834: died Fehniary i, 1881, in Penn town- 
ship. 

Lee, Ishmael — Born in Blount county. Tennessee, ]\Iay 21. 181 5; 
came to Jefferson township in 1834; died in Iowa April 22. 1879. 

Long, Mrs. Elizabeth — Born in Lancaster county, Penns}l\nnia, in 
1788: came to Edwardsburg in 1835; died Januar\' 12, 1879. 

Lybrook, Henley C. — Born in Giles county, Virginia, November 28, 
1802: came to Pokagon May 15, 1830: died in Dowagiac July 6, 1882. 

Lybrook, Baltzer — Born in Giles county, Virginia, in 1824: came 
to Pokagon in 1828: died in Silver Creek, January i, 1886. 

Lii Porte, George — Born in Ohio in 1805 : came to Cass county in 
1833: died in Wayne township June 11, 1886. 

La Porte, Mrs. Ann — Bom in Virginia Angust 25, iSii; came to 
LaGrange township in 1834: died in LaGrange township July 2, 1887. 

Leach, Joshua — Born in Orleans county, Vermont, IMarch 12, 18 12; 
came to Young's Prairie in 1833, where he died April 4, 1890. 

Lilly. David — Born in Zanesville, Ohio, in 1814: came to LaGrange 
township in 1835, where he died March 18, 1894; his wife, Sarah Simp- 
son, born in 1823, came to LaGrange township in 1830. where she died 
April 3, 1902. 

Loomis, Nancy J. Peck — Born in Champaign county, Ohio, Decem- 
ber 14. 1828; came to Jefferson townsliip in 1836. where she died Janu- 
ary 31, 1895. 

Lybrook, Mrs. Mary Hurd — Born in England February 9. 182 1 : 
came to Newberg in 1836; died in LaGrange January 26, 1903. 

Lindsley, Elizabeth — Born in Rutland county, Vermont, November 
5, 1830; came to A'oung's Prairie in 1839; died in Jefferson March 19. 
1905- 



72 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Lawrence, Levi B. — Born in Chautauqua county, New York, June 

12, 1819; came to Volinia in September, 1832, where he died August 

13, 1895; liis wife, Esther Copley, born in Jefferson county, New York-, 
March 26, 1824, came to Vohnia in 1833; died April 28, 1904. 

La Porte, Catherine Tietsort — Born in Ohio in 1830; came to 
W'ajne township in 1834; died at Do wagiac January 21, 1902. 

Lee, Samuel H. — Born in Stafford county. New Hampshire, Au- 
gust 14, 1830; came to Edwardsburg in 1836; died September 17, 1904. 

Lofland, Joshua — Born in Milford, Delaware, September 8, 1818; 
came to Cassopolis in 1836; died February 2"], 1862; his wife, Lucetta 
Silver, born in New Hampshire February 10, 1823: died at Ham- 
mond, Indiana, February 2, 1905. 

Lybrook, John — Born in Giles county, Virginia, in October, 1798; 
came to LaGrange prairie in 1828; died May 25, 1881. 

Lockwood, Dr. Henry — Born in New York February 26, 1800; 
came to Edwardsburg in 1837; died at Dowagiac November 17, 1863; 
his wife, Sophia Peck, born in Connecticut October 9. 1809; died at 
Edwardsburg" November 24, 1853. 

Lee, Mason — Born in Massachusetts in 1779: came to Jefferson 
in 1833; died September 8, 1858; his wife, Clarinda, born in 1796; 
died May 12, 1866. 

Lee, Joseph W. — Born in New Hampshire January 10, 1807; 
came to Ontwa in 1836; died August 24, 1874: his wife, Maria 
Hastings, born June 20. 1800; died February 2, 1873; his son, Abiel 
S., born in Ontwa April 4, 1838; died July 13, 1871 ; his mother, 
Elizabeth Lee, born in New Hampshire August 11, 1772; came to 
Edwardsburg in 1836; died March 12, 1852. 

Lowery, William^ — Born in Delaware in 1822; came to Edw'ards- 
burg in 1836; died January 21, i860; his wife, Elizabeth Shanahan, 
born in 1817: died at Cassopolis February 21, 1874. 

Mead, Mrs. Clarissa Brown — Born in Otsego county, New York, 
December 11, 1805; came to Edwardsburg in 1834; died in Cassopolis 
July 28, 1879. 

McCleary, Ephraim — Born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, March 31, 
1808; came to Cass county in 1829; died in Warsaw, Indiana, May 16, 
]88o. 

McPherson, Joseph — Born in Ohio August 16, 1800; came to 
LaGrange township in 1829; died in LaPorte county. Indiana, Tulv 4, 
1879. 

Mosher, Ira D. — Burn October 26, 1802; came to Cass county 
February, 1838; died in Dowagiac November 27, 1880. 

Mowry, Mrs. Jane — Born in Hamburg. New York, in 1792; came 
to Howard township in 1836; died in Dowagiac February 25, 1879. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 73 

Miller, George S. — Born in Essex county, New Jersey, June i8, 
1817; came to Cass county in 1835; died Mason township January 24, 
1881. 

Merritt, Mrs. Adelia T. — Born in Onondaga county, New York, 
September 2, 1813; came to Baldwin's Prairie in 1836; died in Bristol, 
Indiana, January 10, 1881. 

McPherson, Sarah — Born in Virginia May 5, 1800; came to Cass 
county in 1829; died December 21, 1878. 

Marsh, Austin C. — Born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, July 
15, 1793; came to Edwardsburg in 1836, where he died June 3, 1886. 

Marsh, Mrs. Sarah Lofjand — Born in Kent county, Delaware, Feb- 
ruary 6, 1812; came to Cass county in 1836; died January 6, 1879. 

Mcllvain, Moses — Born in Lexington, Kentucky, February i, 1802; 
came to Jefferson township in 1836; died at Cassopolis October 18, 1883. 

Charity, Carmichael, wife of Moses Mclh-ain ; came to Jeffer- 
'son in 1836; died at Cassopolis May 12, 187 1. 

Meacham, Mrs. Eliza — Born in Delaware June 22, 1812; died at 
Union September 21, 1885. 

Merritt, Martin — Born in 1814: came to Cass county in 1833; died 
in Sumnerville May 20, 1886. 

Messenger, Mrs. Angeline Youngs — Born in Rising Sun, Indiana, 
y\ugust 16, 182 1 ; came to Cass county in 183 1 ; died in LaGrange town- 
ship March 18, 1887. 

McNeil, William B. — Born in Cayuga county. New York, Decem- 
ber 3, 1817; came to Mason township in 1835; died at Brownsville May 
II, 1887. 

Mcintosh, Duncan — Born in Baltimore, Maryland, May i, 1817; 
came to Penn township in 1829; died near Cassopolis May 29, 1887. 

Moore, James — Born in 1812; came to Cass county in 1838: died 
in Pokagon township January 28, 1892. 

Moore, Mrs. James — Came to Pokagon township in 1838, where she 
died April 21, 1889. 

McMullen, Eleanor — Born in Ohio September 15, 1820; came to 
Cass county in 1S37; died in Jefferson township October i, 1888. 

Meacham, Hiram — Born in Ontwa township May 26, 1834; died 
in Porter township August 31, 1898. 

Mosher, Harry C. — Born in Saratoga county. New York, June 17, 
1833; came to Cass county in 1838; died in Iowa February 27, 1900. 

Mowry, L. C. — Born in Erie county. New York, Februan,- 22, 1826 ; 
came to Cass county in 1836; died in Iowa June 30, 1900. 

McCoy, Henry — Born in Ohio July 27, 1833; came to Cass county 
in 1836; died at Marcellus February 10, 1901. 



74 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Mead, ilirani B. — Bern in Dutchess county, New Yurk, P'ebruary 
7, 18^4; came to Edwardshurg in 1834, where he ched Januaiy 11, 
1901. 

Merritt, Samuel K. — Burn in Bertrand, Michigan, June 24, 1836; 
came to Porter townsliip in same year, where he died Fehruary 16, 
1 90-'. 

Marshall, Joseph N. — Born in Stark county, Ohio, i\larch jg, 1825; 
came to Jefferson township in 1836: died at Cassopolis August 17, 1904. 
Marshall, Mrs. Lovina— Born in Jefferson township in 183 1; died 
July 5, 1889. 

Mcintosh, Mary — Born in Penn township in 1834; died at Cas- 
sopolis October 20, 1904, as Mrs. Mathews. 

Meacham, George — Born in Oneida count)-. New York. June 18, 
1799.; came to Beardsley's Prairie in April. 1827; died at Baldwin's 
Prairie January 2. 1888. 

Mcintosh. Daniel — Born March 13, 1805, in Alleghany county, 
Maryland: came to Cass county in 1831. where he died M;irch 13, 
1890. 

Morris, Samuel — Born in Ohio in 1824: came to Cass county in 
1828: died in Volinia April 19, 1895. 

Messenger, Carroll — Born in Litchfield, Connecticut, February 7, 
. i8o9'; came to Cass county in 1833; '''^d in LaGrange June 21. 1896. 

McCallister. Mrs. Marian — Born in Scotland in 1807: came to 
Pokagon in 1836, where she died September 21, 1896. 

McOmber, Daniel — Born in New York in 1828: came to Wayne 
towi;ship in 1837; died in DoAvagiac May 2. 1897. 

Manning, John — ^Born in New York : came to Marcellus township 
in 1836, where he died March 11, 1898. 

McNeil, George B. — Born in Cayuga county. New York, May 12, 
1832; came to Ma,son township in 1835; died at Cassopolis May 8, 1905. 
Miller, Jacob E. — Born in Ohio January i, 1824; came to Cass 
county in i830'; died in Buchanan, Michigan, March 14, 1905. 

Masten, John M. — Born in, Kent county, Delaware, in 1829; came 
to Cass county in 183 1 ; died in rioward township April 27, 1906. 

McOmber. James — Born in Berkley, Massachusetts, February 28. 
1801 ; came to Wayne township in 1835; died in 1848. 

Mcintosh, Daniel, Sr. — Born in Scotland in i7^>5: came to Penn 
in 1829; died July 2, 1851. 

McKenney, Tliomas — Born in \\'ashingtnn county. New A'nrk, in 
1781 ; came to McKenney's prairie in 1827; died in Iowa in 1852. 

Mead, Barak — ^Born in Dutchess county, New York, in 1802 ; came 
to Edwardsburg in 1834; died at Cassopolis in 1874. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 75 

Mansfield, William — Born in New York in i8i i ; came to Cass- 
opolis in 1838; died in 1869; Margaret Bell, his wife, horn in Ireland 
1817; died April 18, 1896. 

iMiller, Ezra — Bfjm in Erie county, New York, July <\ 1808: 
came to Edwardsburg- in 1835: died January 26, 1884; his wife, 
Maria Best, born in 1816: came to Edwardsburg in 1838; died Janu- 
aiy 2, 1883. 

Morelan, Joseph — Born in Virginia Seiiteniher 11, 1797: came to 
Volinia in 1829; died February 16, 1854; his wife, Sarah Poe, born 
in Ohio August 15, 1805; died . 

May, Russell G. — Born in New Y<_)rk in 1S04: came to Cass 
county in 1837; died in Ontwa October 8, 1886: his wife, Hannah, born 
in 1805; ched March 20, 1871. 

Mead, Flenry — Born in New York in 1797: came to Edwards- 
burg in 1836: died July 17, 1842: his wife, Mary, died at Niles ; 

his daughter, Mary, born in 1827; died July 24, 1850. as Mrs. P. A. 
Lee. 

Alorris, Dolphin — Born in Ross county, Ohio, in 1798; came to 
Pokagon in 1828 and to Volinia in 1829. and here died January 7, 
1870. 

Morris, Henrv — And his wife, Esther Jones, son and daughter of 
pioneer parents, were murdered during the night of September 28, 
1879, at their farm home in VanBuren county, adjoining Volinia. 

Miller. John P. — Born in Pennsylvania February 18. 1809; came 
to Jefferson in J 830: died September 28. 1889. 

Nash. Ira — Born in Danbury. Connecticut. August 12. 1806; came 
to Diamond Lake in 1828: died January 26. 1881. 

Norton, Levi D. — Born in Ohio ; came to Jefferson township in 
1S28: died in Calvin township November 7. 1872. 

Norton. Martha Mcllvain — Born in Ohio November 26, 1810; 
came to Calvin township in 1832, where she died January 10, 1883. 

Newton, George — ^Born in Preble county, Ohio, August 10. 18 10; 
came to Penn township in 183 1. to Volinia in 1832, where he died 
January 23, 1883. 

Nixon, Hannah — Born in Penn township August 6. 1835. where she 
died June 18, 1885. 

_ Norton, Pleasant — ^Born in Grayson county, Virginia, in 1806; 
came to Jefferson township in 1832, where he died in 1877. 

Norton, Mrs. Rachel Fukery — Born in Highland county, Ohio, 
May 28, 180S; came to Jefferson township in 1832, where she died 
March 17, 1887. 

Norton, Sampson — Born in 182 1 ; came to Cass county in 1829; 
died in Calvin tovvnship May 3. 1892. 



7() HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Newton, Hester Green — Born March 25, 1819; came to Cass county 
in 1831; died in Volinia township April 21, 1892. 

Nixon, Esther Jones — Born in Preble county, Ohio, January 27, 
1814; came to Penn township in 1830; died November 10, 1894. 

Nicholson, John W. — Born in Champaign county, Ohio, in 183 1; 
came to Cass county in 1834; died in Iowa about 1895. 

Nothrup. Asahel D. — Born in Rutland county, Vermont, February 
13, 1822; came to Cass county in 1836; died in Calvin March 15, 1898. 

Norton, Jane — Born in Logan county, Ohio, December 5, 1807; 
came to Jefferson township in 18291; died June i, 1898. 

Northrop, Spafford B. — Born in Vermont in 1828; came to Calvin 
township in 1836; died in Wexford county, Micliigan, September 26, 
1898. 

Nicholson, Ambrose — Born in Batavia, New York, July 3, 1834; 
came to Cass county in 1837; died at Kalamazoo July i, 1904. 

Neave, John — Born in England in 1780; came to Ontwa in 1836; 
died January 23, 1864: his wife, Mary Ann, born in 1805: died May 
II, 1862. 

Nixon, John — Born in North Carolina September 10, 1798: came 
to Penn in 1830; died June 10, 18S2. 

O'Dell, Nathan — Born in Highland county, Ohio, September 8, 
1819; came to Cass county with his father, James O'Dell, in 1832; died 
in Penn township February 22, 1880. 

O'Dell, John — Born in Montgomery county, New York, February 
17, 1806; came to Mason township in 183'^, where he died November 
15. 1878. 

Oxenford, Mrs. Sally Grennell — Born at Onondaga county. New 
York, July 17, 1830; came to Cass county in 1834; died at Vandalia 
July 12". 18S8. 

Oren, James — Born in Clinton county. Ohio, January 29. 1823; 
came to Calvin in 1838; died at Cassopolis February 22, 189 1. 

O'Dell, Thomas — Born in Porter township in 183 1 ; died January 
30, 1882. 

Osborn, Ellison — Born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1823; came 
to Calvin township in 1835; died in Arkansas March 10, 1897. 

Osborn, Ellen — Born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1834; came to 
Calvin township in 1835 ; died in Elkhart, Indiana, as Mrs. Jackson, 
May 19, 1897. 

Olmstead, William — Born in Ohio, March 15, 1835; came to How- 
ard township in 1837, where he died March 10, 1898. 

Osborn, Leander — Born in Economy, Indiana, December 27, 1825 ; 
came to Calvin township in 1835; died at Vandalia June 13, 1901. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 77 

Osborn, Susannah East — Born in Wayne county. Indiana, October 
lO, 1829; came to Calvin township in 1833; died September 21, 1902. 

O'Dell, James S. — Born in Porter township January 10. 1830; 
died December 18, 1903. 

O'Dell, James — Born in Virginia July 20. 1799: came to Penn 
in 1832 ; died . 

Osborn, Jefferson — Born in Wayne county. Indiana. January 2, 
1824; came to Calvin in 1835; died April 4. 1901. 

Olmstead, Sylvester — Born in Connecticut in 1780; came to Ed- 
wardsburg in 1836; died Februar}- 3. 1861 : his wife, Polly, liorn in 
1775; died August 3. 1837. 

Olmsted, Samuel C. — Born in Connecticut July 10. 1801 : came 
to Ontwa in 1836; died — . 

Putnam, Mrs. Anna Chapman — Born in Kent. Connecticut. Janu- 
ary 19, 1792: came to Pokagon in November. 1825; died in Pokagon 
Prairie. October 15. 1880: mother of first white child born in Cass 
county. 

Putnam, Uzziel, Jr. — Born in Pokagon Prairie August 12. 1826: 
died at Pokagon February 10, 1879. 

Peck. Rachel — Born in Harrison county. Virginia. October 29. 
1798: came to Jefferson township in 1836. where she died April 15. 
1884 : wife of Marcus Peck. 

Peck, "William W. — Born in Shelby county. Ohio'. September 22. 
1830: came to Cass county with his father. Marcus Peck, in 1836; 
died in Cassopolis April 5, 1879. 

Putnam, James M. — Born in Jefferson township in 1838: died in 
Kansas February 15, 1879. 

Palmer. Joseph — Born in Saratoga count)-. New Ycjrk. ■March 5. 
1817; came to ^^d^itmanviIle in 18^2; died at Dowagiac November 9. 
1878. 

Palmer. Jared — Born in Saratoga county. New York, in 1809: came 
to Whitmanville in 1832; died at Paw Paw January 18, 1879. 

Philbrick, Mrs. Eleanor Goodrich — Born in Meadowbrook, Con- 
necticut, in 181 7; came to Cassopolis in 1838; died at Grand Rapids No- 
vember 9, 1885. 

P'oe. Charles R^ — Born in Crawford county. Ohio, April 2~. 1819: 
came to Poe's Corners in 1835, where he died May 19, 1888. 

Parker, John — Born in Ohio in 181 1; came to Calvin township in 
183 1 ; died in Nebraska March 8, 1897. 

Pemberton. Reason S. — Bom in Wayne county. Indiana. March 
2^, 1822; came to Penn township in 1836; died in Marcellus April 27, 
1896. 



7b HISTORY OF CASS COLW I V 

I'olldck, William — Ijorn in Treble county, Ohio, August 6, 1820; 
came to Cass county in 1830; died at Cassoix>lis June 3, 1894; his wife, 
Harriet C. Shanahan, born in Delaware June 25, 1833, came to Edwards- 
burg in 1834; died at Cassopolis June 18, 1902. 

Putnam, Orlean — Born in Jefferson county. New York, May 7, 
i8o9'; came to Cass county in 1827; died in La(irange township Jan- 
uary 19, 1886. 

Pitcher, Silas A. — Born in Logan county, Ohio ; came to Wayne 
township in 1839; died September 7, 1897. 

I\illock, James — Born m Preble county, Ohio, February 19, 1822 ; 
came to LaGrange township in 1836; died in Penn October 16, 1898. 

Putnam, Ziltha — Born in Ohio in 1823; came to P<ik:igon in 1825, 
where siie died January 22, 1900, as Mrs. Jones. 

Pemberton, Eliphalet — Bom in Virginia in 1822; came to Penn 
township in 1836; died in Emmet county, Michigan, May 17, 1906. 

Palmer, William K. — Born in Livingston county. New York, in 
1825: came to Wayne townshi): in 1837; died at Dowagiac March 21, 
1902. 

Price, Re\'. Jacob — Born in South Wales March 28, 1799; came 
to LaGrange in 1833: died August 8, 1871 ; Ann Price, an English 
lady, his wife, came with him and died October 9, 1833; his second 
wife. Sarah Bennett, born in Vermont 1810: died at Cassopolis in i88('). 

Rudti, Barker F. — Born in Vermont in 1800; came to Cass county 
in 1834; died in Newberg township February 22, 1880. 

Riiiehart, Mrs. Annie — ^Born in Ohio in 181 2; died near Union 
June 7, T889: wife of Lewis Rinehart. 

Rinehan, Lewis — Born in Virginia December 5, 1807; came to 
Cass county Feliruary 28, 1829; died at Baldwin's Prairie December 6, 
1879. 

Richmond. Mrs. Nancy — Born in Ohio February i, 1815; came to 
Porter township about 1835; died July 11, 1879. 

Rinehart, John — Born in Rockingham count}', Y^irginia, June 5, 
1814; came to Young's Prairie in February, 1829: died in Porter town- 
ship February 20, 1881. 

Runkle, IMargaret Wilson — Born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, 
December q, iStS; came to Beardslev's Prairie in 1838': died Mav 24, 
1881. 

Rcarnes, Moses — Born in, Northamjjton county, North Carolina, 
May 27. 1797; came to Jefferson township in 1828, where he died De- 
cember 6, 1878. 

Rinehart, Abram — Born in Rockingham county. \'irginia. Janu- 
ary 5. 1817; came to Porter township in 1829. where he died September 
2, 1895. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 79 

Reneston, William — Born in Mifflin county, Pennsylvania, March 
13, 1796; came to LaGrange township in 1830; died August 5, 1882. 

Rosbrough, John — Born in Ohio in 1812; came to Jefferson town- 
ship in 1833, where he died August 23, 1882. 

Reames, Mary Colyar — Born in North Carolina, November 15, 1812; 
came to Cass county in 1831 ; died in Jefferson township April i, 1884. 

Root Mrs. Jane — Born in Erie county Pennsylvania, July 2, 181 1; 
came to Cass county in 183 1 ; died at Dowagiac March 5, 1887. 

Redfield, George — Born in Connecticut October 6, 1 796 ; came to 
Ontwa township in 1835, where he died October 29, 1887. 

Reames, W. D. — Born in 1820; came to Cass county in 1828; 
died in Cassopolis January 12, 1892; his wife, Rhoda Pearson, born in 
Logan county, Ohio, in 1822, came to Jefferson in 1831: died at Cass- 
opolis August 26, 1902. 

Rudd, Harry L. — Born in Rutland county, Vermont, in January, 
1821 ; came to Penn township in 1835; died in Oregon August 7, 1892. 

Reames, Levi — Born in Logan county, Ohio, November 13, 1824; 
came to Jefferson township in 1828, where he died April 2, 1894. 

Rinehart, John W. — Born in Porter township' January 21, 1834; 
died in Penn July 17, 1893. 

Rodgers, John — Born in Preble county, 'Ohio, August 13, 1815; 
came to Cass county in 1828; died in Pokagon May 8, 1895. 

Rudd, Orson — Born in Vermont September i, 1827; came to Cass 
county in 1837; died in North Dakota September 2, 1896. 

Rinehart, Jacob — Born in Rockingham, Virginia, in June, 1804; 
came to Porter in 1829, where he died May 2, 1897. 

Read, Sylvador T. — Born in Tompkins county, New York, Janu- 
ary 12, 1822; came to the county in 183 1; died in Cassopolis Januaiy 
15'. 1898. 

Reames, Nancy A. — Born in Logan county, Ohio, in 1826; came 
to Jefferson township in 1834; died in LaGrange township Juh' i, 1898, 
as Mrs. Neff. 

Robbins, David H. — Born in Geauga county, Ohio, in 1828; came 
to Ontwa township in 1S36, where he died April 29, 1899; his wife, 
Marien Grant, born in Indiana in ; died June 10, 1861. 

Rogers, Hiram — Born in Morris county, Nev/ Jersey, January 16, 
1802; came to Milton township in 1831, where lie died April 17, 1889. 
Lory, his wife, born in 1810; died April 29, 1868. 

Reames, Huldah Colyar — Born in Logan county, Ohio, April 25, 
1815; came to Cass county in 1830; died September 23, 1900. 

Ross, Richard C. — Born in Stark county, Ohio, March 20, 18 14; 
came to Mason township in 1832, where he died April 22, 1901. 



80 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Reames, Melissa — Burn in Logan county, Ohio, May 24, 1827; 
came to Jefferson tov\nship in 1828, where slie died March 13, 1900, 
as Mrs. J. L. Stephenson. 

Read, I^iayette R. — Born in Tompkins county, New York, August 
5, 1804; came to Calvin township in 1833; died in Cassopolis June 24, 
1900. 

Rinehart, Christina — ^Born in Rockingham county. Virginia, July 
4. 18 19; came to Young's Pran-ie in 1829; died in Porter township July 

18, 1900, as Mrs. W. H. Stevens. 

Ross, Mahitable Bogart — Born in Genesee county. New York, April 
I, 1815; came to Edwardsburg in August, 18291; died in Mason town- 
ship January i, 1901. 

Reece, Rebecca A. — Born in Chenango county. New York, h>b- 
mary 22, 1828; came to Cass county in 1836; died in Newberg Decem- 
ber 17, 1900. 

Reames, Jeremiah B. — Bom in Logan county, Ohio, in 1825; came 
to Jefferson township in 1831, where he died December 17, 1901. 

Reese, J. Raymond — Born in Tioga county. New York, March 29, 
1S33: came to Ontwa township in 1835; died at Edwardsburg February 
22, 1902. 

Rogers, William A. — Born in Preble county, Ohio, October 27. 
1827; came to Pbkagon in 1828; died October 6, 1902. 

Roberson, Lewis B. — Born in Cass county February 13, 1837; 
died in LaGrange November 17, 1902; his wife, Adaline Tarbos, Ixirn at 
McKinney's Prairie November 22, 1837, died May 21, 1905. 

Root, Fber — Born in 1799: came to Cassopolis in 1832; died June 

19, 1S02; his wife, Eliza VVills, born in Green county, Ohio, October 
19, 1816, came to Edwardsburg in 183 1 : died April 25, 1904. 

Richardson, Evaline Meacham — Born in Porter township October 
16. 183c; died March 3, 1905. 

Rodgers, Alexander — Born in Rockliridge county, Virginia ; came 
to Pokagon township in 1828, where he died in 1866. 

Reynolds, John — Born in Ohio in 1816; came to Cassopolis in 
1838; died September 24, 1874; his wife. Lucinda Fletcher, born in 
i8'i8: died in 1873. 

Robbins, Harry J. — Born in New York, August 17, 1815; came to 
Cass co'unty in 1832; died Mav 26, 1888; his wife, Rebecca, born in 
1818: died March "7, 1866. 

Rodgers, Alexander — Born in Virginia in 1788'; came to Pokagon 
in 1828; died in 1867. 

Reading, Augustine — Born in New York September 11. 1802; 
came to Ontwa in 1831 : died in VanBuren county May 9, 1882; his 
wife, Catherine, born July 26, 1813; died December 2, 1885. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY bl 

Rich, Samuel — Born in North Carohna in 1802 ; came to Vohnia 
in 1829; died February 20, 1873. 

Rich, John H. — Born in VoHnia October 21, 1829; first white 
child born in Volinia township. 

■Robinson, Nathan — Born in New York Novemlier 15, 182O'; came 
to Jefferson in 1840; died September 3, 1879; his wife, Margaret 
Hanson, born in New York; died June 16, 1891. 

Robbins, Milton B. — Born in Ohio in 1806: came to Cass county 
in 1836; died in Ontwa March 26, 1S81 ; his wife, Sarah VanTuyle, 
born in 1804; died May 5, 1870. 

Ritter, John — Born in Virginia March 31. ly^jj^; came tO' La- 
Grange prairie in 1829; killed by lightning August 31. 1829; his wife, 
Sarah Lybrook, born December 30, 179(3; died January 23, 1834; his 
daughter, Miss Hannah, born May 24. 1818; died June 25, 1882, at 
Cassopolis. 

Smith, George — Born in Sussex count)-, Delaware, September 22, 
1810; came to Ed\^•ar(lsburg■ in October, 1828; died in Alilton town- 
ship January 25, 1880. 

Smith, Major Joseph — Born in Botetourt county, Virginia, April 
II, 1809; came to Calvin township in 1831; died in Cassopolis April 
18, 1880, 

Silver, Rev, Abiel — Born in Flopkinton, New Hampshire, April 
30, 1797; came to Edwardsburg in 183 1; died at Boston March 27, 
1 881. 

Sears, iNIrs. Margaret — Born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, Feliruary 
8, 1816; came to LaGrange township in 1840: died in LaGrange town- 
ship March 30, 1881. ^ 

Spencer, Joseph — Born in Madison county. New York, in jVugust. 
1813; came to Wavne township in 183^, where he died b'ehruarv 27, 
1881. 

Scott, Greenlee — Born in Lx)gan county, Ohio, in 1806; came to 
Cass county in 1830; he and wife, Mary Grubb Sci:itt, died in Api'il, 
1 88 1, in Iowa. 

Shaffer, Peter — Born in Rockingham, Virginia, January 10, 1791 ; 
came to Young's Prairie in 1828; died in Calvin July 13, 1880. 

Story, Mrs, Sophia Boots — Bom in England August 20, 181 1; 
came to Porter township in 1836, with husband, Ozail ; died November 
21, 1880. 

Springsteen. John — Born in Rockland county, New York, February 
16, 1802; came to LaGrange township in 18^7, where he died October 
31, 1880. 

Springsteen, Romelia — Born in New York August 27, 1814; came 
ti5 LaGrange in 1837, where she died May 8, 1891. 



82 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Sulli\an, James — Dorn in Elxeter, New Hampshire, Decemljer 6. 
1811: came to Cassopolis in 1839; died in Dowagiac August 19, 1878. 

Smith, Ezekiel S. — Born in Oneida county, New York, in September 
181 1 ; came to Cassoptiiis in 1839; died in Chicago February 22, 1879. 

Squiers. Samuel — Born in Greene county, New York, June 4, 1801 ; 
came to VoHnia township m 1836, where he died December 9, 1882. 

Squiers, Elza — Born in Pennsylvania January 14, 1802; came to 
Cassopolis in 1831 ; died in Volinia township March 6, 1883. 

Smith, Mrs. Hannah Harden — ^Born in Ohio in January, 1826; 
came to Cass county in 1834: died in Cah'in December 14, 1885; wife 
of Joseph G. Hayden. 

Stephenson, Ira — Born in Logan county, Ohio, February 24, 1827; 
came to Cass county in June, 1834; died in Jefferson township December 
26, 1 886. 

Shanahan, Peter — Born in Delaware, 1797; came to Milton town- 
ship in 1834; died at Xiles March 7. 1887. 

Shellhammer, Aaron — Born in 1817: came to Cass county in 1839; 
died at Union June 8, 1889. 

Shaw, ]Mrs. Eliza J. Smith — Born in Jefferson township in 1834; 
<lied March 18, 1888. 

Sherman, Elias B. — Born in Oneida county. New York : came to 
Cassopolis in 1829, where he died November 14, 1890. 

Stretch, John — Born in W'a^ne county, Incliana, December 25, 1825; 
cr.me to Cass c(iunt\' in 1833; died April 30, 1892. 

Stevens, Andrew — Born in Ohio Octolier 28, 1822: came to La- 
Grange in 1833. where he died .\ugust 2^. 1892. 

Smith, I^zekiel C. — Born in Erie county. New York, June 6, 181 1; 
c;ime to Howard township in 1835, where he died July 30, 1894. 

Stephenson, Sanuiel — Born in Logan county, Ohio, in 1819; came 
to Cass county in 1834; died in Jefferson township April 10, 1895. 

Sammons, .\ndrew J. — Born in New York. Decemlier 26, 1834; 
came to P(jkag<in in 1837; died in Illinois August 21, 1894. 

Shaft'er, General George T. — Born in Ohio October 9, 1821; came 
to Calvin township in 1832, where he died July 24, 1895. 

Smith, William — Born in England November 10, 1814: came to 
Silver Creek in 1840, where he died January 22. 1896. 

Smith, Cannon — Born in Sussex county. Delaware; came to Mil- 
ton township in 1828, where he died February i, 1896. His wife, Sarah 
Dunning, born in b'rie county. Pennsylvania. September 13, 1824; came 
to Milt'in towH'^liip in 1836; died in Ontwa November 17, 1904. 

Sherwood. George — Born in Dutchess county. New York, in 1819; 
came to E<lwar(lsl)urg in the "30s; died in Chicago April 18, 1896. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 83 

Stevens, David R. — Born in Oneida county. New York. August i6. 
1822; came to Mason township in 1835. where he died June 4, 1896. 

Strickland, Mrs. Jane — Born in Butler county. Ohio, March 17. 
1826; came to LaGrange in 1831 ; died May 3. 1896. 

Shanafelt. Nehemiah — Born in Pickaway county. Ohio, in 1823: 
came to Cass county in 1835; '^1'^'' '" LaGrange township February 2, 
1897. 

Smith, Jemmima Lippincott — Born in Clark county. Ohio, in 181 1; 
came to Cass county in 1832: died in Cassopolis May 30, 1897. 

Stephenson. Eri — Born in Logan county, Ohio, in 1832: came 
to Cass county in 1834; died in Penn township September 20, 1896. 

Sheldon, William R. — Born in Connecticut in 1813; came to Ontwa 
township in 1835; died at Edwardsburg January 11, 1897. 

Sherman, Sarah Silver — Born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, April 
I, 1807; came to Cassopolis in 1832; died in February, 1897. 

Smith, .Andrew J. — Born in Ross county. Ohio. September 2. 1818; 
came to Edwardsburg in 1840: died at Cassopolis May 2. 1897. 

Shanahan, Mary Lowery — Born in Milford, Delaware, May 2j, 
1809: came to Cass county in 1834; died at Cassopolis February 2^,, 
1898. 

Silver, Benjamin F. — Born in Hopkinton. New Hampshire, in 1S08; 
came to Cass county in 183 1 ; died in Pokagon December 9, 1897. 

Sutton. Levi and Lucy — Born, res])ecti\'elv. in 1818 and 1822, in 
■Ohio; came to Porter townshi]) in 1840: died in July and June, 1S98. 

Shaffer, Abraham — Born in Clark county, Ohio, in 1828; came to 
Calvin township in 1832; died in California November 30, 1897. 

Sturr, Joseph W. — Born in Burgen county. New Jersey. November 
28. 1816; came to Wayne township in 1839. where he died February 12, 
1899. 

Smith. Wesley — Born in Sussex. Delaware, in 182 1 ; came to Ed- 
wardsburg in 1828; died in Milton township February 18. 1899; his 
wife. Almeda. born in Erie county. Pennsylvania, in 1826: died in 
IMilton townshi]) June 18. 1892. 

Shaw. James — Born in Berlin, New York, February 28. 1813: came 
to Howard township in 1840, where he died December 11, 1898. 

Stretch, William — Born in Ohio in 1827 ; came to Cass county in 
183 1 : died in Pokagon February 6, 1903. 

Smith, Hemy \\ . — Born in Stark county, Ohio, April 12, 1818; 
came to Cass county in 1832; died in Indiana April 4, 1904. 

Stephenson, Celia — Born in Logan county, Ohio, March 20, 1817, 
came to Jeffers(_)n township about 183 1, where she died March 14, igo2, 
as Mrs. Williams. 



8-i HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Si!\-er, Orrin — Born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, December 12, 
i8t2: came to Edwardsburg in 1835, where he died March 27, 1899; 
liis wife, Abigail Fifield, born in New Hampshire in 1815; died at Ed- 
wardsburg December 12, 1898. 

Slianafelt, WiUiam H. — Born in Pickaway county, Ohio, Decem- 
l]er 24, 1824; came to Cassopolis in 1835; died May 22, 1900. 

Silver, Mar\" — Born in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, September 20, 
1816; came to Ontw-a in 1837: died at Cassopolis February 14, 1902. 

Sherwood, Charles — Born in Dutchess county. New York; came 
to Edwardsburg in 183 1 : died in Mishawaka, Indiana. January 10, 
1900. 

Shurte, \\'illiam — Born in Cassopolis April 29, 183(1: died in La- 
Grange Noxember 12, 1003. 

Stephenson, John H. — Born in Logan county, Ohio, in 182 1 ; came 
to Jefferson township in 1832; died December 31, 1904. 

Springsteen, Le\i — Born in Ontario county. New- York, March 10, 
1815; came to I^aCirange township in 1836; died June 9, 1905. 

Shaw, James S. — Burn in Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1827: came 
to Penn township in 1831; died in Volinia township January 18, 1905. 

Slianafelt, Rachael — Born in Pickaway county, Ohio, October 13. 
1S24; came to Cassopolis in 1835: died in LaGrange No\-ember 10, 
1904, as Mrs. Umberfield. 

Simpson, Moses W. — Born in Pembroke. New Hampshire, May 
16, 1808: came to Pokagon in 1836, where he died June 16, 1849. 

Scjuier, Daniel C. — Born in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, March 
2^, 1800; came to Cassopolis in 1831 ; died in Volinia township Tulv 28, 
1873. ^ . " ' 

Savage, John — Born at Salem, Massachusetts, June 1, 1788: came 
to Marcellus township in ]8_|o, where he died November, 1878. 

Shanahan, Judge Clifford — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, Feb- 
ruary 4, 1805 ; came to Edwardsburg in 1834 and to Cassopolis in 
1841 ; died Au.gust i, 1865; his wife, Mary Lower}-, born in Delaw-are 
on May 27, 1809; died at Cassopolis February 23, 1898. 

Scares, Richard — Born in Pennsvh-ania in 1771 : came to Cassopo- 
lis in 1836: died September 26, 1838. 

Scares, Isaac — Born in Connecticut in 1795 : came to LaGrange 
in 1836: died October 15, 1839; Mary, his wife, born in 1796; died 
April 24, 187O'. 

Shanafelt, William — Born in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1794: came to 
Cassopolis in 1835; ^^^'^ March 28, 1864: his wife, Elizabeth Ernest, 
born in 1802: died December 24, 1S62. 

Shellhammer, Daniel — Born in Germanv in 1785: came to Porter 
in 1827; died in 1873. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 85 

Shurte, Isaac — Born in New Jersey July ii, J 778; came to Cassop- 
olis in 1830; died in LaGrange March 2, 1886; his wife, Mary Wright, 
born in New Jersey June 11, 1801 ; died January 5, 1892. 

Suits, Jacob — Born in New York in 1798; came tu Sih'er Creek 
in 1836; died . 

Sheilhammer, John — Born in Penns)-lvania Septemlier 11, 181 1; 
came to Porter in 1828; died . 

Silver, John — -Born in New Hampshire in 1763: came to Edwards- 
burg in 1830; died in Indiana in 1843. 

- Silver, Jacob' — Born in New Hampshire in 178(1; came to Ed- 
wardsburg in 1830 and to^ Cassopolis in 1832; died Novemlier 5, 1872; 
Abigail Piper, his wife, died in New Hampshire; second wife, Maria 
Goodrich, born in 1796; died at Cassopolis December 14, 1876. 

Silver. Jeremiah — Born in New Hampshire in 1790; came tu Ed- 
wardsburg in 1836: died in Pokagon April 19, 187(1; he built the coun- 
ty's first poor house. 

Silver, Margaret — Born in New Hampshire in 1799: came to Ed- 
wardsburg in 1837; died in Indiana as Mrs. Seth Straw. 

Silver. Joan — Born in New Hampshire in 1802; came to Edwards- 
burg in 1837; died as Mrs. Timothy Straw. 

Silver, Josiah — Born in New Hampshire 1794; came to Edwards- 
burg in 1837; died in 1870. 

Shanahan, Edward — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, in 1806 ; 
came to Jefferson in 1832; died at Kilburn, Wisconsin. October 21, 
1891 ; his wife, RelDecca Kimmey. born July 30, 1810; died at Ed- 
wardsburg October 24, 1889. 

Scares, William — Born in Erie county, Pennsylvania. June 10. 
1817; came to Cassopolis in 1836: died March 18. 1894. 

Smith, Jacob — Born in Germany in 1778: came to Ontwa in 1830: 
died August 2^. 1849; '''i'^ wife. Elizabeth, born in 1790; died ;\lav 
■24, 1864. 

Tirauions. John B. — Born in Butler county. Ohio. June 13. 1816; 
came to Cass countv in 1834; died in Howard township August 30, 
1878. 

Thomas, J. Hubbard — Born in Salisbury, Vermont, September 8, 
1807; came to Mason township in Mav. 1839; died in Jefferson townshi)> 
May 3, 1884. 

Tliarp. Mrs. Rebecca Hatfield — Born in Hardin county, Ohio, in 
183s; came to Cass countv in 18^8; died at Jamestown December 11, 
1885. 

Tinkler. Thomas W. — Born in Erie county. New York, May 6, 
181 1 : came tc Wayne township in April, 1839, where he died April 



86 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Tliarp, Lucinda Jane — Born in Kentucky in 1799; came to Calvin 
in 1839. where she died February 15. 1884. 

Tliarp, Laban — Born in Logan county, Ohio, March 16, 1816; 
came to Jefferson township in 1828, where he (hed October 21, 1880. 

Tnwusend, Charlotte Hunter — Born in Champaign county, Ohio, 
lulv iJ, 1S.21 : came to Cass county in 1831 : died in I^Grange Novem- 
iier 2, 1898. 

Thomiison, Mrs. Harriet — Born in 1814: came to Cass county in 
1S37; died near Vandalia May 3, 18S9. 

Townsend, Gamaliel — Born in York, Canada, January 20, 1802; 
came to LaGrange township in 1826, where he died August 23, i88g. 

Townsend. Charlotte Hunter — Born in Champaign county, Ohio, 
[ulv 12, 1821 ; came to Cass county in 1831 ; died in LaGrange Novem- 
l)er 2, 1898. 

Thar]), Lvdia O. — Born in Logan county. Ohio, January 10, 1817; 
came to Cass county in 1827; died Septeml>er 15, 1893. 

Thar]i, Christena Maxson — Born in Logan county, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 17, 1827; came to Jefferson township in 1840, where she died Sep- 
tember II, 1 890. 

Tietsort, Alamanza — Born in LaGrange township March 28, 1834; 
died in Jefferson township December 8, 1890. 

Trattles, William — Born in England in 1814; came to Porter town- 
ship in 1837, where he died February 21, 1891. 

Tomlinson, Dorcas L.— Born in Delaware May g-, 18 10; came to 
Cass county in 1835: died in LaGrange township December 23, 1891. 

Tietsort, John — Born in Butler county, Ohio, November 22, 1826; 
came to Cassopolis in 1830, where he died April 29, 1893. 

Ellen S. Sherman, wife of John Tietsort, torn in Cassopolis Octo- 
ber 21, 1833; died August 26, 1862. 

Tietsort. Peter — Born in Butler county, Ohio, January 28, 1808; 
came to Cass county in 1830; died in Illinois February 10, 1895; his 
wife, Nancy Wood, bom in Virginia in 1806, came to the county in 
1835; "^''^'l '" Illinois August 31, 1898. 

Thompson, Henry — Born in Vermont in 18 181; came tO' Cass county 
in 1838; died in Mason township March 26, 1895. 

Thorpe, Dr. A. L. — Bom in Ohio Noveml)er g, 1826; came to 
Cass county in 1832; died in Mishawaka, Indiana, February 27, 1895. 

Thomas, Eunice Townsend — Born in Brandon, Vermont, April 24, 
1812: came to Mason township in 1839, where she died July 29, 1896, 

Traverse, Aseneth E. Shivel — Bom in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
October 10, 1827; came to Porter township in 1833; died at Cassopolis 
July 6. I go I. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 87 

Tietsort, Elizabeth Waldron — Born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1813; 
came to LaGrange township in 1830; died April 17, 1897. 

Thompson, James — Born in Ohio in 1819; came to Penn township 
in 1829; died in Dowagiac June 9, 1898. 

Truitt, John M. — Born in Sussex! county, Delaware, in 1820; came 
to Milton township in 1831; died at Edwardsburg January 26, 1899. 

Tharp, William Z. — Born in Logan county, Ohio, February 7, 
1827; came to Jefferson township in 1830; died November 17, 1898. 

Tietsort, Sarah A. — Born in Darke county, Ohio, February '25, 
1832: came to Volinia in 1832: died June 2, 1901, as Mrs. Ferrell. 

Truitt, Henry P. — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, April 25, 
1824; came to Milton township in 183 1 ; died April 23, 1902. 

Tharp, John L. — Born in Logan county, Ohio, February 28, i828-; 
came to Cass county in 1840; died at Brownsville April 25, 1902. 

Tietsort, Julia Fisher — ^Born in Richland county, Ohio. January 21, 
1831 ; came to LaGrange in 1835; died July 29, 1902. 

Tietsort, Henry^ — Bom in Butler county, Ohio, January 26, 1817; 
came to Cassopolis in 1829; died September 26, 1903. 

Turner, George B. — Born in Franklin county, New York, March 
I, 1822; came to Cassopolis in 1836; died April 15, 1903. 

Harriet Monroe, wife of George B. Turner; born in 1827; came 
to Cassopolis in 1835; died November 5, 1858; Charlotte Tytherleigh, 
second wife, born in England in 1819; died November 25, 1893. 

Tietsort, Ira — Born in Cassopolis September 16, 1835; died in 
Detroit November 12, 1903. 

Townsend, Eliza — Born in Canada July 6, 1814; came to Mc- 
Kinney"s Prairie in 1827; died in Iowa March 22, 1906: wife of Michael 
MeKinney. 

Thomas, Harley — Born in Hartford, Connecticut, in 18 18; came to 
Cass county in 1838; died in Dowagiac in 1876. 

Truitt. Peter — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, February 7, 1801 ; 
came to Milton township in 1831, where he died December 29, 1881. 

Turner, Sterling A.- — Born in North Carolina in 179O'; came to 
Cassopolis in 1835; died May 10, 1861 ; his wife, Mary, born in 1798; 
died September 12, 1847. 

Townsend, John — Born in Wayne county, Indiana, in 1804; came 
to Young's prairie in 1829; there died November 20, 1835. 

Tarbos, William — -Born in Ohio in 1801 : came to LaGrange in 
1833; died March 24, 1874; his wife, Mary Waldron, born in 1812; 
died April 10, 1864. 

Tietsort, Abram H. — Born in New Jersey February 6, 1777: 
came to Cassopolis in 1830; died February i, 1847: his wife. Mar- 



88 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

garet Banta, iioni in Ohio January 0, 1785; died at Cassopolis Seplcm- 
Ijer 8, 1854. 

Tietsort, Abram, Jr. — Burn in Butler cuunty, Ohiu. July id, 1805; 
came to Cassopolis in 1828; died May 31, 1842; his wife, Rachel 
rhonipson, born July 17, 1807; died March 9, 1893. 

Tietsort, Levi — Born in Butler county, Ohio', January 12, 1811; 
came to Cassopolis in 1830; died in LaCrange August 17, 18O4; his 

wife, Elizabeth Waldron, born April jj, 1813; died . 

■ Tietsort, Cornelius B. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, January 24, 
1820; came to Cassopolis in 1829; died April 26, 1870-; his wife, Eliza- 
beth Mclnterfer, born April 23, 1823; died April 21, 1890. 

Tietsort, Squire V. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, April 2, 1822; 
came to Cassopolis in 1829; died June 7, 1852; his wife, Catherine Cus- 
tard, b<jrn February 19, 1826; died. . 

Thompson, Squire — Born in Virginia in 1784; came to I'okagon 
in 1826; died in California in 1850. 

. Truitt, Peter — Born in Sussex county, Delaware, I-'ebruary 7, 
1801 ; came to Milton in 183 1; died December 29, 1881. 

Townsend, Abram — Bcjrn in New York in 1771 ; came to Town- 
send's prairie in 182O; died . 

Umberfield, Ebenezer — Born in Ohio in 1828: came to LaGrange 

in 1839; died ; his w'ife, Rachel Shanafelt, born in 1828; came 

to LaGrange in 1835; died November 10, 1904. 

Van Tu}'l, Daniel — liorn in New Jersey, March 13, 1796; came to 
JeiYerson township in 1S35 ; ^^^^'^ January 20, 1880. 

Van Vlier, George — Born in Virginia in 1806; came. to Pokagod 
in 1830, where he died August 28, 1886. 

\'an Tu_\l, John — ^Born in Jefferson township October i, 1838; died 
at Edwardsburg May 25, 1899'. 

Vanderhoof, Dorcas FTow^arfl — B<irn in Canada Nmember 11, 1826; 
came to Whitmanville in 1837: died in Iowa in July, 1902. 

Van Tu)'l, Joseph M. — Born in Ohio October 19, 1833; came to 
Jefferson township in 1835. \\here he died June 20, 1905. 

Wilsey, Mrs. Nancy — Born in Galway, New York, December 13, 
1773: came to Cass county in 1835; died in Howard township Januarv 
7, 1881. 

Witherell, Gilman — Born in Concord, New Hampshire, in 1809; 
came to Pokagon in 1836, where he died Noveml^er 24, 1878. 

Walters, David — Born in New York alx)ut 18 18; came to Silver 
Creek township in 1839, where he died December 6, 1878. 

Williams, Mrs. Sarah — Born in 1806; came to Cass county in 
1830; died in Calvin township December 14, 1885. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 89 

Williams, Mrs. Ann Parmer — Born in Kent county, Delaware, May 
4, 1801; came to Milton township in 1837; died in Howard township 
October 24, 1880. 

Warner, Hubbell — Born in New York in iSo'i ; came to Volinia in 
1837, where he died January 22, 1888. 

Wood, Mrs. Sarah Hunter — Born in Otsego county, New York, 
July 4, 1818; came to Cass county in 1836; died August 31, 1887. 

W'alton, Mrs." Jane B. — Born in Massachusetts Februaiy 19, 1809; 
came to Jefferson in 1838; died in Cassopolis August 26, 1890. 

Wright, James M. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, May 12, 1821 ; 
came to Volinia in 1S31, where he died April 23, 1896. 

Warner, Eliza A. Fox — Born in Northumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, June 16, 1817; came tci Volinia township in 1830; died February 
7, 1896. 

White, Joel — Born in Pennsylvania in 1809'; came to this county 
in 1830; died in Porter township March 21, 1897. 

Wright, Stephen D. — Born in Butler county, Ohio, April 4, 18-16; 
came to LaGran^ge Prairie in 1828, where he died April 25, 1898. 

White, Jrihn — Born in Ohio about 1822 ; came to Cass county in 
1830; died in Lnva February, 1898. 

Wilson, Daniel — Born in Franklin county. Ohio, in October, 1814; 
came to LaGrange township in 1829; died in Oregon January 15, 1898. 
Waterman, William — Born in Norwalk, Ohio, May 20, 181 2; came 
to site of Dowagiac in 1835, where he died March 12, 1902. 

Warner, Loomis H. — Born in Herkimer county. New York, Febru- 
ary 6, 1828; came to Volinia in 1835; died at Cassopolis April 14, 1904. 
White, Eli S. — Bom in LaGrange April 29, 1836; died in Penii 
township December 7, 1903. 

Wells. Col. Samuel — Born in Little Prairie Ronde June 4, 1833; 
died in Lidiana January 12, 1906. 

Warner, J. Harvey — Born in Herkimer county. New York, March 
23, 1832; came to Volinia in 1837: died March 24, 1906. 

Worthington, Rev. Henry — Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, 

March 12, 1815; came to Cass county in ; died at Dowagiac 

August 9, 1875. 

Wilkinson, Harvey — Born in Chautauqua county, New York, in 
1795; came to Ontwa in 1834: died January 23, 1870; his wife, Cath- 
erine M., born in 1804; died at Edwardsburg September 11, 1846. 

Wright, William R. — Born in New Jersey in 1779: came to La- 
Grange in 1828 ; died . 

Williams, Spencer — Born in .Sussex county, Delaware, May 2, 
1807; came to Ontwa in 1831 ; died in Milton May 2, 1877. 



90 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Williams, Isaac — Born in Virginia in 1800: came to Pokagon in 
1835 ; died Novemljer 22, 1874. 

Walton. Charles — Born in Delaware in 1800; came t(j Jefferson 
in 1836; died July 30, 1870; his wife, Sarah Primrose, born in 1800; 
died May 2, 1886. 

Walton, Henry — Born in New York in 1804; came to Jefferson 
in 1831 ; died at Cassopolis April 25, 1865; his wife, Jane B., lxirn in 
Massachusetts in 1838; died at Cassopolis August 26, 1890. 

Young, William — Born in Rutland, Vermont, April 17, 1798; came 
to the county in 183 1; murdered Decemlier 16, 1879. 

Youngblood, Peter — Born in Preble county, Ohio, in June, 1813; 
came to Pbkagon in 1831 ; died in LaGrange township Decemter 20, 
1886. 

Zimmerman, Jacob H. — Born in Georgia in February, 1800; came 

to Younj;'s Prairie in 1832; died 

{ Zane, Isaac^Born in Marcli, 1766; came to Jefferson township in 
1833; where he died February 19, 1839. 



VA 






HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 91 



CHAPTER VI. 
ORGANIZATION. 

Referring to tlie conditions in the large civil division of which 
Cass county was a part until the year 1829, the History of 1882 makes 
the following interesting statement: "It does not appear that go\ern- 
ment had any other than a merely nominal existence in St. Joseph town- 
ship, and it is probable that no legal acts were performed in or by it." 
Although thus far we have mentioned the county townships of Cass 
as if they already existed at that early day, they did n<>t ; and as the 
quoted words indicate, there was no government machinery in operation 
during the period to which we have devoted the chapter on "Early Set- 
tlanent." During the years 1825 to 1829 many settlers had come, but 
they were a law unto themselves. And well was it that they possessed 
the Angla-Saxon genius for law and order and "the enjoyment of mine 
without injury to thine;" otherwise there would have been anarchy. But 
though the early settlers in a sense were without law, they were not 
against law, and at the proper time steps were taken toward county 
organization. 

We have already mentioned the county of Wayne and other muta- 
tions of Michigan territorial boundaries during its early history. The 
various counties erected within the territory up to the time of our pres- 
ent discussion were: Monroe, in 1817; Mackinac, in 1818; Oakland, 
in 1820; Washtenaw, in 1826; Chippewa, in 1826; Lenawee, from Mon- 
roe, in 1826. To Lenawee county was attached all the territory (com- 
prising the greater part of southern Michigan) to which the Indian 
title had been extinguished by the Chicago treaty of 1821. In Septem- 
ber, 1828, this already vast domain was further increased by the addi- 
tion of all the lands to which the Indian title had been extinguished by 
the Carey Mission treaty of 1828. This entire area, comprising about 
ten thousand square nules, was constituted and organized as the town- 
ship of St. Joseph, being attached to Lenawee county. 

By an act approved October 29, 1829. twelve counties were carved 
from this immense township. Among other sections of the act, one 
provided that : "So much of the countiy as lies west of the line be- 



92 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tween ranges 12 ami 13 west nf the meridian and east oi the Hne be- 
tween ranges 16 and 17 west, and soutli of the Hne between townships 
4 and 5 south of the base hne, and north of the lx)undary Hne between 
this Territory and the State of Indiana, be, and the same is hereby set 
off into a separate county and the name thereof shall be Cass." 

It was a fitting tribute to an .American statesman and soldier that 
his name should be perepetuated in this beautiful county of southern 
Michigan. Lewis Cass was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, October 
9, 1782, and died at Detnoit, Michigan, June 17. 1S66. His career, 
while of nati(Uial prominence, was peculiarly identified with Michigan. 
After a period of service in the second war with Creat Britain, he was 
sent to the west as governor of the territory of Michigan, and held that 
office during the greater part of Michigan's territorial existence, from 
1813 to 1 83 1, being the incumbent of the office at the time Cass county 
was created. Thereafter he served as secretary of war, 1831-36; min- 
ister to France, 1836-42; United States senator, 1845-48; Democratic 
candidate for president. 1848; United States senator. 1849-57. ^^d sec- 
retary of state. 1857-60. 

By the provisions of the section above quoted, Cass county was con- 
stituted entirely rectangular in outline, twenty-four miles from east to 
west, and from north to south twenty-one miles and a fraction. It is 
e\-ident that the erection of the counties at this time was planned ac- 
cording to the lines of survey, witlniut regard to geographical conven- 
iences ; for no account was taken of the only irregular feature in the 
outside limits of the county, namely, the small corner cut ofif by the St. 
Joseph ri\'er. Until March 3, 1831, the legal boundaries construed the 
small triangle of land (containing one whole section and fractions of 
four others) lying east of that river to belong to Cass county. But 
an act of that date changed the lines to conform with the natural bound- 
ary, giving tlie small portion thus detached to St. Joseph count}-. For 
seventy-five }-ears Cass county has lieen bounded as at present, and, as 
we know, this is also practically the historical lifetime of the county. 

The next step was the establishment of civil government within 
the territory thus described, and this was provided by an act approved 
November 4, 1829, entitled "An act to organize the counties of Cass 
and St. Joseph, and for establishing' courts therein." The pertinent por- 
tions of this organic act are as follows ?■'■" " 

"Be it enactefl by the legislative couricil'bf the Territory of Mich- 
igan, That the counties of Cass and St.' Joseph shall be organized from 



HISTORY 01' CASS COUNTY 93 

and after the taking effect uf this act, and the inhahitants thereof en- 
titled to all the rights and privileges to which hy law the inhabitants of 
the other counties of tlais territory are entitled. 

"Sec. 2. That there shall be a county court established in each of 
said counties; and the county court of the county of Cass shall be held 
on the last Tuesday of May and on the last Tuesday of November in 
each year. * * * 

"Sec. 4. That the counties of Van Buren and Berrien, and all 
the country lying north of the same to Lake Michigan, shall be attached 
to and compose a part of the county of Cass. 

"Sec, 8. That there shall be circuit courts, to be held in the conn- 
ties of Cass and St. Joseph, and that the several acts concerning the 
supreme, circuit and county courts of the Territory of Michigan, de- 
fining their jurisdiction and ix)wers, and directing the pleadings and 
practice therein in certain cases, be, and the same are hereby made ap- 
plicable to the circuit courts in said counties. 

"Sec. 9. That the said circuit courts shall be held at the respect- 
ive county seats in said counties, at the respective court houses or other 
usual places of holding courts therein: provided, that the first term of 
said court in the county of Cass shall be holden at the school house near 
the house of Ezra Beardsley, in said county.' * * '•' 

"Sec. 10. That the county of Cass shall be one circuit, and the 
court for the same shall be held hereafter on the second Tuesday of 
August in each year." 

It will be noticed that this act provided for a "county court," a 
judicial institution of which few citizens of the county at this date have 
any direct knowledge. The county court was established in Michigan 
by a territorial act of 181 3, and the first session of the Cass county 
court was held also at the house of Ezra Beardsley, in November, 183 1. 
In April, 1833, the county court was abolished in the organized counties 
of the territory. The institution was revived in 1846, and continued 
until its final abolition in the constitution of the state adopted in 1850. 
The last term of county court held in Cass county commenced .\ugust 
5. 185 1, with Judge Cyrus Bacon on the bench. 

DIVISION INTO TOWNSHIPS. 

Following the act of organization of civil government came an 
act dividing the new county for political purposes. The original town- 
ships as defined by this act were four in number. Technically they 
were: Townships 5 and 6 and north half of township 7, in range 16 
west, to be a township by name of Pokagon. Townships 3 and 6 and 
north half of townshi]i 7 south, in range 15 west, to be a township by 

'The first term of circuit court in Cass county was opened at the house of Ezra 
Beardsley (instead of the school house), at Edwardsburg, and its business was com- 
pleted in two days. 



!»4 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

luimc nf La Grange. Townships 5 and 6 and north half of towni^hip 7 
south, in ranges 13 and 14 west, to be a township by name of P'enn. 
All tiiat part of Cass county known as south half of township 7 and frac- 
tional tiiwnship 8 south, in ranges 13. 14, 15 and 16 west, to be a town- 
ship by the name of Ontwa. 

This division was no doubt influenced, in part, by the density of 
p<il)ulation in the various parts of the county. We have already stated 
thai the count}' was settled by a wa\-e of immigration directed from the 
west and south rather than from the east. There is proof of tliis in 
this formation of townships. On the west was the rectangular township, 
Pokagon, six miles wide by fifteen long, and including the present Sil- 
ver Creek, Pokagon and the north half of Howard. This was the old- 
est settled portion of the county, and at the date of organization Poka- 
gon prairie contained a large per cent of the entire population of the 
county. 

To the east of Pokagon was tlie township of La Grange, exactly 
parallel in extent and of the same width, comprising what are now 
\\ ayne, La Grange and the north half of Jefferson. This was also a 
comparatively well settled portion of the county. Each of these town- 
sliiiis contained an area of ninety square miles. 

.\longside of La Grange on the east, and comprising a doulile width 
of tnwnshiijs. was Penn, emljracing in its one hundred and eighty square 
miles of area the present townships of Penn, Volinia, Marcellus and 
Newlierg, besides the north Iialf of Calvin aufl north Porter. 

This left a strip acrriss the entire southern side of the countv, and 
in width n little more than six miles, to comprise the township of Ont- 
wa. Such were the four original political divisions of Cass county. It 
will be interesting to trace the process by which fifteen townships were 
carved from these four, that process illustrating very graphically the 
growth cif the county from a sparsely settled region to a poulousness 
that made smaller political divisions both practicable and necessary. 

Before this, however, let us call attention to the fact that Cass 
county comprised at one time, as respects political and judicial ftmc- 
tions. the two adjoining counties of Van Buren and Berrien, as pro- 
vided for in the organic act quoted above. So that at the period now 
under consideration, Berrien county was a part of Cass and was organ- 
ized as one township under the name of Niles. Van Buren county and 
the territory north to Lake Michigan remained a part of Cass county 
until 1835, and was originally a part of Penn township. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 95 

Naturally, tlie rapid filling up of the county, with settlers in a short 
time called for a subdivision by the legislature of the original town- 
ships. The first act for this purpose was dated March 29, 1833. and 
provided for three new townships, Porter, Jefferson and Volinia. 

"All that part of the township of Ontwa, in Cass county, situated 
in ranges 13 and 14, west of the principal meridian, shall comprise a 
township by the name of Porter; and the first township meeting shall 
be held at the house of Othni Beardsley." 

This is not the Porter township as we know it today. It was, as 
technically defined, the east half of the original Ontwa. It contained 
all of the present !\lason, a part of Calvin and all the present area of 
Porter except the th.ree north tiers of sections. For the act which gave 
it its present area, see forward, in connection with the township of New- 
berg. 

In creating the township of Jefferson, the same act further deprived 
Ontwa of considerable territory. "That all that part of the county of 
Cass known and distinguished as township 7 south of the base line, and 
in range 15 west of the principal meridian, compose a township by the 
name of Jefferson ; and that the first township meeting be held at the 
house of Moses Reames in said township." Thus was constituted Jeff- 
erson township as we know it today. The north half was subtracted 
from original La Grange, and tlie south half from Ontwa. 

The third township created by the act of March, 1833. was Vo- 
linia. This Tiame was given bv Josephus Card, the pioneer, after a 
Polish province named Volhynia, which was the original spelling. The 
act reads : "That all that part of the county of Cass known and dis- 
tinguished as township 5 south, in ranges 13 and 14, west of the prin- 
cipal meridian, compose a township by the name of Volinia: and that 
the first township meeting be held at the house of Josephus Card in 
said township." Volinia, as thus formed, also contained the present 
Marcellus. 

No further changes occurred until March 7, 1834. when original 
Pokagon suffered its first diminishment of territory. "All that part 
of the county of Cass comprised in surv^eyed township 7 south, in range 
16 west, shall be a township by the name of Howard: and the first town- 
ship meeting shall be held at the house of John Fosdick in said town- 
ship." This also took more territory from Ontwa, which was reduced 
to the two fractional townships in the southwest corner of the countv. 

Before the passing of the territorial form of government, three 



itfi HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

other townships were created. Tlie act of March 17, 1S35, pi'ox'idcs 
that "all that part n\ the county nf Cass comprised in surve^xd township 
7 south, range 14 west, be a tow-nship by the name of Calvin: and the 
first townshi]) nieetins' shall be held at the dwellinsj house nf John Reed 
in said township." Thus we see that all the new townships were beins; 
erected with the lines of the t(iwnships and rans^'cs of the government 
surve\', and at present these lines govern entirel}- with the one exception 
of Porter. 

By the provisions of an act also dated March 17. 11^35. \\'a\'ne 
township came into existence. This, as we know, was a part of the 
original La Grange. But the settlers had come in fast in the last few 
\cars. the north half of the township had filled up with people who were 
soon demanding a separate organization. This demand was granted, 
and the name of the famous Revolutionary leader and Indian fighter 
was a]ii)lied to tlie new township at the suggestion, it is said, of Corne- 
lius Higgins. The technical definition of the boundaries of the town- 
ship is "that part of Cass county comprised in township 5 south, range 
15 wxst." The first township meeting was held at the bouse of Elijah 
W. Wright, April 6. 1835. 

An act approved March 23, 1836. constituted the first of the three 
fractional tow-nships of Cass county. "All that jxirtion of Cass county 
designated liy the United States sur\'ey as township 8 south, of range 
14 west, l>e. and the same is bereliy set off and organized into a separate 
township li\^ the name of Mason: and the first township meeting therein 
shall be held at the dwelling house of Jotham Curtis in said township." 
Before the passage of this act, this fractional go\-ernment township was 
a part of Porter township. 

With the admission of Michigan tO' statehood, the following town- 
ships of Cass county were constituted with boundaries as at present : 
Wayne. La Grange, Howard, Jefferson, Mason and Calvin. The re- 
maining townships, wdiich hnxe since been divide<l. were Pokagon. Vo- 
linia, Penn, Porter and Ontwa. 

The state legislature, by an act ajiproved March 20, 1837, provided 
"That all that part of the county of Cass, designated by the United 
States sur\-ey as township 5 south, range ift w-est, be set off and organ- 
ized into a separate township by the name of Silver Creek: and the first 
town meeting therein shall be held at the house of James McDaniel in 
said township." Thus Pokagon was reduced to its present size, and 
(he extreme northwest township accpiired ci\il government. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY !t7 

On March 6, 1838, the township of Newberg was erected, accord- 
ing to the provisions of the following: "All that part of the county of 
Cass designated in the United States survey as township 6 south, of 
range 13 west, lie, and the same is hereby set nff and organized into 
a separate township by the name of Newberg: and the first township 
meeting therein shall be held at the house of John Cair in said town- 
ship." Newberg \\as car\'ed from Penn township, which on this date 
was limited to its present boundaries. 

Also, at the session of 1838 an act was approved whereby all that part 
of the "township of Penn in the county of Cass comprised in township 
7 south, range 13 \\cst. shall be attached to ami become part of the 
township of Porter."' 

Nine days after the estaljlishment of Newberg the legislati\'e act 
constituting Milton township was approved. "All that portion of Cass 
county designated in the United State survey as township 8 south, of 
range 16 west, be. and the same is hereby set oi¥ and organized into a 
separate township by the n;ime of Milton; and the first township meet- 
ing therein shall lie held at the house of Peter Truitt. Jr." This division 
brought Ontwa to\\nship down to its present area. 

It was five years before the final political division was established 
in Cass county. The fifteenth township was Marcellus. which, the last 
to be organized, was also the last to be settled. The government town- 
ship known as township 5 south, of range 13 west, had hitherto been 
a part of Volinia township, but in 1843 ''^^ people living within the 
area, feeling competent to manage their own affairs, petitioned the 
state legislature for a separate jurisdiction. The act organizing the 
townshij) thus defined "by the name of Marcellus" was approved Marcli 
9, 1843. The first township meeting, it was directed, should be held 
at the hiiuse of Daniel G. Rouse, who had framed and circulated the pe- 
tition for organization. 

Such is a brief account of the evolution of Cass county from an 
unorganized region into its present shape and its present order and ar- 
rangement of townships. So far as is known, the divisions into the 
various townships were never animated by any serious disputes and 
discussions such as have sometimes occurred in the adjusting of such 
matters. As stated, the townships conform to the government surveys, 
and in making the political subdivisions according to this plan no con- 
sideralile incinvenience or confusion has resulted. The citv of Dowa- 
giac, it happens, is located on the corners of four township jurisdictions. 



98 HISTORY Ol- CASS COUNTY 

but di\'ision of political interests that are naturally concentrated is ob- 
viated by the incorporation of Dowagiac with a city gu\ernnient, with 
its own political representation on the same plane with the townships. 

LOCATION OF THE COUNTY SEAT. 

One ver}- important part of the organization of the county was the 
locating of the county seat. This is always a matter of supreme inter- 
est to the early inhabitants of a county, and a history of the "county 
seat wars" which have been waged in many states of the Union would 
fill \-olumes. These contests have been characterized by an infinite va- 
riety of details, ranging from pitched battle and effusion of blood to 
the harmless encounters of wordy protagonists. 

Cass county had her contest o\er three-quarters of a century ago, 
in the time (if Ijeginnings, so that no living witness can tell aught of 
its details. But as the records ha\e been handed down, the location of 
the seat of government was attended with some features uf more than 
common interest. 

By the provisions of an act of the territorial council July 31. 1830, 
the governor was authorized to appoint commissioners tij locate the 
seats of justice in the several counties where they had not already been 
loca.ted ; ha\'ing Incaled the seat of justice of any county, the commis- 
sioners should report their proceedings to the governor, who, if he ap- 
pr()\ed of the same, should issue a proclamation causing the establish- 
ment of a seat of justice agreealile to the report. 

Such were the directions. \\'e will now see how they were carried 
out. Martin C. Whitman, Hart L. Stewart and Colonel Sibley were 
the comiuissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice in Cass countv. 
These men. if the charges later jjreferred against them be true, evi- 
deiilK" vuiderstood the importance of their decision, as affecting the value 
of the >ite thev should select. In fact, it appears that the practice, now 
so much condemned, of pri\'ate individuals opening their hands for the 
profits of a juililic trust, is not of modern origin. 

The enterprising commissii mers, ha\-ing Icioked o\er the countv and 
examined the eligiljdit}- of the \ai"ious sites, chose to recommend the 
plat of the village of (icnex'a, laid out on the north bank of Diamond 
lake by Dr. H. 11. bowler, as the proper location. 

Before announcing their decision. howeN'er, two of the commis- 
sioners, with, remarkable foresiglit, hastened to the land office at White 
Pigeon and entered in their own names sundry tracts of land adjoining 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY yy 

Gene\-a. Their deliljerations completed and made the subject uf re- 
port, the governor announced the location of the seat of justice at Gene- 
va in accordance with the instructions of the commissioners. 

Immediately there arose a storm of indignant protest over the de- 
cision. The intentions of the commissioners to turn their official acts 
into a source of private gain were set forth at length, among the many 
other causes of dissatisfaction with the chosen site, in petitions that were 
sent to the legislature with the signatures of a large number of the \-oters 
of the county. 

The response to the petitioners came in an act of the legislative 
council, passed March 4, 183 1, to amend the previous act under which 
the seat of justice was located at Geneva. By this act the decisions of 
the former commissioners were set aside. The governor was to ap- 
point, with the consent of the council, three commissioners to re-exam- 
ine the proceedings by which the seat of justice had first been estab- 
lished, and were empowered either tn cunfirni the same or tu make new 
locations, as the public interest might, in their opinion, re([uire. They 
were authorized to accept an}- donations of land, monew labor or ma- 
terial that might be tendered them for the use of the count}-, thus per- 
mitting the usual opportunities for legitimate persuasion in such mat- 
ters. But the precaution was taken to insert a proviso that in case it 
was made to appear to the satisfaction of the governor that the com- 
missioners were guilty of any improper conduct, tending to impair the 
fairness of their decision, it should be his duty to suspend any further 
proceedings. 

Thomas Rowland, Henry Disbrow and George A. OTveefe were 
the Commissioners ap]iointed under this act to relocate the county seat, 
and in pursuance of instructions they were to meet in the county on the 
third Monday in May, 183 1. As told in the history of Cassopolis on 
other pages, the adx'ocate^ of the new site beside Stone lake entered 
into the contest with all the zeal and enthusiasm of those embarked on 
an enterjjrise in which they would never accept defeat. Besides the do- 
nation of one-half of all the lands on the village plat to the county, the 
subtler arts of diplomacy were also invoked in procuring a favorable 
decision. The pi'oprietors of the village of Cassopolis, with frank con- 
fidence in the ultimate selection of that \-ilIage as the count}- seat, an- 
nounced with eft'ective ostentation the naming of three piincipal streets 
after the commissioners then engaged in the work of location. Whether 
the prospect of their name and fame being perpetuated in the thorough- 



mo HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

t.'ires nt tlie seat of justice was especially inviting, and whether it was 
that the justice of Cassopolis' contention and the advantages offered bv 
its citizens \vere the prevailing factor in their decision, it is not of any 
moment to this discussion to inquire. It is enough that the commis- 
sioners, waving aside the claims of Geneva, as well as those of several 
other proposed sites, fixed u])on Cassopolis as the seat for the govern- 
ment machinery of the count)', and there it has ex'er since remained.* 

-Slriclly sjieaking. the settlers of Ca-^s count)- were not pioneers. The 
majority of them were people of more or less education and culture, 
trained and accustomed to the usages of civilization. In the settling of 
the countr)' there was no interim between savagery and civilization. 
The pioneers did not come and build their cabins, and defend them with 
their rifles for some years until the civil officers, courts, schorils and 
churches made their appearance. This was necessar\- in some settle- 
ments, but not here. In Cass count)- cWW go\-ernmeiit sprang into be- 
ing almost at once. The settlers brought ci\-ilizati(-)ii \\-ith them. They 
lirought the common law with them, and, in harmon\- with the legisla- 
tive statutes, they saw to it at once that the commuiiit\- should be gov- 
erned thereby. They provided for courts, for piililic buildings, for roads, 
and for every possible institution necessar)- to a civilized community. 
And the result was that Cass county soon became a populous link in 
the great chain of siniilar political communities stretching- from the At- 
lantic Iieyond the Mississippi, maintaining without a break the institu- 
tions of ci\-ilization at the standards of older communities. ■ 



*NoTE. — The following is the proclamation of Acting Governor ■Mason, issued De- 
cember 19. 1831 : 

Where.\.s, In pursuance of an act of the legislative council entitled ".\n act to 
amend an act entitled 'An act to provide for establishing seats of justice,'" Thomas 
Rowland, Henry Disbrow and George A. O'Keefe were appointed commissioners 
to re-examine the proceedings which had taken place in relation to the establishment 
of seats of justice of the counties of Branch, St. Joseph and Cass, and to confirm 
the same, and to make new locations, as the public's interest might, in their opinion, 
require ; 

And whereas, The said commissioners have proceeded to perform the said duty, 
and by a report signed by them, have located the seat of justice of the said county 
of Cass at a point on the southeast quarter of section 26. town 6. range 15 west, forty 
rods from the southeast corner of said section, on the line running west between 
sections 26 and 35; 

Note, therefore. By virtue of the authority in me vested by said act, and in 
conformity with said report, I do issue this proclamation, establishing the seat of 
justice of the said county of Cass at the said point described as aforesaid. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 101 



CHAPTER Vn. 
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. 

In the preceding chapters we have endeavored to gi\-e an account 
of Cass county beginning with its state of nature, mentioning its orig- 
inal inhabitants, and continuing through the years of first settlement 
up to the completion of the organization of the county as a distinct po- 
litical division of the state. The establishment of civil government in 
a community is as necessarv to its growth and welfare as the founda- 
tion of a building is needed to support the structure that will be reared 
upon it. Hence, having described the institution of organized govern- 
ment in Cass county, we may now continue the account of settlement 
and development until the various parts of the county assumed some- 
thing of the condition in which \ve find them at the present day. 

This country about us is not what it was in a state of nature; great 
improvement has been made. It is still beautiful, but its beauty is of a 
different kind. Then its voices sang of solitude, now they sing of use- 
fulness. Then it had a wild beauty, and its atmosphere was laden with 
the poetry of an imagined past, when it teemed with the civilization of 
the mound-builders, or when the red man roamed through its forests 
and over its prairies. But its beauty has been chastened h\- human 
touch, and now it tells us of happy homes, and of the triumphs nf Iiuman 
life; saddened, of course, by the thought of the hardships and sorrows 
and final partings which its inhabitants liave experienced. 

To enumerate all the factors which produced this transformation 
would be impossible in any work. For every individual whose life has 
been cast wdthin the county has contributed either a forwarding or ad- 
verse influence to the development of the county. Manifestly, we can 
at best merely describe some of the general conditions and select from 
the great host of names of those whose lives have been identified with 
this co'unty some few for special mention. 

In this age when the sources for obtaining information and the 
means of communication are almost illimitable, it is difficult to realize 
the primitive conditions in that respect as they affected the early set- 
tlers of such a region as Cass county. In this day of the telegraph and 



102 HISTORY OF CASS COUXTY 

the daily iie\\si)a]>er a false report may reacli us concerning some dis- 
laiit situation, lint the equally effecti\e and rapid means of authentica- 
lidU will tnaljle us to quickly dispro\'e the first news, and no serious 
harm is done. Xot so seventy-five years ago. The report of unfavor- 
alile cimditions in the new ^Michigan coinitry. of a serious failure of 
crops, iif an Indian scare, wnnld he a lung time in reaching the east, 
its serious aspects would increase with the circulation, and once told its 
\icious and retarding influence would continue a long time liefore 
information of perhaps an opposite character would reach the intending 
emigrants. 

It is not sm'prising, therefore, that the settlement of Cass county 
did not iiroceed uniformly or unlirokenly. The first of the adverse in- 
fluences which checked the current of immigration was. the Sac or Black 
Mawk war of 183J. The Sac Indians had never been friendly \a ith the 
l/nited States. In the war of 18 12 thev jfiined sides with the I.'ritish. 
As a recompense thev were recei\ing an annuit\' in Canada, whither 
the}' went e\ery year, and returne(l laden with arms and ammunition. 
They crossed the border at Detroit, and probably passed through Cass 
countv bv way cjf the Indian trail along the southern border. Black 
Hawk, the powerful chief of the Sacs and Foxes, had conceived the idea 
that the several Indian tribes by comlj-ining might be powerful enough to 
resist the whites; though after being captn.red and taken east to- see the 
white man's populous towns and cities, he returned and told his braves 
that resistance was useless. 

Years before this tlie Sacs by treaty had ceded their lands east of 
the Mississippi to the United States, but had still remained upon them. 
When required to conform to their treaty they resisted. Early in 1832. 
in ugly mood, a large number of their braves went to Canada. This was 
their last annual expedition. When, returning, they reached Illinois, 
the fiends began their work of slaughter by murdering an old man, 
which was the first l.iloodshed in the memoraljle Sac and Fox war. 

W hen the news came that the Indians had commenced hostilities 
in Illinois, the settlers of southern Michigan feared that they would re- 
treat into Canada instead of going to their own lands beyond the ]\Tis- 
sissippi. There was no telegraph to con\-c\' the news, and it came in the 
form of va,gue rumors, and imagination iiictiu-ed a hundred horrors for 
every one related. Besides the fear of an invasion by Black Hawk's 
warriors, there was anxietv lest the Pottawottomies still in the country 
would rise and join in the revolt. 



HISTORY OF CASS COL'XTV 103 

Although, as was afterwards found out, there was not a hostile Ind- 
ian within a hundred miles of southern Michigan, for some time the 
danger was felt to he \-ery close and real, and the "Black Hawk war" 
was an epoch in the pioneer memory. At the first information of hos- 
tilities the authorities at Chicago sent an appeal for militia to Michigan, 
General Joseph W. Brown commanded his brigade to take the field, ap- 
pointing Niles as the rendezvous. Cass county furnished as many men 
as her small population would allow. The news was brought to Cassop- 
olis by Colonel A. Houston and communicated to Abram Tietsort, Jr,, 
whose duty it was, as sergeant of the local company, to notify the mem- 
bers of the order issued by their commander. Isaac Shurte was cap- 
tain, and Gamaliel Tuwnsend one of the lieutenants. There was great 
agitation in the scattered prairie settlements of the county as the order 
to turn out was carried from house to house, and still greater when the 
men started away from their homes for what their wives and children 
supposed to be mortal combat with the ferocious Sacs and b\)xes. 

An Indian scare has not been known in Cass county within the 
memory of but few if any now living. But tO' some extent we may im- 
agine the trepidation and alarm of those composing the settlements at 
Ihat time. No doubt some of the more timid packed their movables intu 
a wagon and made post haste to leave the danger-ridden countrw Diu-- 
ing the short time the scare lasted hundretls of families from this part of 
the west stanipetled as far east as Cincimiati, many iif them ne\-er to re- 
turn to their f<jrest homes. But the majority were of sterner stuff. They 
had endured the rigors of cold and fatigue, of hunger and bodil)- pri- 
vations, in establishing their homes on the frontier; th.ey would not easily 
be frightened away. Those settlers living in the central part of the 
county advised with one another as ti_) the practicability of taking ref- 
uge on the i'^land in Diamond lake and fortifying it against attack. 
This no doubt would have been done, had the alarm not subsided. It 
is said tliat the women of the Volinia settlement had begun the erec- 
tion of a fort when the message reached them that the war was over. 

Short as the Black Hawk war was, immigration to this portion of 
the west was alnnast com])letely checked. Xot a few returned to the 
east, while those who were preparing to emigrate hither either aban- 
doned their plans altogether or delayed their execution for a year or so. 

While we are considering some of the retarding influences in the 
settlement of Cass county, it will be proper to mention the frost of 
June, 1835. That event lived long in the memory of old settlers. Cli- 



104 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

iiiate. as \vc kinw, has nnicli tn dn in lending a cnuntry the charms 
which atlract ininii.^ratmii. The heaiities of llie landscajie, the lertiht_v 
<il the soil, tlie gentle warmth of summer, and the not too severe winter, 
were favorite themes of praise with tiiose who descril)ed their Michigan 
home to eastern friends. 

Hnt in cHmate as in human ati'airs. an ahnonnal event gains widest 
cnrrent in general knowledge, 'i'his unnsual phenomenon of a heavy 
frost at the middle of June, causing an almost total ruin of the grow- 
ing crops, although such a thing had never happened before, and so far 
as known ha.s not been paralleled in subsecjuent history, at once counter- 
balanced all the good that had ever been said of }^Iichigan"s climate. 
The seasons were never tlependable, according to the report that passed 
through tlie eastern states; the latitude was unfavorable for the produc- 
tion of tlie crops suited to the temperate zone; the climate was com- 
[larable to that of Labrador, and so on. This occurrence had an adverse 
eli'ect on immigration perhaps only second to the Black Hawk war. 

It must not be supposed that nature yielded her empire at once and 
without a struggle. Indian scares and June frosts were the uncommon- 
est of events. But the daily, usual life was a constant e.xertion against 
the forces of wildness. requiring fortitude and strength of a kind that 
the modern life knows little. Improvement was in many respects very 
grailual. It was a toilsome and slow process to transplant civilization 
to the wilderness of Cass county. The contrasts between the present 
and the past of se\^eut_\ -lue }ears ago are striking and even wonderful ; 
none the less, we dare not suppose for that reason that the transforma- 
tion was of fairy-like swiftness and ease of accomplishment. 

The first thing, of course, after the newly arrived settler had made 
his familv as comfortable as possible temporarily, was to build the tra- 
ditional kg cabin. To the younger generation in Cass county, the 
'"creature comforts"' of that time seem primitive and meager imleed. 
In obtaniing material for his house, the builder must select trees which 
w ere not too large, or they could not be handled conveniently ; not too 
small, or the cabin would be a house of saplings. The process of fell- 
ing the trees, siilitting the logs, hewing them so as to have Hat walls in- 
side, notching them at the ends so as to let them down on each other, 
slanting the gables, riving out lapboards or shingles, putting on roof 
poles, binding the shingles to them, sawing out doors and windows, 
making the fireplace, and many other things necessary in building a log 
cabin — this process is yet familiar to many old settlers. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 1U5 

After the settlers had housed tlieir faniihes they made a sheUer for 
their stock, which was often done by setting poles in the ground, with 
crotches at the upper end; poles were laid from crotch to crotcii, other 
poles laid across, and the roof covered with marsh hay until it was thick- 
enough to shed water. Poles were slanted against the sides, and hay 
piled on them in the same manner. The door could be left open or 
closed by any means conA^enient. I'his made an exceedingly warm shel- 
ter, though it was so dark that the animal's eyes sometimes suffered 
from it. Swine and other stock could be left to shelter themselves, and 
they usually found some sheltered nook in the groves and forests, or 
among the thick grass, where they made themselves comfortable, though 
some of them ran wild. 

Of course, i'l a country like Cass, where it was possible, though 
difficult, to clitain from the centers of civilization the necessar}^ articles, 
these primitive methods were greatly modilied and improved upon from 
the very first. Shingle nails were often used instead <if weight poles, 
window panes soon t'Kjk the place of oiled paper or cloth, and so on. 
The first settlers brought with them the few tools necessary for their 
pioneer life, such as 'axes, adzes, iron wedges, hammers, saws, augers, 
gimlets, frows for shaving shingles, planes, chisels, etc.. and the women 
brought needles, scissors, thimbles, pins, thread, \-arn, spinning wheels, 
and some brought looms. And in the early settlement of the county, 
as we have seen, there came a fe>v trained mechanics, a carpenter, sad- 
dler, and so on. 

After the primitive log cabin came the frame building. It was the 
sawmill which marked the first move away from pioneer life. h"or as 
soon as a sawmill was accessible to any community, frame buildings 
were practicable. The county was well wooded, and all that was neces- 
sary was to cut the logs, haul them to mill, pay the toll, in whatever 
form, and haul the lumber home again. And this was an economy of 
time very precious in those days of subduing the virgin soil and making 
a settled home. It was no easy matter to hew timber, and split out 
boards with wedges, and then smooth them by hand. Hence it was that 
sawmills were, along with grist mills, the first institutions fur manu- 
facturing in this section of country. And at once frame Iniildings — 
mills, and shops of different kinds, stores, hotels, churches, schoolhouses 
and dwelling houses began to multlpl}', and the country put on the ap- 
pearance of advancing civilization. Some of those buildings are stand- 
ing to-dav, though most of them- have long since vanished, or given 



106 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

place to others. In various ])arts of the county ma_\- he found an occa- 
sional frame dwelling which was huilt in the thirties or f(.>rties, and 
many of those huilt at that lime have since been remodeled and mod- 
ernized so that few traces of their original form remain. The front 
])ortion of the Xewell house, just west of the public scpiare at Cas- 
sopolis, was constructed in 1S32 or "33. so that it has sur\-ived the stress 
of weather and time longer than any natix'e resident of the town. 

Slowlv. as the rears went h\'. impro\enients were made. Craduallv 
new, more beautiful and commodintis liuildings were put up for both 
families and dumb animals, and more and more con\-enienccs were intro- 
duced into the former ones, until to-day. as one rides through any part 
of the County, he sees not only highly improved and well stocked farms, 
but large, commodious and in many cases even artistic buildings, which 
bespeak the thrift of the owners, and the vast progress which lias been 
made since the first log buildings were made in Pokagon and Ontwa 
townships in 1826 and ' 2~. 

In the meantime, the first small groups of settlers which we have 
seen planted in certain favored parts of the countv ha\e been rapidh- 
growing and advancing out into the yet virgin regions until in a few- 
years there was hardly a section in any townshi]3 that was a\-ailable for 
entry. 

Of all the transactions with which the early settlers were concerned 
none were more important than the government land sales. The first 
])nblic lands in iNIichigan disposed of under government regulatiiins were 
sold at Detroit in 181S. In 1823 the Detroit land office was divided, and 
a land office established at Abmroe, at which al! entries of lands west 
of the principal meridian were made up to 1831. It was at the land 
sale at Monroe in 1829 that the first settlers of the count}- made formal 
entry of their lands. The United States law required that exery piece 
of land should lie put up at auction, after which, if not bid off, it was 
subject to private entrv, at one dollar and a cpiarter per acre. It w-as 
an unwritten law among the settlers that each pre-emptor should have 
the privilege of making the only bid on his land. This right was uni- 
versallv respected among the settlers, no one l>idding on another's claim. 
It occasionallv happened, how-e\-er, that an eastern man, unaccustomed 
to the ways of the west, essayed to bid on the home of a settler, but was 
soon convinced, in frontier fashion, that such action was a distinct con- 
travention of western custcim. Such was the case with one ymmg man 
at the sales at White Pigeon, where the land office for this district was 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ln7 

located frum 1831 to 1834. This inili\i(lual insisted on the right to bid 
(_>n an)' land offered for sale, but matle onl}- one bid when he was sud- 
ilenly felled to the floor, which instantly inspired him with respect for 
settlers' claims and usages of western society. The land speculator was 
persona nun grata with the settlers, and in some parts of the country 
associations known as "squatters" unions" were formed to protect the 
settler in his claims and when necessary to use force in compelling the 
speculator to desist from his sharp practices. It was owing to the fact 
that the public auction of land enaliled the speculator to bid in as virgin 
soil and at the usual price of a dollar and a c[uarter an acre lands that 
had been settled and improved by an industrious pioneer, that the system 
of public sales was finally abolished. After 1834 the Cass county set- 
tlers entered their lands at Kalamazoo, where the land office for this 
part of the state was continued until 1858. 

The process of settlement is graphically illustrated by the figures 
from several of the early censuses. These figures of course are cjuite 
likely to be inaccurate as exact units, but they convey in a general way 
the successive increases of population. From these statistical tables we 
see that in 1830 the county had something less than a thousand inhab- 
itants, meaning by that white persons. Tliis was the number with which 
the county began its organized existence. 

Despite the Black Hawk war that occurred in the meanwhile, by 
1834 the enumeration shows 3.280. an increase of o\-er three hundred 
per cent in four years; and three years later this number had nearly 
doubled. By 1840 Cass county was a comparatively well settled com- 
munity of nearly six thousand people, while in 1845, ^^ which date the 
townships had been formed as at present, the ])opulation was over eight 
thousand. 

Considering the population according to townships, we find that in 
1840, wdien all the townships had been formed except Marcellus. the 
most populous township was LaGrange. with 769 jjeriple. Then followed 
Porter, with 556; Ontwa, 543; I'okagon, 516: and thence on down to 
Newberg, with 175 persons. 

Of the older tow-nships, whose early settlement has already been 
adverted to, the population soon became settled on a substantial basis. 
Practically all the lands of Pokagon township had been entered as early 
as 1837. and the assessment roll of resident taxpayers in that town- 
ship for 1834 shows the names of fifty persons, indicating at least an 
approximate number of families. 



1U8 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

LA GRANGE. 

In LaGrange township, as shown in the above quoted figures, popu- 
lation increased more rapidly than elsewhere, owing doubtless to the es- 
tablishment of the seat of justice at Cassopolis. At the first township 
election, April, 1830, there were but eighteen voters, according iu the 
history of 1882, whereas there were elected nineteen officials for the 
\-arious civil positions, making it necessary in one or two cases that one 
man should hold several offices. But beginning with that year the set- 
tlement of the township increased rapidly. Among the early settlers not 
already mentioned were the McKenney and Dickson families; the Jewell 
family, whose first representative, Hiram Jewell, arrived in September, 
1830, and William Renniston, who came the same year; Henry Hass 
and sons; the Petticrew and Hain families; James R. Coates, whose 
death, in August, 183 1, as a result of his horse dashing him against the 
limb of a tree, furnished the first interment in the Cassopolis burying 
ground; Catherine Kimmerle, the first of that well known family, who 
brought her family of children here in 1832; and arbitrarily to end the 
list, Jesse G. Beeson, who came to settle here permanently in 1833. 
Many facts concerning the history of this township are detailed in the 
chapter on Cassopolis. In this township, too, the list of original land 
entries seldom shows a date later than 1837. 



Jn Pcnn township, the seat of the Quaker settlement, tlie first land 
entries were made in June, 1829, and the date of the last was May, 
1853. The assessment roll of 1837 of the township as then organized 
gives a good idea of the citizenship of the township at that date. It 
contains the following names : Amos Green, John Price, John Donnel, 
Jacob T. East, Elizabeth Cox, John A. Ferguson, Hiram Cox, William 
Lindsley, Marvick Rudd, Ezra Hinshaw, Reuben Hinshaw. Abijah Hin- 
shaw, Mary Jones, Lydia Jones, Jesse Beeson, Joshua Leach, Nathan 
Jones, John Lamb, John Cays, John Nixon, Moses McLeary. Henry 
Jones, Ishmael Lee, Christopher Brodie, Alpheus Ireland, Drury Jones, 
Samuel Thompson. 

ONTWA. 

Onlwa township, in which the second settlement was made, from 
the first received a good share of the immigration. The settlement was 
especially rapid from 1833 to 183S. and by the latter year there was 
little or n(.) land left for entr_\-. Idus township has produced an unusual 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 109 

number of prominent citizens, several of whom are mentioned under 
other appropriate heaehns^s. Edwardsburg was the natural center fi.ir 
the county, and around the history of that village much (if the interest 
that belongs to the township gathers. Among the settlers during the 
thirties were, Ezra Miller, who turned away from Cassopolis to hicate 
in Ontwa because the landlord of the hotel in the former place charged 
him six pence for a drink of water; Reuben Allen, whu brought his family 
from ^^ermont and located on the site of Adams\-ille, using for his tem- 
porary home a frame building in ^^■hich had been a "corncracker" mill : 
Joseph W. Lee, a New Hampshire Yankee, who for a dwelling moved 
to his claim the block house built by Ezra Beardsley and which had 
been used as a hotel and as the first court house in Cass county. These 
and many others were the builders whose industry was responsilile for 
the subsecpient prosperity of Ontwa. 



\''olinia township from the earliest times has been a verv interesting 
community. Many notable enterprises have originated and been fos- 
tered there, and in the character of the early settlers there was an in- 
dividuality that removes their history far from the monotony of 
mediocrity. To mention only a few besides the names already given, 
there was Col. James Newton, an Englishman by birth, who came to 
this country in youth, served under the American flag during the war 
of 1812, and canie to Cass county about 183 1. He was prominent 
politically, was a member of the convention that framed the state con- 
stitution, and also represented Cass and Van Buren counties in one of 
the first sessions of the state legislature. His son, George Newton, was 
also prominent in the township, served as supervisor and in the state 
legislature of 1858-59. just twenty years after his father's term. An- 
other early character was John Shaw, from Pickaway county, Ohio, who 
gained celebrity in the township as a justice of the peace as well as a man 
of affairs ,generally. His motto was, "Equity first and legal technicalities 
afterward,"' and in forwarding the cause of justice he was wont to emplov 
some vet)' unusual methods. In later years he became a victim of drink, 
lost all his possessions, and his sadly checkered career came to its end in 
the county infirmary. Early in the thirties Volinia received two settlers 
who were skilled in a trade. Richard Shaw, a shoemaker, although he 
engaged in agriculture mainly. Levi Lawrence, a genius as a blacksmith, 
and the scythes which he made were the most effective implements of 



IK' HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

llie kind until tiie_\- were snpersedeil 1)_\' mowing- machines. He did not 
remain Imiy in the tuwnship. 

I'ORTEK. 

Settlement in Porter tuwnship progressed rapidh- after county or- 
ganization. One of its early residents, whose career is historical, was 
George Meacham, whom we have already met as one of the cnterie of 
pioneers in Ontwa. He mo\-ed into I'urter township in 1836 and was, a 
resident there nearly half a century. He constructed for his own use 
what was claimed to he the first threshing machine used in this section 
of the country, it being in fact Init one of the ciimi)onent parts of the 
modern grain separator, namely, the cylinder for beating out the grain. 
He was the hrst sheriff in the county, serving from 1830 to 1836. His 
jurisdiction was all tb.e country west of St. Joseph county to the lake, 
and in enipanelling a jur)' he summoned all but five of those qualified for 
this service in this great scope of territory. To ser\e on a jury at that 
time it was necessary that one had paid a minimum ta.x of fifty cents: 
this excluded the majority of the residents in this circuit. Mr. ]\Ieachani 
was also in the liiwer house of the legislature in 1839, and twenty years 
later occupied a seat in the state senate. 

Then there was the remarkable family of Rinehart brothers. Lewis. 
Samuel, Jacob, John and Abram, whose interests and connections in 
Cass county might till many pages were we to describe them in detail. 
John RinelKU't. their father, Imrn in 1771J. came to Cass county in the 
spring of 1829, settling first in I'enn and later in Porter toAvnship. The 
sons were farmers, mechanics, and Lewis. Samuel and Jacol) owned and 
operated the first sawmill in Porter township. 

.VuKing the arrixals during this decade was James Hitchcock, a stone 
and brick mason, \\ho constructed the first brick house in Mason town- 
ship. Brick earl}' became a faxorite building material in this part of the 
coinitrw and it was not many years after the county was settled before 
the priniiti\e lug hnuse was used only during the short period while 
the settler was getting started in his work of impro\'ement. 

JEFFERSON. 

In ])oint of populatiiin. Jefferson township soon grew to about her 
present standard. From less than fi\-e hundred in 1840. to nine hun- 
drefl in 1850. her enumeration in i860 was 1,071. with no marked 
change since that date. Besides the pioneers who made the first set- 
tlement in the northeastern corner, there are named among the earl\- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY Hi 

land entries Stephen and Peter Marraoo, Aaron Brown, David T. Nichol- 
son, Daniel Burnham, F. Smith, Richmond Marmon, John Pettigrew, 
Samuel Colyar, William Barton. William Mendenhall, Obediah Sawtell, 
Isaac Hultz, several of whom became closely identified with the aft'airs 
of the county and township. Richmond Marmon was an ortliodox 
Quaker. In 1S34 came Ishmael Lee, who in later years became, accord- 
ing to the record, "(ine of the most faithful and successful conductors on 
the underground railroad, and many a wagonload of fugitive slaves 
have been piloted Ijy h.im through the woods of Michigan on their way 
to Canada and freedom. He was a prominent actor in the well known 
Kentucky slave cases of 1848, and was one of those sued by the Ken- 
tuckians for the \'alue of the escaped fugitives, and he paid a large sum 
of money to compromise the litigation." Other arrivals were Daniel 
Vantuyl, John Stephenson, Robert Painter, a justice of the peace, mer- 
chant and manufacturer, Horace Hunt, who was a wagonmaker and made 
some of the wooden plows used by the early settlers. Many citizens of 
this township remember Pleasant Norton, who lived here from 1832 to 
his death in 1877. He was a stanch Democrat politically, and his name 
is among those occurring most frecpiently in the early civil lists of the 
county. He was twice in the legislature, was supervisor of JeiYerson nine 
times, was township treasurer four terms. At his death he left a large 
propert}'. He was a man of nati\-e aljility. of rugged personality, and 
unusual force of character, and it was these cpialities for which his 
fellow citizens honored and respected him. 



Calvin township was estimated as having two hundreil inhabitants 
by 1837. Among the earliest of these was the family of William Grubb, 
who came from Logan county, Ohio, in 1830. The same year came 
David ShafYer, a skilful hunter whose annual record gained in the wil- 
derness of this county was said to include as many as two hundred deer. 
In the southwestern portion of the township Peter Shatter located in 
1832 and resided there vmtil his death in 1880. His son, George T. 
Shaffer, was prominent locally, and as a military man his record is 
unique. He was a member of a militia company during the war of 
1812, and half a century later entered the service of his country in the 
rebellion. He became successively first lieutenant, captain, major, lieu- 
tenant-colonel, and in March, 1865, was brevetted colonel and brigadier- 
general of volunteers. 



Ill' HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Another CaUin settler was Le\i D. Norton, who located here from 
leffersim. His name is found frequently in comiection with the civil 
affairs of his township. It is also noteworthy that he was among those 
will I turned the first furrow's in Jefferson township and assisted in the 
production oi the first crops. 

In 1833 the East settlement was estahlished in the northea.stern 
portion of this township. The family of this name and its numerous 
connections have left a distinct impress on the liistor)- of the county. 
William East and his wife Rachel, who were members of the Society 
of Friends, thus giving another touch of distinction to the settlement , 
were the parents of the large family which formed the nucleus of this 
settlement. To mention the names of their sons will recall some of the 
early and prominent settlers of this township. They were, James M.. 
Calvin K., Armstrong, John H., Jesse, Alfred J. and Joel. 

Another well known family of early date in Calvin, and also strict 
(juakcrs in faith, were the Osliorns. Charles Osborn, the jirogenitor of 
the familv and himself at one time a resident of Cass county, was a 
fanmus Ouaker preacher and abolitionist, ha\'ing tra\-ele(l in the interests 
of his church pretty much over the civilized world. His later years 
were devoted almost entirely to anti-slavery agitation, and his position 
on this question was among the extreme radicals. William Lloyd Gar- 
rison called him "the father of all us abolitionists." His work gave 
him an international reputation among the advocates of emancipation. 
The first paper ever published which advocated the doctrine of imme- 
diate and unconditional emancipation was issued by Mr. Osborn at 
Mount Pleasant, Ohio, in i8i(). entitled the Philanthropist. In order 
to attain to complete consistency with his views, he held that none of 
the products df slave labor should be used. He himself refused to wear 
anv garments made of cotton, nor would he eat cane sugar, on the ground 
that sla\'e labor was used in its manufacture. Singularly appropriate it 
is that the history of this op]X)nent of slavery should be connected with 
the township which sheltered one of the first colonies of freedmen. 

Josiah Osborn, a son of the abolitionist, settled on Section 24 of 
Calvin township in 1835. Flis connection with the township is notable 
l)ecause he planted one of the first fruit orchards and nurseries in the 
county, clearing away the virgin forest to. make place for his fruit trees. 
He also was one of those concerned in the Kentucky raid of 1848, and 
suffered such severe losses therebv that he is said to have been obliged to 
work ten years to pay off all the nbligations incurred. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 113 

The history of the colored settlement in Calvin, which has played 
such an important part in the annals of the township, will be considered 
on later pages. 

HOWARD. 

Turning now to some of the townships which were settled and or- 
ganized after the pioneer period, a few facts and names may be recalled 
that will complete this outline of early growth and development in the 
county. 

Howard township, although in the direct line i)f settlement, was 
passed by at first because of the prejudice against its numerous oak 
openmgs, or barrens, whose fertility and value had not yet been tested. 
But it was not long before the productiveness of its soils was established, 
and by the late thirties its population was up to the average of the newer 
townships. Long before the substantial settlement of this portion of the 
county had begun, there lived on Section i8, close to the western line 
of the county, one of the famous pioneer characters of the St. Josejih 
country. William Kirk, whom we have mentioned as an associate of 
Squire Thompson, and whose first home was in Berrien county, while 
hunting one day discovered a fine spring in Section iS and at once moved 
his family and built his log cabin Iieside the bubbling water, although he 
thus became situated far from neighbors. In his entertainment of im- 
migrants and land lookers he united pioneer hospitality with his inherent 
southern lavishness, and thus dissipated the greater part of his posses- 
sions. He was fond of the solitudes, not because of any ascetic nature, 
but because hunting and fishing and the life of the wild wi lods attracted 
him more than the occupations and society of an advanced civilization. 
It is not surprising, therefore, after the advent of the railroad and the 
progress of settlement had practically destroyed his hunting grounds, 
to find him bidding farewell to Cass county scenes and moving to the 
far west. He died in Oregon, in 1881, at the age of eightv-nine years. 
We have mentioned how necessary to dev^elopment was the sawmill. 
It is stated that the first water-power sawmill in Howard township was 
built about 1834 by Joseph Harter. who had located in the township in 
1830. In 1836 a carpenter and joiner arrived in the township in the 
person of William H. Doane, and he 1>ecame well known in township 
affairs. He brought a stove into the township in 1837, and it was the 
attraction of the neighborhood for some time, being kmown as "Doane's 
Nigger." 



114 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

A man ui mark in the township was Ezekiel C. Smith, who located 
here in 1835. Ahiiust at once he was elected justice of the peace, and 
during- thirty-six years in that office he is said to have married four 
hundred couples. He also served as supervisor, and was sent to the state 
legislature in 1850. 

Another figure m the affairs of early Howard township was James 
Shaw, who located here in 1840, and ser\ed several times as supervisor, 
two terms in the legislature, and afterward was Democratic candidate 
for the senate. Other names that belong among the first settlers are 
found in the election polling list of 1837, which comprises: Ira Perkins, 
John W". Abbott, Jonathan Wells, O. D. S. Gallup, Zenos Smith, Henry 
Heath, J. \\ R. Perkins, iVmasa Smith, Ephraim Huntley, Joseph C. 
Teats, Ebner Emmons, Arthur C. Blue, Charles Stephenson, Zina 
Rhodes, Nathan Dumboltom, Eli Rice, Jr., Daniel Partridge, Gurdon 
B. Pitch, Sylvenon Dumboltom, Calvin Kinney, Nathan McCoy, Henry 
L. CkjuUI, Jonathan E. Wells. 

MILTON. 

Milton township, which till 183S was the west half of Ontwa, had 
similarly attractive features with its neighbor and developed from the 
pioneer stage about the same time. This township also contains a por- 
tion of the famous Beardsley's prairie, where the pioneers were enabled 
to reap plenteous crops by the hrst year's eft'ort and which consequently 
lirst attracted the attention of the settlers. 

The hrst names are those of John Hudson and J. Melville, neither of 
whom remained long. Cannon Smith and family, who made Edwards- 
burg their home from the fall of 1828 till the spring of 183 1, .settled 
on section 14. Mr. Smith's house was a model pioneer dwelling such 
as the typical one described in the first part of this chapter. He did all 
the work himself, his only tools being an ax, dra\v-sha\e, hammer and 
auger, .\fter the trees had been felled and split, and hewn out into 
siding as nearly as possible, the draw-shave was used for the finishing. 
The studding and braces were split out like fence rails, and then labor- 
iously smoothed on one side to an even siuTace. The frame was fast- 
ened together with wooden i)ins, and the roof consisted of "shakes" 
held down with pules. Mr. Smith was a good Methodist, and this 
humble house nften sheltered his neighbors while listening to the words 
of the circuit rider of those days. 

Peter Truitt was tlie merchant and Ijusincss man of earh- Miitnn. In 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 115 

his double Ing caliin, Iniill in 1831. he opened the first stuclv of "oods 
in the townshii). antl as his merchancHse did not nionnpoHze all the 
space in his house nor its disposal require all his time and attentinn, he 
also transformed his i)lace intu the "White Oak Tree Ta\-ern.'" at which 
for many years he \\elci imed the tarr^'int;' traveler through this region. 

SIL\'ER CREEK. 

Silver Creek, famed as the last retreat of the Pottawottomies who 
remained behind after the great exodus, had only about one hundred 
white inhabitants in 1837. If there is an\' connection between the 
voting population and those who build the first homes, first plow the 
soil and fell the virgin forest, tlie biirden of pioneer development in 
Silver Creek must largely have fallen on those who participated in 
the first election in the fall of 1838, whose names are recorded as fol- 
lows: E. Shaw. W. W. Barney. Joseph Spencer, John AIcDaniel, Henry 
De\\-ev, Tohn Barney, John ^^'oolman. A. Barney. Samuel Stockwell. 
yac(jb Suits. P. B. Dunning. \\'illiam Brooks, James Allen. Timothy 
Treat, James Hall. 

Tlie fir.st entry of land in this town was made in section 12. by 
James McDaniel, December 16. 1834. When he located there in the 
following spring he erected the first house and plow^ed the first furrow, 
the initial events of development. He also began the constructicin of the 
sawmill which subsequently was purchased and completed liy John Bar- 
ne\-. who arrived in 1836. and whose connection with the early manu- 
facturing interests gives him a place in another chapter of this work. 

Jacob A. Suits came in September, 1836, and built the fifth house 
in the township. The next year there came Timothy Treat and family ; 
James Allen, Joseph and William Van Horn, Benj. B. Dunning. EH W. 
^"each, Patrick Hamilton, Harvvood Sellick, James McOmber, Jabes 
Cadv. Israel Sallee, George McCreary, James Hall, William Brooks, 
and others. In the same year the township was cut ofY from Pokagon 
and organized. 

MASOX. 

Once more directing our attention to the south side of the county. 
we will mention briefly some of those concerned in the development of 
the small township of Mason. The attractiveness of Breadsley's prairie 
caused the first tide of immigration to pass over Mason's fertile soil, 
and, as we know, it was not until 1836 that a sufficient population had 
come to justify organization into a separate township. 



116 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Tlic first settler was Elani Beardsley, who nK)\-ed on his claim in 
section ij in the early months of 1830. He erected the first cabin and 
set out the first apple trees. He was a member of the noted pioneer 
faniiK' of that name, and another was Darius Reardslev, who put up liis 
cabin in 1832. llie fate of Darius Beard.slev illustrates another sad 
feature of life in a frontier country. One day in the winter of 1833 he 
started on foot for Edwardsbura', the nearest trading- puint. where be 
bou^'bt bis household supplies. The snow was two feet deep and the 
entire distance was a trackless waste of white. He \\as detained in the 
village until well towards evening, and then set out alone in the gath- 
ering twilight toward his home. It was intensely cold, and as darkness 
came on he was unable to make out the road he had traveled in the 
morning. He was soon wandering about in the shelterless forest, and 
at last exhausted by the cold and the fatigue of stniggling; through the 
snow, he sat down under a tree to rest. Here, within half a mile of 
home and family, his neighbors found him {vnzen to death and carried 
him home in his grief-stricken wife, who. unable to leave her small 
children, had been compelled to await the results of the search which 
after several days gave her the lifeless body of her husband. Such was 
a not uncommon tragedy enacted in many a frontier community. 

One of the well known personages during the early years of Mason 
was S. C. Gardner, who. in 1835. found a home in Section T3. N< it 
long after, his house being located on the "territorial road," an important 
arterv of earlv immigration, he became a landlord and his house was 
filled almost nightlv with the tired tra^•elers who in those davs asked 
nothing better than the simplest victuals to eat and a roof to shelter 
them while tliev pillowed their beads on the hard floor. 

Others who were identified with the early development of this town- 
ship were Jotbam Curtis, at whose house the first township election was 
held ; the Miller family, numbering all told twenty persons, who formed 
what was known as the Miller settlement; Henry Thompson ; J. Hubbard 
Thomas: Elijah and Daniel Bishop, who came about 183S. 



Tlie first land selected for settlement \vc<m the iktw well peopled 
Newberg township was in Section 34, where John Bair chose his home 
in October, 1832. Here he made the first improvements effected in 
the township, built a cabin in which he dispensed hospitality to all who 
came, whether they were ministers of the gospel, land viewers, hunters 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 117 

and trappers, white men or Indians; and he himself divided his time ije- 
tween the cultivation of a pioneer farm and the avocation of hunting 
and fishing, which he loved with a frontiersman's devotion. 

He soon had a neighbor in the person of Daniel Driskel, who lo- 
cated on Section 36 in the fall of 1834. In 1835 land was entered bv 
George Pee, Marvick Rudd, Thomas Armstrong, Samuel Hutchings, 
Felix Girton, John Grennell, William D. Jones. These and such men 
as Barker F. Rudd, William D. Easton, Alexander Allen, Spencer 
Nicholson, Samuel Eberhard, Hiram Harwood, formed the nucleus 
around which larger settlements grew up, resulting in the separate or- 
ganization of the township in 1838. 

MARCELLUS. 

And finally the course of development also included the extreme 
northeast corner of the county, where the dense forests and heavy timber, 
the marshes and malaria, had seemed uninviting to the early settlers. 
But by the middle thirties the tide of settlement was at the flood, and 
there was no considerable area of the count}' that was not overflowed by 
eager homeseekers. All the prairie lands had been occupied, and now 
the forests must also yield before the ax and be replaced with the wav- 
ing corn. 

Joseph Haight, from Orleans county, New York, was the first set- 
tler, arriving in the summer of 1836. In the following year he was 
joined by Frederick Goff and Joseph Bair. Goff was a carpenter, and as 
it was possible by this time to get lumber at convenient distance, he 
built for himself, instead of the ordinary log cabin, a small frame house, 
which was the first in the township. 

Among other early settlers of JNIarcellus were G. R. Beelie, who 
came in 1838, Moses P. Blanchard, Daniel G. Rouse, who has already 
been mentioned as taking a leading part in township organization. These 
and others are named among those who voted at the first township 
meeting in 1843 and in the general election of the same year, that list 
being as follows: John Huyck, Daniel G. Rouse, Abijah Huyck, Will- 
iam Wolfe, Joseph Bair, Cyrus Goff, Nathan Udell, Andrew Scott, G. R. 
Beebe, Joseph Haight, Moses Blanchard, Philo McOmber, John Savage, 
E. Hyatt, Alfred Paine, Joseph P. Gilson, Lewis Thomas, Samuel Corv. 

In describing the period while civilization was getting a foothold 
in this county, while the wilderness was being deposed from its long 
reign and men's habitations and social institutions were springing up on 



lis HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

lU'ai'ly every section nf land, a cnniplete sketch wnuld include the open- 
ino >'\ matls, the l'iiildin<^- nf scliools, the estahlishnient of p(]stal facil- 
ities, and the nianv other matters that necessarily belong to an advancing 
community. But with the limits of this chapter already exceeded, sev- 
eral of these snljjects will be reserved for later treatment under separate 
titles. In the following chapter we will consider that inevitable cen- 
tralization of societv that results in the formation of \-illage centers. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER Vin. 
CENTERS OF POPCLATION. 

The organization of the townships, which lias been ]ire\i()uslv de- 
scribed, was an artificial process, following the geometrical lines of 
government survey. But the grouping of population and the formation 
of village centers are the result of natural growth. In the following 
pages it is our pur[X)se to continue the story of settlement and growth 
with special reference to the grouping of people into comnnmities and 
villages. 

It is easy tii indicate in a general way the lieginning of such a 
community. .V fertile and aralile region receives a large proportion of 
the immigration. Assuming that the}' are pioneers, it will he almost a 
necessity that most of them till the soil, even though combining that with 
another occupation. But if the settlement was on a niucb-tra\elc<l thor- 
oughfare, such as the Chicago road on the south side of the county, 
one or perhaps more of the pioneer houses would be opened for the en- 
tertainment of the transient public. On the banks of a stream some one 
constructs a saw or grist mill. At some convenient and central point 
a settler with the commercial instincts opens a stock of goods such as 
will supplv the needs of the other settlers and (if the immigrants. .\ 
postoffice comes ne.xt, the postmaster verv likelv being either the mer- 
chant or the ta\-ern-keeper. .V physician, looking for a location, is 
pleased with the conditions and occupies a cabin near the store or inn. 
A carpenter or other mechanic is more accessible to his patronage if he 
lives near the postoffice or other comnion gathering point. If the school- 
house of the district has not already been built, it is probable that it 
will be placed at the increasingly central site, and the first church is a 
natural addition. Already this nucleus of settlement is a village in 
embryo, and in the natural course of development a variety of enterprises 
will center there, the mechanical, the manufacturing, the comn.iercial and 
professional departments of human lal)or will be grouped together for 
the purpose of efficiency and convenience. Bv such accretions of popu- 
lation, by diversification of industr^^ In- natural advantages of location 
and the improvement of means of transportation, this communitv in 



12(1 HISTORY OV CASS COUNTY 

lime 1)ccnines urgaiiized as a villa,t;c- and with continued prosperity, as 
a eitv. Sometimes the developniL-nt is arrested at a particular stage. 
The village remains a village, the h;uiilet ceases to grow, and we have 
;; center nf iJDpulation without special business, industrial or civic de- 
velopment. Tlien there are instances in this county of retrogression. A 
locality that could once be dignified witli the name of village has dis 
integrated under stress of rivalry from other centers or other causes, 
and is now little more than a place and a name. 

Specific illustrations of all these processes are to be found in the 
historv of the centers in Cass county. But in general it may lie stated 
that during the earlv vears, when communication was primitive and 
isolation tpiite complete e\en lietwcen localities separated by a few miles, 
the tendenc\- \vas toward centralization in numerous small hamlets and 
villages. Hut in keeping with the economic development for which the 
past centurv was noted and esj^ecially because of the improvement of all 
forms of transportation, the barriers against easy communicatiiin with 
all parts of the count\- were thrown down and the best situated centers 
grew and tiourished at the expense of the smaller centers, which grad- 
ually dwindled into c< miparative insignificance. Nothing has done more 
to accelerate moxement than the establishment of rural free delivery. 
The ixjstoffice was the central point of community life and remoteness 
from its privileges was a .severe drawback. Rural delivery has made 
every house a postoftice, juits each home in daily contact with the world, 
and while it is destroying |)rovincialism and isolation, it is effecting a 
wholesome distribution of population rather than crowding into small 
villages. .\ud the verv recent introduction into Michigan of the sys- 
tem of public transportation of school children to and from school 
v.ill remove another jmwerful incentive to village life. \\'hen 
weak districts may be consolidated and a large, well graded and modern 
union school be provided convenient and accessible to every child in the 
enlarged school area, families w'ill no longer find it necessary "to move 
to town in order to educate their children." 

These are the principal considerations that should be understood 
before we enter on the description of the various centers wdiich Cass 
county has produced ir, more than three quarters of a century of growth. 

EDW.-\KDSBURG. 

Nowhere can the processes above described be better illustrated than 
along the meandering Chicago road that passes across the lowest tier 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY l-'l 

of townships on the south. In the cliapter on early settlement the be- 
ginning of community life on Beardsley's Prairie has already been 
sketched. It will be remembered that Ezra Beardsley, in oriler to ac- 
commodate the increasing host of immigrants, converted his home into 
a tavern, the nearby Meacham cabin being used as an annex. On the 
south side of the lake Thomas H. Edwards in 1828 began selling goods 
to tlie settlers, and thus earl}- the community of Beardsley's Prairie had 
a center. 

With the Chicago road as the main axis of village life, a plat of 
a village site, named "Edwardsburgh," was filed on record, August 12, 
1 83 1, by Alexander H. Edwards, who appeared before Justice of the 
Peace E^ra Beardsley and "acknowledged the within plat to be his free 
act and deed." The original site of the village comprised 44 lots, luit 
Abiel Silver on June 2, 1S34, laid out an addition of 86 lots and on 
March 25, 1836, a second addition. 

Jacob and Abiel Silver figure prominently in the early life of the 
village. They purchased in 183 1 the store of Thomas H. Edwards. 
Other early merchants were Henry Vanderhoof and successors Clifford 
Shaahan and Jesse Smith ; the late H. H. Coolidge, who came here 
in 1835 to take charge of a stock of goods opened here by a Niles mer- 
chant, and who later was engaged in business in partnership with P. P. 
Willard. In 1839 ^"^^ ^- Marsh established a foundry for the manufact- 
ure of plow castings and other iron work, and this was one of the indus- 
tries which gave Edwardsburg importance as a business center. 

During the thirties and early forties Edwardsburg bid fair to be- 
come the business metropolis of Cass county. It is easy to understand 
why its citizens had implicit faith in such a future. The Detroit-Chi- 
cago road, on which it was situated, was at the time the most traveled 
route between the east and the west. The hosts who were participating 
in the westward expansion movement of the period, traveling up the 
popular Erie Canal and thence to the west by way of Lake Erie and the 
Chicago road, all passed through Edwardsburg. The mail coaches, 
which primitively represented the mail trains of to-day, carried the mail 
bags through the village and lent the cluster of houses the prestige that 
comes from being a station on the transcontinental mail. Eurthermore, 
the agitation for canals which then disputed honors with railroads seemed 
to indicate Edwardsburg as a probable station on the canal from St. 
Joseph river to the lake. 

All conditions seemed favorable for the growth of a citv on the 



12-2 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

south side of the county. But at the middle of the century the mighty 
rearranger of civilization, the railroad, pushed its way through Mich- 
igan and northern Indiana. The \illages touched by the railroad in its 
coin-se flourished as though by magic. Those left to one side languished 
as if the stream of life, diverted, ceased to nourish their activities. The 
Chicago niad was no longer the artery of commerce it iiad been. The 
stage coaches ceased their daily \isits. A few miles to the south the 
Michigan Southern, having left the route of original survey at White 
Pigeon, coursed through the villages and cities of northern Indiana, giv- 
ing new life to Bristol, Elkhart and South Bend, and depriving Edwards- 
burg of its ecjuaL chance in the struggle of existence. To the west Xiles 
became a station on the Michigan Central and prospered accordingly, 
while Edwardsburg, thus placed between the two great routes, suffered 
the barrenness of almost utter isolation. 

It is said that just before the period of decline began Edwardsburg 
had a population of three hundred, with churches, school and business 
houses. The permanent institutions of course remained although with 
little vitality, but the business decreased until but one store remained in 
1851. Eor twenty years Edwardsburg had practically no business acti\'- 
ity, and was little more than a community center which was maintained 
by custom and because of the existence of its institutions of church, edu- 
cation and society. 

The same power that took away gave back again. The Grand 
Trunk Railroad was completed through Edwardsburg in 1871, and with 
the establishment of communication with the world and with facilities at 
hand for transportation there followed a revival of village life. Ten 
years later the population hatl increased from 297 to 500. There were 
about twenty stores and shops and a list of professional and business 
men. 

Since then Edwai"dsburg has held her own. There is good reason in 
the assertion that the village is the best grain market that the farmers 
of the south half of the county can find. The large grain elevator along- 
side the tracks is of the most modern type, replacing the one bvn-nt down 
a few years ago, and a steam grist mill is a \'ery popular institution 
among the farmers of this section. Edwardsburg has ne\-er organized 
as a village, and hence is still, from a civic point of view, a part of the 
township of Ontwa. The \illage improvements have been made in only 
a small degree. Tbe bucket brigade still protects from fire, and the con- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 123 

veniences and utilities whicli are onlv possil^le in an organized community 
are still absent. 

A review of the present status of the village would include men- 
tion of the \\'alter Brothers' store, the principal commercial enterprise 
of the village; half a dozen other stores and shops; and two physicians. 
The Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist churches all have buildings, 
and the Methodists have a strong organization. It is a center of fraternal 
activity, the following orders being represented here : ]\Iasons, Odd 
Fellows, Knights of the Maccabees, Modern Woodmen of America, the 
Royal Neighbors, the Ancient Order of Gleaners, a farmers' organiza- 
tion, and the Patricians. 

It is always of interest to record the names of those who have been 
identified with a locality in the past or who are still living there but at 
the close of active service. One of the first old-timers to be mentioned 
is Eli Benjamin, who is eighty-two years old and one of the oldest resi- 
dents of Edw^ardsburg. Edward Hirons, from wdiom many of these notes 
were obtained, was born in Milton towniship seventy years ago and has 
been in Edwardsburg thirty-seven years. John C. Carmichael and 
Cassius AI. Dennis are other old-timers. Dr. (iriliin, who died recently, 
was a ph)-sician practicing here for many years, and another doctor, John 
B. Sweetland, died only a few )'ears ago. 

The (irittin House, on the uijrth side of ^lain street, west of the 
alley, in wdiicli the postoffice was for so many years and at different 
times located, is said to be the oldest building in the village. When 
Edwardsburg was a flourishing station on the stage lines it supported 
two hotels, one situated on the south side of Main street on the site of 
R. J. Hicks' store, the other on the north side of Main street on the 
site of Dr. Criswell's residence. The \acant lot at the north end of 
Walter Brothers' store was the site of a hotel erected by John Earl. 
its first landlord, in 1856. Immediately preceding the luiilding of the 
(irand Trunk the village was in comiuunication with the world bv a 
daily stage between Elkhart and Dowagiac. 

Edwardsburg has been the home of many prominent men in the 
county's bfe. Dr. Israel G. Bugbee is well entitled to a place among 
the leaders in county affairs. Judge A. J. Smith was an early resident 
of this place and taught school here, and Judge H. H. Coolidge, also 
teacher and lawyer, and his son, the present Judge Coolidge of Niles, 
was a boy among Edwardsburg boys before he ever dreamed of judicial 
honors. George F. Silver, who has lived here seventy years, is a son of 



124 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Orrin Siher, a pioneer. Other names that readily occur are those of 
Dr. Henry Lockwood, Dr. Kdgar Reading, Dr. Levi Aldricli, Dr. Daniel 
I'honias, J. L. Jacks, J. \\\ Lee, W. K. Hopkins, who served as super- 
visor se\'eral times. "Squire" Dethic Hewitt, and his two sons, Daniel 
A. and John P., blacksmiths, H. B. ^lead, J. W. Bean, J. H. Williams, 
J. D. Bean, postmaster, Jacob R. Reese, one of the biggest merchants of 
the village. William and Isaiah Walter have been longest in the mer- 
cantile business among the present merchants. 

ADAMSVILLE. 

Traveling east along the Chicago road, about fi\e miles east of 
Edwardsburg oue crosses the Christiann creek at the site of a once am- 
bitious village. iV cluster of houses on either side of the road, most of 
them \\eatherbeaten and old, are almost the sole indication of village 
life. However, there are two grocery stores, and the last census gave 
the number of inhabitants on the village site as 207. 

Adamsville, or Adamsport, originated in the water po\\er of Chris- 
tiann creek. A mill very often is the nucleus for jx)pulation to concen- 
trate. "Tlie Sages made the town," was the statement of one who 
knew the past history of the place. The Sage family, of which Closes 
Sage was the first and principal member, with his sons, Martin G. and 
Xorman, has for three-quarters of a century been prominent in manu- 
facturing, financial and business afTairs of this part of the country, their 
interests being now centered in Elkhart, where Norman and other mem- 
bers of the family reside. The water power at Adamsville is now owned 
by Mr. H. E. Bucklen, formerly of Elkhart, now of Chicago, who bought 
it from the Sage estate and who owns all the water power on the Chris- 
tiann from Elkhart up. The grist mill is the only manufacturing concern 
now at .\damsville, though formerlv there were a stave factory and a 
sawmill. 

Tlie first jjlat of Adamsport was filed for record March 21, 1833. 
"Appeared before Ezra Beardsley, justice of the peace. Sterling Adams, 
who acknowledged that he hatl laid out the within town of Adams Port 
and also acknowledged that the lots and streets are laid out as described." 
The platted ground was on the east side of the cr^eik and' was bisected 
by the Chicago road, the other streets being !ai-d-oiit at right angles to 
this main thoroughfare. On May 5, 1835,' the plat was received for 
record of the village of Christiann, laid out ibv- Moses Sage on the op- 
posite side of the creek. Within a year plals of "Stevens' addition" 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 125 

and "Johnson's addition" were filed. It was evidently the purpose and 
tlie hope of the founders to make Adamsville, with manufacturing as a 
basis, the foremost center of south Cass county, rivahng Edwardsburg. 
Moses Sage buih the first grist miU in 1835, and witli the mill 
running night and day for several years, it is not surprising that a con- 
siderable community soon grew up at this point. But as soon as the 
railroads were built and established new relations between centers, 
Adamsville began to decline, although its manufacturing enterprise has 
alway.s been valuable. A iMStoffice was established here in an early day 
and continued until rural free delivery made it no longer necessary. 
There is a United Brethren church in the village. 

In describing the centers of population in this chapter we make 
especial mention of the groups of population which take the forms 
of hamlets or villages. It is necessary to say that the institutions of edu- 
cation and religion are centralizing influences of great power, and a 
church or a schoolhouse is often the heart of the social community. But 
the consideration of churches and schools must be left to a later chapter, 
where it is our purpose to give an adequate account of these institu- 
tions in their relation to the county. 

KESSINGTON (sAILOR). 

Mason townsb.ip has many churches and its proportionate share of 
schools, but of other centers it is practically destitute. In tlie register's 
office will be found a plat, recorded July 23, 1872, by Moses McKissick, 
of a village site in the northeast quarter of Section 14. To this he gave 
the name Kessington or Sailor. The plat comprised nineteen lots. Al- 
though one might drive o\-er this site and notice nothing more remark- 
alile at this country crossroads than a church and a school, at one time 
]\Ir. ?^IcKessick kept a general store and there was also a blacksmith 
shop. 

UNION. 

One otlier center along the old Chicago road remains to be de- 
scribetl. On the w'est side of south Porter township is beautiful Bald- 
win's prairie, one of the most delightful landscapes in Cass county and 
its citizenship among the most prosperous. Baldwin's prairie, ages be- 
fore the earliest fact of history recorded in this book, was the bed of 
some large lake, similar to many in this county. The processes of nature 
finally drained the waters off into the St. Joseph river; the swamp in time 
gave place to prairie, and as the Indians and the first settlers knew the 



1-'.; ■ HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

l.naliU' the grass ami \\\k\ flowers spread their carpet over its level 
area. 

A plain 60 beautiful, with fertility so deep and so prodigal of prod- 
ucts, liid not escape the eye of the practical pioneer, and settlement and 
development were naturally followed by a concentration of population. 
Sections 7 and 8 ol south Porter were among the first entered in this 
portion of the county, and such well known pioneers as Elam Beardsley, 
James Hitchcux, Othni Beardsley, Jolin Baldwin. Chester Sage, Jacob 
Charles. Xathan and William Tibbits had taken up land on this prairie, 
ri(.jne later than 1831. 

John Baldwin kept taxern in his home for the acc(jmmodation of the 
tra\-elers along the Chicago road, and (Jthni Beardsley was another 
pioneer nm-keeper. In 1831 Jacob Charles became the first postmaster 
for this vicinity, distributing the mail at his house. The Beardsley tav- 
ern, erected in 1833, was one of the regular stations on the stage line 
and hence an imjx)rtant point. This house was burned in 1836, and 
Jarius Hitchciix then opened up his house as a tavern and stage station. 
The Hitchcox house was tni the north side of the road on the east side 
of l.'nii>n village. The brick house now standing there, and the present 
residence of Mrs. Montgomery, was built over sixty years ago and was 
the ta\-ern until the traffic of the road ceased with the beginning of the 
railroad era. This house is accordingly one of the most historic places 
in Cass county, having sheltered hundreds of emigrants during the 
pioneer period. When the stage station was located here extensive sheds 
in the rear accommodated the vehicles and horses of the stage company. 
Mr. S. M. Rinehart, whose pleasant home is just across the road, lived 
here \\iiile the stages were }-et running and many a time heard with 
bo\'ish eagerness the blast of the horn which announced the arrival of 
the stage. 

The postoffice and stage station were the beginning of the village of 
Union. L'nion has never been incorporated, and its commercial import- 
ance is cpiite overshadowed by Bristol and Elkhart, and yet it has con- 
tinued from pioneer days as a focus for the interests of a large and pros- 
perous surrounding country. 

SitiuUed on the northwestern edge of Baldwin's prairie, with its 
Imuses at the fnot of the hills which encircle the plain on the west and 
north and from which one o\-erlooks the \illage and bevond to the blue 
haze of the range on the south side of the St. Joseph river. Union makes 
no claims to metropolitan features, yet is a sup])h' center for a consid- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY l-'7 

erable area. Two stores, a blacksmith and repair sliop and implement 
house comprise the business enterprise. The rural mail wagons bring 
the mail for the villagers, but. contrary to what we have seen happen in 
many such centers, the postoffice is still maintained in the village. The 
postmaster is ^\'illiam Eby. son of Cabriel Eliy. uho at the age of eighty- 
seven is the oldest man in Union and by reason of fifty years' residence 
one of the oldest citi;?ens. Xelson Cleveland, of this neighborhood, is 
also about eighty-seven years old. 

]\Ir. S. \[. Rinehart, whi> contriliuted much of the information con-, 
cerning Union, was born near the James E, Bonine place in Penn town- 
ship, near A'andalia, seventy-five years ago and has li\'ed on the east side 
of Union village since he was twelve years old, so that he is the longest 
resident. He is at tliis time president of the Cass Countv Pioneer 
Society. 

L'nion now has a population of about 130. Whether the future holds 
growth and dexelopment in store for this conimunity. must fie left to a 
later historian to rec(ird. Ijut the citizens are sanguine over the pros- 
pects which the promised earl}- completion of the South Bend-Kalamazoc 
electric road through the village unfolds. 

WILLI.VMSVILLE. 

July 5. 1849, Josiah Williams, as proprietor, filed a plat of a village 
to be known as Williamsville, the site being in the southeast quarter of 
Section 7 in North Porter township. An addition was recorded to this 
plat September 14. 1850. Air. ^^'illiams was also proprietor of the first 
store. The "Williamsville neighborhood" has been a distincti\e name 
for many years, and as the center of this locality Williamsville is worthy 
of a brief history. Its population has never reached much bevond the 
hundred mark. Twenty-five years ago it had two stores, two lilacksmith 
shops, a grist mill and a sawmill, and one physician, .^t the present 
time its general acti\'ity consists of the following: A telephone ex- 
change of an independent company. It may be remarked that there are 
more telephones in use on the south side of the countv than on the north 
side. Here in 1854 the late William R. Merritt engaged in the mercan- 
tile business and for twenty years kept one of the l>est stocked country 
stores to be fourid anywhere, equaling, if not excelling, many general 
stocks kept by village merchants. His store was the trading place for 
miles around and many of his customers were found among those who 
hought on their promi=e to pay, not having any visible property to make 



128 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

llie promise g'ood. Few indeed were the people who could not obtain 
credit with him. After removing to Bristol, Indiana, the Inisincss was 
continued for a number of years by his son, J. Fred Merritt. 

It was in this little hamlet that Dr. GreenJjerry Cousins, on the 
ifith day of August, 1870. came to his death at the hands of Andrew J. 
Burns, who, after being tried twice on the charge of murder, the jury 
each time failing to agree upon a verdict, was discharged and given his 
lil>ertv after being confined in the county jail for al»ut one year await- 
ing these trials. 

BROWNSVILLE. 

Calvin township has had numerous centers, such as churches, schools, 
mills, at different times and different situations. The hamlet of Browns- 
ville alone may be considered in this part of the history, since Calvin 
center will be mentioned in connection with the negro settlement. 

Christiann creek, flowing for a considerable part of its length across 
this township, early afforded the best mill sites in the south part of 
Cass count V. A sawmill was built in section iq about iS,^2 and in the 
following vear a distillerv at that point began the manufacture of pure 
whiskey which was sold at twenty-five cents a gallon. But before this, 
in 1831, Pleasant Grubb had constructed a grist mill in section 9. This 
was one of the first flour mills in the county and its product was eagerly 
sought. David and William Brown, brothers who had come from Scot- 
land, soon purchased this mill, and the little community which grew i\]i 
around the mill honored them by giving the name Brownsville to the 
place. No plat was ever made, but enough ^-illag■e activity has prevailed 
to distinguish the locality from the general rural district. \Mien the 
former historv of the countv was published, twenty-five years ago, its 
enterprise consisted in a flour mill, a general store, two blacksmith shops, 
a cooper and a shoe shop, a millinery store, pump factoiT, harness shop, 
two carpenters and two physicians. At the present time there are the 
grist mill, nni by water power, a steam sawmill, a blacksmith shop, and 
the postoffice has been discontinued since rural free delivery was estab- 
lished. The population has remained at about one hundred. Levi Gar- 
wood, Williams Adanison :md James Hybert (colored") are named as 
the oldest residents of this comniunitv. 



Jefferson township, midway between the county seat and Edwards- 
burg, although traversed by two railmads, lias ne\'er developed any 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 129 

important center. Redfield's mills on Christiann creek on the eastern 
edge of the township at one time had a store and ]x>stoffice. a sawmill 
and grist mill, the latter run now for grinding Imckwheat and feed only. 
It still has a general store. The only other place that can be dignified 
by distinct reference in this chapter is Dailey, in section Ci. The citi- 
zens of this locality, among whom was Israel A. Shingledecker, who 
proposed the name of Itasca, desired a station w^hen the Air Line rail- 
road passed through that part of the township, and by donating three 
acres of land to the company secured a freight and passenger house. 
There being opposition to Itasca, the station was given the name of 
Dailey, in honor of j\. H. Dailey, madmaster of the railroad. A post- 
office was established in 1872, with I\I. T. Garvey as first postmaster, 
and two stores with a blacksmith shop soon supplemented the business 
activity of the place. In March, 1880, Levi M. Vail filed a plat of lots 
laid out on land iust west of the depot site. A cornet liand was at one 
time an institution of the place. The population at the last census was 
about a hundred. 

The progress of our narrative brings us now to the center of the 
county, but instead of describing the growth and present status of Cass- 
opolis it seems best to reserve the county seat village for a separate 
chapter, as also will be done in the case of the city of Dowagiac. 



In the story of the county seat contest the founding of the now ex- 
tinct village of Geneva has been described. Some additional facts are 
of interest in preserving to memory of future generations the site of 
what might have become the central city of the count}-. The plat of 
Geneva, which was recorded May i, 1832, shows that the village was 
laid out on the north side of Diamond lake. The owners of the site, 
whose signatures are affixed to the plat, were Colonel E. S. Siljley, H. L. 
and A. C. Stewart, H. H. Fowler and Abner Kelsey. With the proviso 
that Geneva be constituted the county seat, "the public scpiare is given 
to the county on which to erect county offices," besides certain other 
lots. The traveled road going east from Cassopolis passes along the 
main street of Geneva about where it reaches the north bank of Dia- 
mond lake. Geneva never had the institutions of school and church, 
but the business enterprise was considerable until Cassopolis absorbed 
it all. A store was established in 1830. Nathan Baker about the same 
time established a blacksmith shop, and several years later a furnace 



130 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

for the manufacture of plow castings, this being the lirsl industry of 
tlie kind in the count}-, and the "Baker plow" gaining a reputation far 
lievond tlie limits of the count}-. H. H. Fowler, the principal promoter 
of the village, did not relax his efforts for building up the village even 
after the countv seat had become permanent, as is evident from the fact 
th.-it in October, 1836, he recorded the plat of an addition to the original 
site. Nothing now remains of Geneva, and only those who delve into 
n-iatters of the past would know, as they passed over the site, how much 
enthusiasm and effort were once expended toward making a village rise 
on the high shnres of l)ian-iond lake. The village site and vicinity are 
nnw known as "Shore Acres." 

PEN N ( J A M ESTO W N ) . 

In the register's office is a plat of the village of Jamestown, which 
was recorded by Isaac P. James, November 12, 1869. This site was 
located on the east side of section 16 in Penn township. On November 
_'t. 1884, Itsse Wright recorded an addition, taken from land that ad- 
ji lined in secticm 15. Jamestown is ;m unfamiliar name, and many per- 
sons wnuld not recognize in it the name of the center of Penn township. 

The fcumder of the \-illage bestowed upon it the name of Jamestow-n 
for himself, the same as he did <>n the village plat. The postofiice depart- 
ment refused to adopt that name for the proposed postofTice there, as 
iliere was at that time a Jamestown postoffice in Ottawa county, and es- 
tablished tlie office under the name of Penn, and gradually that name 
liecanie the ci immon designation for the hamlet. 

There were h<ipes in the minds of the founders that, with the coni- 
liletion oi the line of the Grand Trunk railroad through the site, a con- 
siderable village might rise at this point. Parker James, a son of Isaac 
P. lames, established a store, and later a sawmill was built and one or 
two other shops opened. It now has a resident physician, two churches, 
a school house with two departn-ients. Its principal enterprises are a 
sawmill, two general stores and a blacksmith shop. One of the stores, 
in addition to the stock usually kept in country stores, keeps on hand 
agricultural implements, coal, lime, etc. Penn bad, according to the 
last census, a population of two bimdred. 

V.\N1).\LI.\. 

A grist mill built on the banks of Christiann creek along the state 
road in section 27 of Penn towi-iship was the enterprise which served as 
the nucleus for the village of Vandalia. This mill was built in 1849 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 131 

bv Ste]ilien Bno-ue and C. P. Ball, both valiant Quakers and notaljle 
pioneers in Penn township. February 21, 1S51, a plat of the village of 
Vandalia was filed by these two men. the land which they chose for the 
proposed village being on the east side nf Christiann creek, and coniiiris- 
ing a portion of the southeast quarter nf vection 27. The uriginal site 
has be^n expanded Ijy eight additions, and the incnrpriratcd limits of the 
village now extend across the creek dii the west side and the larger part 
of the plat lies in section 26. 

In the days of beginnings Abraham Sigerfoos was the village black- 
smith. Asa Kingsbury of Cassopolis the first mercliant. he having estab- 
lished a branch .store there with the late Judge A. J- Smith as manager, 
and T. J. Wilcox the first postmaster. The principal impetus to growth 
was, of course, the Air Line railroad, which placed the village in connec- 
tion with the outside world in 187 1. This was followed by incorporation 
in 1875, and Vandalia is now one of the three incorporated villages in 
Cass county. 

HOWARDVILLE. 

Few names are more completely lost to memory than the above. 
The proximity of Howard township to Niles, not to mention other 
causes, has never fostered the growth of villages in the township. But 
in the pioneer years, when immigration was setting in at full tide, 
George Fosdick, an enterprising settler, endeavored to found a village, 
to which he gave the name Howardville. The plat was recorded Octo- 
l)er 8. 1835, the site being in section 21. on "the north bank of Lake 
Alone," the plat being two blocks wide and running north from the lake 
shore fom^ blocks. To the present generation it is necessary to explain 
that Lake Alone is the familiar Barren lake. Its remoteness from any 
other body of water, and the absence of surface outlets, gave this lake 
its first name. Fosdick's village did not prosper, and in a short time the 
plow furrows passed without distinction over the platted as the unplat- 
ted land, and Howardville was forgotten. 

In more recent years, since the Air Line railroad was built, a sta- 
tion was established, called Barren Lake station. The town hall is 
near by, also a school. This is as far as the township of Howard has 
gone in the formation of a central community. 

L.\ GRANGE VILLAGE. 

The road leading north and west from Cassopolis toward Dowa- 
giac passes for the first few miles over some of the most rugged land- 



132 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

scape in Cnss county-. This is tlie highest pnint nf the water^Iieil wliich 
interposes a liarrier-like group of hills hetween the courses of the Dowa- 
giac creek and Christiann creek. But du arriving at the crest of the 
last hill the broad valley of the Dowagiac creek seems, by reason of the 
contrast, as level as a chessboard and a scene of quiet and gentle beauty. 
One is not surprised tliat this fertile and reposeful plain was early sought 
as a habitation and place of activity by the pioneers. Tlie beauty of the 
natural siuToimdings. the rich and productive soil, and the ad\-antageous 
sites for mills and industries were recognized by the first settlers, and 
■were the chief prerequisites for tlie development of a flourishing city. 
And vet the present aspect of LaGrange brings up tlie picture of 
the "Deserted Village." The main street leading north to the millp<md 
is lined with weatherbeaten houses which bear every indication of iden- 
tity with the past. Some of these buildings have long been unoccupied, 
and. uncared for, have become prey to the wind and rain, ".\rrested 
development" seems to characterize the entire place. The last store 
building, from which the stock of goods was removed several years ago. 
is almost the onlv reminder of commercial activity. Rural free deliv- 
ery caused the disestablishment of the postoffice in Februarv. iqoi. 
Tlie Methodist church is the only active religious organization. The 
two-storv, brick district school, on the south edge of the village, shows 
that the decline of commercial prosperity has not affected the progress 
of education. The water power, on the opposite side of the village, 
which once turned .grist mills and factories, now turns a turbine wheel 
of the plant that partly supplies Dowagiac Avith electric lights. 

This diversion nf the only remaining ]iermanent resource of La- 
Ci range to the benefit and use of Dowagiac is the final fact of a series of 
similar e\-ents by which LaGrange has been reduced to its present status 
among the centers of the countv. Whh all the natural advantages which 
gave promise of a tliri\ing citv, the course of e\'ents took other direc- 
tifius. First, LaGrange, though an active competitor for the honor, failed 
to gain the county seat. Its business enterprise was at the time sujierior 
to that of Cassopolis or Geneva, but its location was not central enough 
to secure the decision of the commissioners. Tbe loss of the countv seat 
might not have prevented LaGrange becoming what its promoters ar- 
dently desired. Rut with the building of the Michigan Central rail- 
road four miles to the northwest, a powerful and resourceful rival came 
into action. With the railroad furnishing transportation as a basis for 
unlimited ])roduction and industrv, Dowagiac rapidlv became a center 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 133 

of business and manufacturing. LaGrange could not compete on equal 
terms, its manufactures dwindled and were moved to the rival town, 
and with the diverting of the water power to supply Dowagiac with 
electric lighting, the last chapter has been written in the decadence of 
a village that has played a large part in early Cass county history. La- 
Grange might now well be considered a suburb of the city of Dowagiac. 
Such is a general outline of the rise and fall of this village. The 
details may be briefly recorded. The millsite had first been de\'eloped 
by Job Davis, who Iniilt a sawmill there in 1829. This mill was fiought 
by Martin C. Whitman in 183 1. In the following year he erected a 
grist mill at the same place, this being one of the first mills in the county 
for supplying the pioneers with flour. 

August 4, 1834, Mr. Whitman, as "proprietor and owner,'" filed 
the first plat of the village of Whitmanville. The site was on the nr>rth 
side, about the center, of section 15. Erastus H. Spalding, wlio owned 
land adjoining, in the southwest quarter of section 10, platted an addi- 
tion April 16, 1836, to which he gave the name LaGrange. On July i, 
1836, Mr. Whitman platted a part of his land on the southeast quarter 
of section 10 as an addition to LaGrange, and in Septemlier following 
platted some land in section 15 as an addition to Whitmanville. It 
seems, therefore, that the site that lay in section 10 was originally des- 
ignated as LaGrange, and that in section 15 as Whitmanville. The lat- 
ter name was commonly used until the legislature, by an act approved 
February 12, 1838, formally changed the name Whitmanville to La- 
Grange. 

In llie meantime E. H. Spalding had become proprietor of the grist 
mill, and the business activity of the place became considerable. There 
were four large stores in the place besides the mills. The large, shallow 
millpond, however, caused much malarial sickness, and this, with the 
loss of county seat prospects and the destruction of the grist mill bv 
fire, caused a setback to the prosperity of the village. 

In 1856 there was a revival. Abram Van Riper and sons Charles 
and Garry bought the millsite, constructed a flour mill and also a woolen 
mill. The latter was an institution of great importance to the commu- 
nity. It furnished labor to many persons, both women and men, and 
also children, and thus attracted a considerable population to settle in 
the vicinity. Besides the Van Ripers, the late Daniel Lyle of Dowagiac 
was interested in the woolen mill. In 1878 a stock company, known as 
the LaGrange Knitting Mills Company, ]iurchased the mill property 



134 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

;m(l cc inverted it intn a knitting factory, principally fnr the manufacture 
(if underwear. 

There were nther manufactures, llervey Bigelow had beaun the 
nianufaeture of furniture here in 1836 and continued it until 1851. 
when Dowagiac offered him hetter opportunities and he moved to that 
\;llage. William \'an Iviper estahlished a basket factory in 1868. There 
was a small foundry twenty-tne years ago. All these industries have 
gone out of existence or lieen moved away. 

MEClLAXIfSRURG. 

On the north side of the public road that passes along the south 
side of section 30 in LaGrange townshii>, abmit where the school house 
stands and near the Pokagon creek, was once platted a village called 
Mechanicsburg. The plat ni this village was filed March 29, 1837, by 
John Petticrew, the proprietor of the sile. Several years later be huilt 
a tannerv there, but aside from that and a blacksmith shop, the village 
had nothing to justify its platting. 

SUMNERVILLE .WD POKAGON. 

These two little villages, a mile and a half apart, belong, the one 
to the pi(^neer period, the other to the railroad era. We have taken 
])ains to show the \-arious influences at w'ork in the development of the 
countv, how localities favored by natiu'e have received the first impulse 
of settlement : and how roads, streams, railroads, acts of the legislature, 
and personal enterprise have all been pivotal factors in the history of 
communities. The history of Suiunerviile and Pokagon is an excel- 
lent studv in these shifting processes. 

Sumnerville is located at the junction of the Pokagon creek with 
Dowagiac creek. The her.\-y timber growth in this locality favored the 
improvement of the water jiower at this point, and in 1835 Isaac Sumner 
built a .sawmill here, and two years later a grist mill. These twO' industries 
were all-important at that time, and were a substantial basis for a vil- 
lage. Mr. Sumner and Junius H. Hatch accordingly platted a village 
here in August, 1836, giving it the name of Sumnerville. About the 
s;ime time Alexander Davis became first merchant and Peabody Cook 
the proprietor of the first hotel. Prom this time forward the \-illage 
increased slowly in population and business. Its popiilation by the last 
census was about one hundred and fifty. In 1880, according to a gaz- 
etteer of that year, it had a population of 184, and its industries were a 
fiom-ini:- mill and a w'oolen mill. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 135 

Pokagon, on the other hand, altliough located on the prairie where 
llie first settlement was made in Cass county, and where the hrst post- 
office was established, was, as respects its business importance, the prod- 
uct of the railroad which was constructed through in 1S46. William 
Baldwin, the noted pioneer whose death was chronicled in August, 1904, 
laid out this village June 15, 1858. The original site, to quote the rec- 
ord, was "situated on the west side of the railroad, in the southwest 
quarter of section 28." Three additions have since lieen made, expand- 
ing the village into section 23 and to both sides of the railroad. A grist 
mill had been built in 1856, and several stores and shops soon gave the 
business activity to the place which it has retained ever since. The 
population has been at about two hundred for thirty years. 

SHAKESPEARE. 

Of all the forgotten village sites in Cass county that of Shake- 
speare has had most reason to be remembered. Situated "at the Long 
rapids of the Dowagiac river," as the record reads, Shakespeare was 
platted June 17, 1836, by Jonathan Brown and Elias B. Sherman, the 
latter the well known pioneer of Cass county, the former somewhat of 
an adventurer, to judge from this transaction. The site of the village 
was on the Dowagiac, including land in sections 8, 9 and 17 of Pokagon 
township. Sherman owned forty acres at this point and Brown a sim- 
ilar tract. They decided to plat and promote a village. The water power 
could be utilized to develop splendid industries, and the eyes of the pro- 
moters could see nothing but roseate prospects for a city at this location. 
A lithographed prospectus of the proposed village was got out illustra- 
ting in most attractive style all these and other advantages, and was cir- 
culated in distant cities. The prospectus and personal representations 
of Mr. Brown sold a number of village lots. Mr. Sherman withdrew 
from the partnership as soon as he saw that the representations -were 
overdrawn, and the principal promoter soon left the country without 
ever having done anything to develop the enterprise. Dtu'ing the next 
few years more than one sanguine investor in Shakespeare lots, after 
toiling through the woods and brush to the wilderness that covered the 
"city," was brought to realize the folly of speculation in unknown quan- 
tities. But now, outside of the office of register of deeds, where "Shake- 
speare" still presents tangles in the records, few know that such a vil- 
lage ever existed. 



13t) HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

NEWBERG. 

Aiiulher \illage that was plattetl witliout sulistantial reason for an 
existence and wliich telongs in histury because of the plat on file at the 
register's office, was Newberg. Spencer Nicholson, an early settler of 
Newherg townshiii, was the proprietor, and the \'illage [ilat was filed 
May 15. 1837. The site was on the south shore of Lilly lake, its ex- 
act location being the north end of the east half of tlie northwest quar- 
ter of section 32. 

JONES AND COREY. 

Born of the Air Line railroad were the two villages above named. 
Jones, the main street of which is the section line between sections 34 
and 33 of Xewljerg township, at the present time has four general 
stores, one grocery, shoe st()re, two hardware stores, one saloon, har- 
ness and lilacksiuith shop, and a population approximating three hun- 
dred. The plat of the \'illage was recorded October 19, 1897, by Alonzo 
V. Beeman, but the first business structure at this point of the newly 
built Air Line railroad was a store put up in 1S71 by H. Micksel. The 
postoffice for this immediate vicinity bad been established at the house 
of Mr. E. H. Jones, on section 34, in 1870. The first postoffice in the 
township was located at Lilly lake as early as 1838, and an office at 
different points in the township had existed and been kept in farmers' 
houses from that time, with different postmasters, until the founding 
of the village of J'mes. Other early business men were David Fairfield, 
hotelkeeper and merchant : H. B. Doust, and A. L. Dunn. Mv. Frank 
Dunn, present super\'isor from Newberg, has been in ])usiness at Jones 
since 1879. K<\ H. Jones, founder of the village of Jones, is still liv- 
ing, and other old-timers of this \icinity are William Young, perhaps 
the oldest man in the town: William Harwood, Myron F. Burney, 
Alonzo P. Beeman, ex-super\isor ;uid ex-county treasurer, and Nelson 
Hutchins. 

Corey, which is situated on the county line, in section 36 of New- 
berg township, was surveyed into a village site in April, 1872. Hazen 
\\'. Brown and C. R. Crawford were the first merchants. Its popula- 
tion is still less than a hundred, ami its business interests necessarily 
small. 

WAKELEE. 

In the south part of the county the building of the Grand Trunk 
railroad revived the decadent village of Edwardsburg and partly re- 



•HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 137 

stored the commercial prestige which it liad known in the days when the 
Chicago road was the great trunk line of communication. In the north- 
east corner of the county tlie same raih'oad caused the founding of two 
viUages. 

Wakelee. wliich is situated, Hke Dowagiac, on the corner of four 
iownships, Marcelhis, Volinia. Xewlaerg and Penn, and being unincor- 
porated, divides its civic functions with the four townships, was named 
in honor of C. Wakelee, the first treasurer of the Peninsular or Grand 
Trunk railroad. The first plat of the village, which was recorded De- 
cember 12, 187 1, was made by Levi Garwood, on land in section 36 of 
YoHnia township. April 10, 1873, George W. Jones and Orson Rudd 
platted an addition whicl: extended the site into the other townships. A 
steam sawmill at this ])iiint converted much of the lumber wocids of 
this part of the count\' into merchantable lumlier and the station be- 
came noted as a lumber-shipping point. 

MARCELLUS. 

While the Grand Trunk railroad no doubt had most to do with 
the founding of the village of Marcellus, now one of the three incor- 
porated villages of the county, one or two other influences working to 
that end should lie noticed. INIarcellus township, as will be remem- 
bered, was the last to be set off and last to be settled. Its inhabitants 
were long without communication, and did not have a postoffice until 
1857, when Harrison Dykeman began carrying the mail, at irregular 
intervals, from Lawton, on the main line of the Michigan railroad in 
\'an Buren county, to his home on section 14. On the establishment of 
a regular mail route in i860, the postoffice was located in a residence 
on section 16, and was transferred from place to place until Thomas 
Burney built and opened the first store on the site of Marcellus village, 
the mail then being distributed in his store. Tlie first permanent post- 
office of the township was, therefore, one of the institutions that served 
as a basis for the village of Marcellus. 

To the pri\^ate enterprise of George W. Jones is due in large meas- 
ure the honor of founding the village. In 1868, knowing tliat the rail- 
road would be completed through this point in a short time, and confi- 
dent of the prospects presented for village growth at this place, he bought 
over two hundred acres and prepared to lay out a village. The site in 
sections 15 and 22 was surveyed and the phi recorded by Mr. Jones 
i\pril 23, 1870, he adopting the plan of Cassopolis as to blocks and 



138 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ranges, getting the idea, no (Imil't, frdin his father-in-law. E. B. Sher- 
man, line of tlte fnunders mI that \ ilhige. Since that date the area of 
tlie village has been increased by six additions. The original name of 
the \illage was Marcelkis Center. 

Regular trains began running about the same time with the plat- 
ting of the village, and the business beginnings of the village were most 
auspicious. Some of the first merchants were Thomas Burney, already- 
mentioned, John Manning, Daniel Morrison, Herman Chapman and 
Lewis Arnold. 

Within less than ten years from the founding of the village it was 
incorporated in 1879, '"""^ the citizens who first took control of the village 
affairs were the following: David Snyder, president; Leander Bridge. 
Kenyon Ely, W. O. Matthews, Byron Beebe, Alexander Beebe, trus- 
tees; L. B. Des Voignes, clerk, now judge of the circuit court; Dr. E. 
C. Davis, treasurer; and W. R. Snyder, assesor. The list of subsequent 
officials will be found in the proper place on other pages. 

CENTERS IN VOUNIA TOWNSHIP. 

Volinia township has been as prolific of inland \'illage sites as any 
other township. Charleston, an insignificant little place on the cross 
roads between sections 3 and 10, was laid out and the plat recorded 
June 25, 1836, the proprietors whose names are signed to the plat be- 
ing Jacob Moreland, Jacob Charles, Elijah Goble, Alexander Eulton 
and David Eulton, all pioneers of the tcwvnship. The principal encour- 
agement to the founding of this village was the stage road from Niles 
to Kalamazoo that passed through this place, and Elijah Goble kept a 
tavern for the accommndalion of passing travelers. After the build- 
ing of the Michigan Central in the forties the business enterprise of the 
village ScDon failed. Charleston is now the name of a community rather 
than of such organization as the word village implies. Perhaps time 
will entirely obliterate the name, except as a historical record. 

Onlv two miles from Charleston, and also in the year 1S36, Levi 
Lawrence, David Hopkins, Obed ■ Bunker and John Shaw platted the 
village of Volinia on sections 11 and 12. The plat was recorded Sep- 
tember 20', 1836. Such is the record as it appears in the register's office. 
But this localitv has had a variety of names. The name of the post- 
office as it appeared in the Postal Guide is Little Prairie Roude. and 
under that title it was described in a gazetteer of 1880. Jonathan Nich- 
ols conducted the first hotel in this nlace. and from him the name Nich- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY l:^l> 

olsN'ille was given to the village. But the onh- plat recorded of a village 
at this site was the above, and under the name given. 

GLEN WOOD. 

Glenwood, in section lo of \\'a}nc township, was platted and re- 
corded in December, 1874, by Craigie Sharp, Jr., Thaddeus Hampton 
and Edwin Barnum. Glenwood's importance originated as a shipping 
point, and that is its sole claim to prestige at the present time. The 
Hampton stock farm and the barrel-hoop industry are the principal in- 
dustries of the place. Several years after the building of the ?\Iichigan 
Central the railroad company constructed a sidetrack which was long 
known as Tiets(jrt's Sidetrack. A steam sawmill was Ijuilt there in 
1855, and to the postoffice that was soon after established in the hamlet 
was given the name Model City postofifice. Thus it remained until a 
\nllage plat was made and the name changed to Glenwood. 

GUSHING CORNERS. 

The Cushing family, among whom is Dexter Gushing (see sketch), 
came to Silver Creek township in the early fifties, and for many years 
have lived and been extensive land owners on the west side of the town, 
especially in sections 19 and 20. At the intersection of the east and west 
road thniugh the center of these sections with the north and south high- 
way there has grown up a focus of a communit}- known as Cushing 
Corners. There is a store, kept by William Cushing, son of Dexter 
Cushing. The school house is located at that point. A postoffice was 
established there, but beyond these elemental institutions there is little 
to justify the place with the name of village. 

SUMMER RESORTS. 

The many beautiful lakes of Cass county are each year attracting 
, an increasing number of summer visitors. Cottages are built around 
the shore, a hotel is perhajis the central structure, the social community 
peculiar to the summer resort is formed, and we have one form of cen- 
tralization, the more permanent and substantial examples of which have 
already been described. The summer resort is a development of the 
modern age, as characteristic of it as the log house was of the pioneer 
epoch. It marks the reaction from the extreme concentration of so- 
ciety which has produced the crowded cities ; it is made possible by bet- 
ter facilities of transportation. Thus the same influence which in earlier 



140 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

years tended to concentrate population, now, in its higher development, 
tliffuses society and enables it to enjoy the benefits of organization with- 
out the close crowding made necessary in the cities. 

Several of the lake resorts in Cass county are well known to the 
inhabitants ui the cities, Magician lake and Diamond lake, to mention 
no others, being familiar names to thousand of persons who have never 
licen permanent residents of the coimty. Most of the resorts have been 
platted into regular village lots, and without noting any of the particular 
features of each place it will be proper in this historical \'olume to give 
the record of these plats as they are found in the register's books. 

The oldest and largest of these resorts is Diamond Lake Park, on 
the west side of Diamond lake, and half a mile from each railroad sta- 
tion in Cassopolis. The plat was filed May 8, 189 1, the signers being 
C. S. Jones, Henly Lamb, LeRoy Osborn, proprietors. Many cottages 
have been built on this plat, the northwest shore of the lake for the dis- 
tance of about half a mile presenting the appearance in summer of a 
well populated village. A numlier of the cottages are owned fiy local 
people. Ijut the resorters fn^m the cities and distant points are increas- 
ing every }'ear, and during the summer season the presence of a large 
number of strangers gi\-es the county seat village an air of gayety and 
stir that is not found in the quieter months of the year. 

Fiirest Hall Park, situated along the shore of the lake a little to 
the east of Diamond Lake Park, hut still in section 36 of LaGrange 
township, was platted in Jnne. 1898. by Barak L. Rudd, proprietor. The 
inception ui this resort was due to H. E. Sargent, superintendent of the 
Michigan Central railroad ; Nathan Corwith and J. P. Smith, business 
men of Chicago, who in 1872 erected a large cluli house on the high 
north shore of the lake and laid out the grounds with a design of mak- 
ing a resort for club purposes. This was the beginning of the now pop- 
ular resorts on the shores of the lake. 

The most recent addition to Diamond lake platted summer villages 
is Sandy Beach, on the north shore of the lake. The plat was recorded 
by Mary Shillaber January 30, 1906. These plats by no means define 
the limits of occupation for resort purposes. The island in the center 
of the lake, where the eccentric Jol) Wright made his home and grudg- 
ingly watched the encroachment of the settlers on his wild abode, is 
now well filled with cottages. Other parts of the shore line are being 
taken, and the extension of this sort of settlement finds its best example 
about Diamond lake. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 141 

Eagle lake, in Ontwa tuwnship a few miles east of EdwardsLnirg, 
has also become popular among sportsmen and summer residents. Lake 
\'ie\v Park, on the northwest shore of the lake, has Ijeen frequented for a 
number of years. A plat of the site was filed February 24. i><<jcj, by 
Cora M. Stryker. 

Oak Beach, in section 3 and near Lake View, was platted liy Henry 
J. French April 7, 1906. 

On the south side of Eagle lake is "Brady," located in section 2 
of Ontwa, the plat being filed by John M. Brady August 7, 1895. 

Magician lake, up in the northwest corner of the county, in Silver 
Creek township, though remote from railroad facilities, presents some 
of the best pleasure grounds to Ije found in the county. The first plat 
to be laid out was that made by the Maple Island Resort Association, 
the president of which was W. F. Hoyt, and the plat filed Januaiy 14. 
1896. Maple Island Resort is located on an island in Magician lake. 

Magician Beach, on the north side of the lake and in section 3, 
though used for resort purposes a good many years previous, was platted 
on Xovember 5, 1901, the proprietors being Albert E. Gregory and wife. 

Highland Beach is a resort on the north end of Indian lake in Sil- 
ver Creek township. It was platted into lots and the plat recorded May 
29, 1905, Talmadge Tice, proprietor. 

Fish lake in Marcellus township and Barren lake in Howard town- 
ship are becoming popular resort places and are being utilized by city 
as well as bv local residents. 



14i' HISTORY Ol'" CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER IX. 
CASSOI'OLIS. 

The genesis of every \-ilIage slmuld lie an interesting stor}^ How 
one section of an erstwhile wilderness is chosen, almost by natural laws, 
from all those adjoining and becomes the seat of population and indus- 
try and social institutions is a theme lacking none of the interest that 
attaches to the development of a great human character. A village is 
an achievement which the combination of circiunstances and human 
purpose has evolved, and to find out and state the principal steps of such 
acciiniplishment is a lahnr wurthy of any historian. 

The description on the foreg'oing pages of the many village sites 
of the county is proof of how easy a matter it was in pioneer times to 
found a village on paper, yet quite beyond the bounds of hiunan fore- 
sight to know what the course of events would bring as destiny. Some 
village plats .never had inhabitants and long since reverted to the 
sectional system of land demarcation. Others experienced early growth 
and later, through the shifts of events already described, stopped grow- 
ing and often began to decline. The fates of the various villages re- 
mind us of the parable of the seed that fell on different soils, some to 
be destroyed before germination had begun, others to^ wither after a 
brief time of growth, and a few tO' live and flourish and produce 
abundantly. 

The early fortunes of Cassopolis undnulitedly hinged on the loca- 
tion of the county seat. The series of endeavors which were necessary 
to g"ain that point found some strong and enterprising men ready to 
carry them forward to success. On the east shore of Stone lake Abram 
Tietsort liad luu'lt his cabin in 1829, and among the original land en- 
trants his name appears in the records of section 35 and several adjoin- 
ing ones. A little east of Tietsort's house, in section 36, was the home 
of the Jewell family, so conspicuous in the history of this part of the 
county from pioneer times to the present. Two others whose names 
deserve mention for their part in the founding of Cassopolis were 
Oliver Johnson in section 25 and Ephraim McCleary in section 26. The 
most conspiaious workers in this little drama, however, were Elias B. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 143 

Slierman, a lawyer settler nf 1830, and Alexander H. Redfield, whose 
name belongs in the forefront of lawyers and public men of Cass county. 

It must be remembered that at the time of the events now narrated 
the county seat had already been located at Dr. Fowler's village site of 
Geneva. By fraud, so said many people, and the dissatisfaction with 
the commissioners' choice nf location was strongly expressed. 

It seems necessary to refer to the exact chronology of the events 
comprising this initial episode of Cassopolis' histoiy. Tlie data not 
being complete to verify and classify every detail, it is ])ossible that tlie 
location of the county seat and the founding of Cassopolis may have 
been brought about with some slight variation from the usually accepted 
account. 

Cass county was organized in November, 1829, but the act author- 
izing the location of a county seat was not passed until July, 1830. The 
citizens did not proceed immediately after organization to administer 
their civil functions, since the first courts were not held until the sum- 
mer of 183 1 and the first board of supervisors did not meet until Octo- 
ber, 183 1, and the place of both official gatherings was at Edwardsburg, 
in acordance with legislative enactment. The first set of commission- 
ers probably located the court house site during the summer of 1830. 
As already related, it was located on the land of Dr. H. H. Fowler, on 
section 31 of Penn township, this land having l)een entered in May, 
1830. It cannot be stated with certainty that Dr. Fowler had already 
platted a village at this point which the commissioners chose. The 
plat of Gene\'a was filed May i. 1832, several m.onths after the county 
seat question had been permanently decided, and the further fact that 
the description states that "the public square is given to the county on 
which to erect a courthouse" provided the county seat was located there, 
makes it reasonably certain that the plat was made while the decision as 
to the county seat was still in the balance. Yet the plat must have been 
made after January, 1831, since Hart L. Stewart was one of the pro- 
prietors whose name is signed to the plat and who did not enter his land 
until January, 183 1. From these facts and figures it is deducible that 
Dr. Fowler's land had no special improvements or advantages to rec- 
ommend it as the location of the courthouse site in preference to the 
similar tracts of land owned by a dozen other settlers in that immediate 
locality. And each settler was an active claimant for the honor of hav- 
ing the county seat located on his land, and no doubt in proportion with 
the degree of his pre\'ious desire was the strength of his disappoint- 



144 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ment and dissatisfaction after the decision had been announced in favor 
of Dr. Fowler. The story of fraud in connection with the act of loca- 
tion is aside from our purpo.se here except as it added strength to the ar- 
guments for change of the site. The essential fact is that each settler 
was on practically an equal basis with his neighbors in his contest for 
the site of the county seat, and that in due course of time a village 
would have been platted and \vould have sprung up wherever the com- 
missioners had "stuck the stake" for the county buildings. 

It is not known how the settlers individually stood with reference 
to the first location of the county seat. But, as elsewhere related, the 
legislature, in response to the request of what must have been an in- 
lUieiitial proportion of the citizens, passed an act, approved March 4, 
1831. for the relocation of the county seat. This restored the contest 
to its original status, and every group of settlers in the central part of 
the county urged the advantages of their favored locality upon the three 
commissioners. 

The act provided that the commissioners should assemble in Cass- 
opolis the third Monday in May, 183 1, to consider the respective claims, 
but as Governor Mason did not issue his proclamation declaring Cassopo- 
lis to have received the choice until December 19. 1831, the matter must 
have been debated and undecided until the late fall nf that year. This 
conclusion is forced upon us if we are to accept the usual account of the 
manner in which Cassopolis was l>rought into active competition for the 
honor. 

In the list ai original land entries of section 26, LaGrange town- 
ship, are found the names of E. B. Sherman and A. H. Redfield with 
the date September 22, 183 1. The story of how these young lawyers 
came into possession of this land has often been told. Sherman, having 
arri\-e(l in the midst of the excitement over the county seat affair, 
had decided that he too might enter the contest and in pursuance of his 
plans fixed upon the southeast corner nf section 26 as the location which 
he would urge upon the attention of the commissioners. Before start- 
ing to the land office at White Pigeon he learned that the Jewells also 
were preparing to enter that particular land, and in consequence he 
made all haste to anticipate his rivals. Arriving in Edwardsburg he 
admitted another young lawyer, A. H. Redfield, to a knowledge and co- 
operation in his plans, and by pooling their utmost cash resources and 
borrowing ten dollars they had emnigli to make the entn* and ]iurchase 
the desired land a few hours in adsance of the Jewells, who arrived 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY US 

in White Pig^eon just as Sherman was leaxin.t;- with the receipt fur the 
land safely in his pocket. 

Slierman and Redfield. on tlieir return to the lianks of Stone lake, 
began an aggressive campaign. 'rhe\' knew the \ahie of organization 
and harmony, and associated with themselves several of their neigh- 
bors, namely: Abram Tietsort, who gave to the \illage site forty acres 
on the banks of Stone lake in section 35; 01i\'er Johnson, who cc.mtrib- 
uted twenty acres from section 25 : and Ephraim McCleary, twenty acres 
from section 36. These five men were the proprietors whose names 
are signed to the village plat, which was recorded Xnvemher 19, 183 1. 
The village must have been platted anrl all the circumstances just re- 
lated must have taken place between September 22, the date of Sherman's 
entry of the land, and Xoveml.ier nj. In this interim the associates had 
prosecuted their case before the commissioners, naming three streets 
in their honor and ]>resenting tiie other arlvantages of the site, ami it 
was probably in tlie month of Xovemljcr that the decisinn was reached 
by the commissioners, for. as will be recalled from a previous chapter, 
the ]>roclamation of the governor was made December 19th, by which 
Cassopolis was affimied the county seat, 

Cassopolis was now secure in the possession of the seat of justice, 
and any further details with reference to this central institution must 
be found on other pages, while here we proceed with the tracing of the 
development of the village as such. And here it may be mentinned in 
passing that the original spelling of the village name, as found un old 
letters and the first plat, was "Cassapolis," and that tlie cliange from a 
to 0, which was clearly dictated by euphony, took place graduallv in 
custom and w'as finally afiimied by the postoffice department. 

The history of the public square of Cassopolis is none the less im- 
portant because few people of this generation know that the village e\er 
possessed such a locality. To picture early Cassopolis it is necessaiy to 
reconstruct mentally a public square, measuring twenty-six rods north 
and south and twenty rods east and west, around which w^ere grouped 
the early stores and taverns, and each side bisected bv the wide streets 
of State and Broadway. To compreliend the appearance of the village 
as it would be had the original plans been carried out, we must clear 
away, in imagination, all the business Iniildings which front Broad- 
wa}- on the west, from the Goodwin House on the north edge of the 
square, to the alley ten rods south of State street, and also all the build- 
ings on the east side of Broadway north of the same allev. In other 



1+0 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

words, a perst)n standing at tlie intersection of State and Hroadway 
would be at the center of the old square, with a clear space on the east 
to the jail and ija|)tist church, on the west to the Newell House and the 
Moon supply house, hoth buildings that belong to rui earlier period. 
All the buildings on the area of the old scpiare are of coni])aratively re- 
cent date. With the exception of the old court house and jail on the 
northeast quarter of the square and the "Old Fort," containing county 
offices, on the northwest (piarter, the square was unoccupied by per- 
manent buildings up to forty years ago-, and around its four sides 
stood some <if the structiu'es which were landmarks at that time and 
which ha\'e now nearly all disa])peared from sight and memoiy. Among 
such buildings of that lime we recall on the east side the old Cassopolis 
H(juse. a wooden Iniilding on the site of the present Baptist church, 
south of which was a blacksmith shop, and aci"oss State street, where 
the jail now stands, was a two-stor\- frame building, the upper story 
l)eing the ( )dd Fellows' hall. On the north side stood the brick store 
building, noav the Shaw hotel, and on the west side of Broadway was 
the Union hotel, built by Eber Roxjt. On the west side stood the first 
frame building built mi the plat, elsewhere mentioned, and on the 
south side ol the street the old building above mentioned and then used 
as a tin shop; and south of this sto<id a frame building occupied by 
Daniel Blackman as a law oflice and liy Asa Kingsbury as a banking 
house. The south side of the square was bordered by a frame build- 
ing still standing, then used as a store, and on the east side of Broad- 
way by the Eagle hotel. While these buildings at that time occupied 
the most eligible and conspicuous sites of the village, subsequent devel- 
opments ha\'e placed many of them on alleyways, and rows of brick 
lousiness blocks have shut them from the main routes of business trafific. 

With this understanding of the situation forty years ago, we may 
properly introduce the story of how the public square became absorbed 
for business purposes and was lost tO' the countv. The history was 
gi\-en in detail in the decision of the supreme court in iS8o, which 
permanentl}- confirmed the defendants in the riwnership of all the pub- 
lic stpiare e.xpect that portion co\ered by the court house. The deci- 
sion is interesting as the most authorit;iti\e resume of the circum- 
stances and events which pertain to the public square question. 

The history of the case as outlined in the opinion delivered by 
Judge Cooley is as follows: When the three commissioners located 
the county seat at Cassopolis. the laying out of a village plat contain- 



o 
c 
> 

w 




HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY H7 

iiig a block of land marked "Cassopolis public square," "designed for 
buildings for public uses," was a distinct offer on the part of the propri- 
etors to dedicate the whole of the public srjuare for public buildings. 
"The inference is ytvy strong, if not conclusive, that if the county had 
proceeded to apjiropriate the whole scjuare to its needs for count}- build- 
ings this would ha\e been a good acceptance of the offer and would 
have perfected the dedication." 

But the supervisxirs did not see fit to employ the scpiare as the 
site of the first pulilic buildings, the first jail, used till 185-'. as 
also the first cnurt Imuse. used till 184 1. being situated tm lots 
not the pulilic square. Furtherninre. when the county commis- 
sioners, in 1839, planned the erection of a new court house, they con- 
veved to Asa Kingsbury and associates of the "Court House Com- 
pany" a deed to the public square and grounds, reserving only the 
privilege to erect a court house on the northeast quarter. This last 
reservation is the first and onl}- distiuct act of acceptance on the part 
of the county of the grounds originally dedicated for public purposes, 
and though the conveyance was made "with the privileges and appur- 
tenances for the uses and purposes for which said square and grounds 
were conveyed to said county," the court held that, as the conveyance 
was made by a deed which also conveyed a large number of village lots 
to the grantees for their own use and benefit, "it seems scarcely open 
to doubt that the intent was that all right of control on the part of 
the county was meant to be conveyed to the grantees." 

The proprietors of the village plat having made the broad offer to 
donate the square for public buildings generally and the county having 
accepted ior its purposes a site for a court house and at the same time 
transferred to trustees any power of control in respect to the remainder, 
the dedication to the county "must be deemed to have been restricted 
to the actual acceptance of a court house site, as being adequate to the 
county wants, and the county could not, therefore, claim as of right 
any further land for its uses." 

After the erection of the court house in 1841, for the construction 
of which the Court House Company had accepted as part payment a deed 
to certain parcels of land, including presumptively all the public square 
not covered by the court house, the question of ownership of the vacant 
square rested until the county built a jail, in 1852, on the same corner 
with the court house. Kingsbury disputed the right to do this and the 
county subsequently purchased the land of him. Then, in i860, the 



148 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

county office building was erected on the northwest quarter, and this 
also was put up against the protest of Knigsbury and associates. 

The other two quarters of the square were not occupied I)}- the 
county in any manner, antl this land was claimed individually on the 
basis of the deed gi\-en liy the county commissioners tO' the parties 
who had erected the court house. The history oi the appropriation of 
this land for commercial purposes is thus given in the decision: 

In 1S36 Kingsbury commenced business as a merchant in a store 
situated immediately south of the southwest quarter of the stjuare and 
used in connection therewith a ])art of that (|uartcr for the storage 
of lumlier, shingles, barrels and Ixi.xes, and with a hitching rack for 
horses. In 1856 he Iniilt a new store, seventy-two feet in length, with 
stone foundation, one foot of which for the entire length was upon the 
square. The cellarways for the store were on the square. From 1858 
to 1869 a tenant had hay scales on the square, set over a walled pit, 
near the center of the quarter: he moxxnl them in the year last men- 
tioned to anothoi' p;n't of the same (juartcr, where he continued to use 
them. 

In 1865 Josei^h Harper and Darius Shaw deeded their interest in 
the pul)lic square to^ Daniel Blackmail. Redfiekl also deeded to Black- 
man in i86<j. In 1S70 Blackman deeded to Kingsbury: the heirs of 
Tietsort ga\e him a deed in the same vear and Sib'ers another in 
1873. Blackmail, it seems, had set up some claims of title to the south- 
east quarter of the sipiare in 1863; a building had been moved upon it, 
which was occuiiied for a law office and millinery shop until 1878. when 
it was moved away and a brick store erected in its place. The south- 
east quarter is now (1880) built up and claimed liy the a]3])licants. In 
1868 Kingsbury platted the southwest C|uarter of the square into six 
lots and sold fi\'e of them tn persons who erected two-story brick stores 
thereon, which they now occupy and claim as owners. Kingsliury also 
erected a similar building for a b;\nking house. The buildings were 
completed in 1869 and 1870: thc\- h;i\'e been taxed to. the occu]>ants and 
the taxes paid ever since 1868. 

Such was the .situation when, in March, 1879, the board of .super- 
visors brought suit in the circuit court to eject the occupants from the 
jniblic Sf|uare, which they claimed to the county on the ground that 
the land had Iieen dedicated by the original pro]irietors in 1831. Judge 
John E. Shipman of the St. Joseph circuit decided that the dedication 
had not been perfected, and the state supreme court, in October, i88o. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY lii> 

affirmed this decision in an opinion the substance of which has been 
given above. This was tlie conclusion of a rather remarkable case, 
involving many facts of history that ha\-e become quite obscured in 
later years. 

The original plat of Cassopolis, copies of which are still extant, is 
a very interesting document, from which the subsequent history of the 
village ma_\' be computed. The platted land measured one hundred and 
nineteen and one-half by one hundred and ninety-one rods, the rectangle 
being broken on the southwest corner by the lake. The north and 
south streets named on the plat were: "West," which has never been 
opened: "Disbrow," "Broadway." "Rowland," "O'Keefe." "Timber" 
and "East." On the north side of the ])lat no street was designated 
and none has since been opened. The first east and west thoroughfare 
•was "York" street, and then came "State,'" "Jefferson," "Water" and 
"South" streets, from which familiar boundaries the limits of the orig- 
inal village may be easily recalled. Subsecjuent additions have expanded 
the village mainly to the south and east, toward the railroads, encircling 
the entire east side of Stone lake. The lake occupied the principal 
natural position in influencing the location of residence and business 
enterprises at the early period. But the keystone of the village was the 
public square, designedly the site of the county's business institutions, 
around which the first business houses were grouped. 

Around the public square the first business and residence houses 
of CassopO'lis began building. On a lot facing east on the southwest 
corner of the square Ira B., Henderson erected a double log cabin, which 
became the first hotel or tavern, and near the southwest corner of the 
old square John Parker had his l<jg house. As stated elsewhere, the 
oldest building that has been left from pioneer times is the east front 
portion of the Newell House, on the north side of State street, one 
hundred and fifteen feet west of Broadway. The original part of this 
building was put up in 183J l)y Sherman and Redfield, the promoters 
of the village, and its first lawyers. This was the first frame dwelling 
house erected on the plat, and after several additions were made to it, 
became a village tavern. 

The "old red store," kept by the Silvers, was the principal mercan- 
tile institution of the pioneer village. It stood the first lot south of the 
southwest quarter of the square and now stands west on Disbrow street 
and is used as a dwelling house. In this store .\. H. Redfield kept the 
postoffice. The postoffice was established in 1831, about coincident 



150 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



witli the creation of tlie count}' seat. Tlie office was first kept in a 
small Iniildins; that stood where the (loodwin Tlouse kitchen ni:)w stands, 
at the nnrthwest corner of the square. 

'id-.e distillery of the Silvers was on the shore of the lake, just 
west of Disbrow street, and Abram Tietsort"s house was on the lake 
shore outside the old village plat. These business and private houses 
were the principal ones that fonned the nucleus of Cassopolis village in 
its beginnings. A brief retrospective sketch will describe the import- 
ant inipr<]\-ements and events which have developed the village from 
that time to the present. The ciauity buildings, the schools and churches 
belong t(i other chapters, but the main points, the "high lights." can 
be detailed liere. 

.\s a civil organization Cassopolis progressed slowly during the 
first forty years. The \illage was first incorporated by the board of 
supervisors October 14, 1863. The census taken at that time showed 
four hundred and se\-enty-five jjersons residing on the area of a mile 
square comprising the four cornering quarter sections of sections 25, 
26, 35 and 36. The heads of the families represented by the census 
and whose signatures appear on the petition to the board of super- 
visors may lie called "the charter citizens" of the village of Cassopolis, 
and deserve naming in this chapter. They are : 



Joseph Smith. 
O. S. Custard, 
M, Graham, 
David Histed, 
A. Smith, 
L. H. Glover, 
Isaac Browm, 
Ira Brownell. 
H. K. McManus. 
Charles Hartfelter, 
Byron Bradley, 
Chaides W'. Brown. 
Charles W. Clisbee, 
Peter Sturr, 
A. Garwood, 
G. A. Elv, 
L. R. Read. 
James Norton. 
L. D. Tompkins, 
J. B. Chapman, 



Jacf.ib Silver, 
Isaiah Inman, 
Ethan Kelly, 
J. P. Osboi-n, 
Thomas .Staiileton. 

D. L. French. 
Lewis Clisbee 
Barak Mead, 

I. V. Sherman. 
M. J. Baldwm. 
A. E. Cleveland. 

E. B. Sherwood 
Jefferson Brown, 
j. K. Riter, 

W. K. Palmer. 
Geo. W. Van.Xntwer]), 
S. Playford. 
Henrv Shaffer, 
Charles A. Hill 
J. Tietsort, 



John McAIanus, 
M. B. Custard, 
Joseph Harper, 
John FT. Powers, 
Bartholome^v ^^'eaver 

C. C. Allison. 
Henn' W^alton. 
:\I. Baldwin, 
H. L. King, 

S. S. Chapman, 
Hiram Brown, 
Sanford Ashcroft, 

D. Blackmail, 
S. T. Read. 
Daniel B. Smith, 
R. M. Wilsoai, 
D. S. Jones, 
Joseph Graham, 
Tames Bovd. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 151 

Of this list of men, many of whom were identified in a prom- 
inent way with the history of tlie village, only a few are still living 
in the year of this writing". Those living and still residents of the 
village are: L. H. Glover, Charles Hartfelter, J. B. Chapman, D. L. 
French, Henry Shaffer, C. C. Allison, Daniel B. Smith : others resid- 
ing elsewhere, Byron Bradley, Charles W. Brown, Isaiah Inman, I. \^ 
Sherman. 

From a population of less than five hundred Cassopolis has in- 
creased to one thousand five hundred. Cassopolis was in a peculiarly 
adverse position during the early years of its history. It was the county 
seat, the official center of the county. But without that institution it is 
reasonahle to believe that the village would ha\'e experienced mutations 
of fortune like Edwardsburg and other centers of the county. Before 
the railroad era, Edwardsburg on the south held the commercial su- 
premacy because of its position on the Chicago road. Then in the 
forties the Michigan Central established the main transportation route 
in the northwest corner of the county and gave origin tO' Dowagiac, 
which at once became the shipping point for Cassopolis, together with 
the northwestern parts of the countv. 

Between the establishment of the county seat in 183 1 and the 
building of the railroad in 1871, the years are marked by no event of 
pregnant meaning for the development of the village ; the communitv 
grew slowly, the various institutions were added in regular course, a 
few factories were established, civil organization followed when pop- 
ulation had reached the necessan^ limit, and at the close of the period 
just mentioned the cuunty seat was the conspicuous pillar in the cor- 
porate existence of Cassopolis. 

In 1870-71 two railroads came to Cassopolis. Theretofore the 
merchants had hauled their goods from Dowagiac. The mail had come 
from Dowagiac. The telegraph was at Dowagiac. All tlie surplus pro- 
duction and market commodities that would naturally have been dis- 
posed of at Cassopolis were transported to the railroad for shipment. 
But with the building of these railroads the Avorld was openefl, as it 
were, to Cassopolis. The court house on the public square for the first 
time had a rival institution in the depot on the south line of the village. 
Since the railroad was Iniilt the princii)al gmwlh nf the village has taken 
place. 

In 1863 the population was less than fi\e hundred. In 1870 it was 



152 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

/28 and in iS<S(> it was oij; in 1890. i,36<j: at tlie census of 1900 it 
was T.3_'{), and arcordinti tci the state census nf 1904 it was i,477- 

The Ih'st additions to the \iliage site heg'an to l)e platted alu ut 
the same time as the raih'oads were l)uiU. _\n iron foundry, a na- 
tiimrd hank, xarious husiness enter|irises, nne nf tlie newspapers and otlier 
undertakings, wlmse inceptimi dales fi'nm tlie lirst years of the rail- 
road period, indicate the adxance along all lines made hv Cassopolis 
at that time. 

In TS75, when the special charter was granted liy the legislature, 
the limits of the \-illage were extended north a quarter of a mile and 
the same distance south to the railroad. The \-illage was go\erned hy 
this charter for twenty years, and in i8(;5 the blanket charter ])ro\ided 
for all the \-illages oi Michigan became eff"ecti\'e. 

In recent years Casso]iolis has made commendable jirngress in mu- 
nicip.'d improxements. The nld method nf fighting fire with buckets has 
l;een supei'seded by a \nlunteer fire department, consisting of a chief and 
twenty mcmliers. The equipment of hose cart and hose, hook and lad- 
der truck ruid nther ajiparatus are kept readv for immediate use at the 
cit}- hall builihng. a brick two-slorv structure oil North Broadway, a 
short distance frnm the s(|uare and north of the (.■(jodwin Idouse. The 
upper story of the house is used for council rooms. The city hall was 
erected in 1895. 

But as a ])recedent to this efficient fire ]H"otection and the most 
important of all the \illage improvements is the water-works system, 
which was estalilisbed in i8(;t at a cost of $10,000. The village was 
bonded for this debt, the first (if the ten annual installments being paid 
in i89(). The water is pumped into the mains from the depths of Stone 
lake, where the water is cr\stal ])ure and ice cold, and free frxnu lime, 
or "soft." The \illa,ge has arrangements with the Cassopolis j\Iill- 
ing & I\iwer Coni|ian\- for pumping the water through the mains, and 
the s.ame conipan\- furnishes the ('.rand Trunk Railroad with water. 
The ])ower compau}- also light the \illage with electricity. 

Thiise who ha\-e been most prominently identified with the com- 
mercial acti\ity of the village should recei\'e mention. The dean of 
them all is Charles E. Voorhis. \\ ho began in the ,grocen' business in 
1865. and has been in this exclusixe line of trade for fortv vears. He 
was the first to embark in one line of trade as distinct from the "gen- 
eral store." The grocer\- firm of S. B. Thomas & Son stands second 
in point of time to ]\[r. Voorhis. S. B. Thomas began here in 1876. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 1 .".3 

D. L. French, who went ont of Inisiness in the late nineties, was tlie 
first to engage in the hardware Inisiness exclusively, beginning in March. 
1862. W. B. Hayden has been in the hardware business since 1884. 
The late George M. Kingsbury was closely interested in the l)usincss 
life of the community for a cjuarter of a century. Others whose names 
should be recorded are: S. S. Harrington and G. L. Smith, who en- 
gaged in the mercantile business thirty years ago as partners and are 
now individually engaged in the same business ; J. B. Chapman, who 
with Henry Shaffer began the manufacturing and sale of boots and shoes 
in 1858. After seven years with Mr. Shaffer, Mr. Chapman acquired his 
interest and continued the business with different partners until 1885, 
when he again became sole prcjprietor and continued the business for 
eleven years. 



154 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER X. 
CITY OF D()\\A(iT\C. 

During tlie decade oi the thirties the few settlers who Hved in the 
vicinity of which the city of Dowagiac is now the center had to go to 
LaGrange or Cassopolis or Sumnerville for their mail and supplies. As 
related on a previous page, LaGrange was the manufacturing metropo- 
lis of the county during that decade and for some years afterward. The 
water power of Dowagiac creek in the neighborhood of the township 
corners where the city is now located early presented itself as an at- 
tractive site for industrial and village purposes, it is tnie. In the regis- 
ter's office is found a plat of the village of Venice, filed for record Aug- 
ust 6, 1836, by Orlando Craine. This site was laid out on the north 
side of Dowagiac creek, and in the soutliwest quarter of section 31 of 
Wayne township. Nothing came of this attempt to boom the loca- 
tion; not a lot was sold, and Venice is in the same class of villages as 
Shakespeare and JNIechanicsburg and some others described on previous 
pages. But it is of interest to know that all that part of the city of 
Dowagiac bounded on the south and west respectively by Division street 
and North Front street was the site of Orlando Craine's Venice. 

Among the original land entries of LaGrange township is that of 
Renniston and Hunt in section 6, dated in May, 1830. William Ren- 
niston in the same year built a carding mill on the creek just east of the 
Colby Milling Company's mill, where the road from Cassopolis crosses 
the stream. At the same site he built, a few years later, a grist mill. 
vSuccessive owners of this property were Lyman Spalding, Jonatlian 
Thorne and Erastus H. Spalding, from whom it passed into the hands 
of H. F. Colbv in 1808 and a part of the splendid manufacturing inter- 
ests now controlled under the Colliy name. 

The Venice enterprise and the manufacturing interests show that 
this locality had some advantages as a village site even in the pioneer 
period. LaGrange, however, distant only a few miles., was still in the 
ascendant. The few citizens on the present site Oif Dowagiac could have 
had mv prevision of what the future, would do' for the localitw On 
the authority of Mr. A. M. Moon of Dowagiac, the sole inhabitant of 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 155 

tlie site of Dowagiac in 1835 was Patrick Hamilton, and of course 
some settlers were grouped about the mills. Certainly the prospects of 
this spot becoming the home of trade and industry had not appeared 
at that date. LaGrange, Edwardsburg, Cassopolis, Adamsville. or any 
of serv'eral other incipient villages would have been thought at that time 
to possess better outlook for the future than the wilderness on the 
north side of Dowagiac creek where Orlando Craine had. with the 
fatuity of visionary enterprise, platted a \-illage that, except as a 
prophecy of the city of today, hardly deserves remembrance. 

But the railroad came, the new fulcrum of civilization, and changed 
and rearranged all former bases of industry and society. The seats of 
manufacturing at LaGrange were transferred to the mill sites, which 
had formerly been in the wilderness, but because of the presence of the 
iron road soon became the center of Cass county's manufacturing enter- 
prise. In I1S47 Nicholas Cheesebroi.igh was engaged in buying the right 
of way through Cass county for the Michigan Central railroad, the con- 
struction of which is described on other pages. The inception of the 
village of Dowagiac was due to him and Jacob Beeson of Niles. They 
bought of Patrick Hamilton eightv acres in the northeast corner of 
Pokagon township, and on this land was laid out the original plat of 
Dowagiac. which was recorded ui the register's office Febrtiary 16. 1848. 

Thus the original area nf Dowagiac was all in Pokagon township, 
diagonally across from the plat of Venice, which had been laid in Wayne 
township. .And all of the plat was located on the north side of the 
railroad. At the time the plat was made, the railroad had not been 
completed for operation, but no doubt the grading- was well under 
way, for trains began running into Niles the following October. The 
original village was in the area that lies south of West Division street, 
and hounded on the east by the railroad to the point where the town- 
ship line intersects the same, extending west to the intersection of Main 
with Divisi(in street, and south to Dowagiac creek. 

The railroad was responsible for the diagonal directions of the 
streets in tlie business portion of the city. In the words of the plat. 
"Front street runs parallel to the track of the Michigan Central rail- 
road." The railroad runs at an angle of thirty-six degrees with the 
north and south line. Hence, to get north bearings when standing on 
Front street it is necessary to face about tAvot-fifths of a right angle. The 
calculation and sense of direction needed to perform this feat properly 
are greater than most citizens will practice, and only the oldest residents 



156 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

can figure out the time of day by the ])iisition of the sun and reduce tlie 
bizarre cUrections to the four finidanientals of tlie sign post. 

At right angles with Front street the founders laid out Main street, 
one hundred and eight feet \vide, wider than any other street on the 
plat, and designed as the business thoroughfare. But a village is not 
made according tn plat, and when Dowagiac began to grow commer- 
cially the business men preferred to locate along Front street rather than 
on Main street, which today, without business houses except at the 
lower end, on account of its exceptional width seems incongruous and 
like a big hiatus separating the town. The other streets, as first laid out, 
were Ohio, Indiana, Michigan. New York and Pennsylvania, parallel 
with Front street, and Fine. Cinnmercial, Fligh and Chestnut streets 
parallel with Main street. In all there were one hundred and eighty- 
four lots and fractional lots in the original plat. 

Since the original plat was recorded the register of deeds at Cassopo- 
lis has recei\'ed plats of fortv additinns, showing how the limits of the 
city have extended in all directidus from the nucleus. Fxcept along' the 
line of railroad the rectangular system of platting has been followed 
in nearly all sulisequent additions. The first addition to the village was 
made in April, 1.S49, Iiy Patrick Hamilton, who laid out some of his 
land in the southeast corner of Silver Creek township, the area com- 
prising all tlie lots bounded by North Front, Spruce, Main and Division 
streets. The second addition was made by Jacob Beeson from land 
in Pokagon in March, 1S50. In 1851 Jay W. McOmber platted into 
lots a portion oif land in the southwest corner of Wayne township, and 
in the same year Erastus H. Spalding added some land from northwest 
LaGrange, so that in three years' time Dowagiac had expanded its area 
into four townships, and the many additions since that time ha\'e mere- 
ly increased this civic area, althoaigh LaGrange township has given less 
land tO' the city than any of the others, owing to the creek and mill 
sites presenting obstructions to growth in this direction. 

The municipal growth and im]3rovement of Dowagiac have kq^t 
pace witii the increase in its area and population. By i860, twelve years 
after the fnunding. the number of inhabitants was 1,181. Two years 
previously the village had been incorporated by the board of super- 
visors. The petition for incorporation was granted February i, 1858, 
and the first \-illage election was held at Nicholas Bock's American 
House, nov\ the Commercial House, on Division and Front streets. The 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 157 

officers chosen at this election and for the subsequent rears will be 
found in the official lists. 

In 1870 iXDpulation had increased to 1.932. During the next ilec- 
ade, which witnessed the construction of two other railroads through 
the count\-. the rale of increase was slower, the census for 1880 show- 
ing 2,102 inhabitants. In the meantime Dowagiac had become a city. 
The last village election was held in March, 1877, and in the following 
.\pril the first election of city officers took place. From 1877 to 1892 
the city was represented in the county board by one supervisor, and 
beginning with 1893 one supervisor has been chosen from each of the 
three wards. Thus in the ci\-ic organization of the c<iunty Dowagiac 
stands on a plane with the townships. The population has more than 
doubled since incorporation as a city. In 1890 the enumeration was 
2,806, and in 1900 it was 4,151. The state census of 1904 gave 4,404. 

Dowagiac is progressive as regards municipal improvements and 
conveniences. Streets and sidewalks, lighting and fire protection are 
the first matters to receive the attention of a village community. As 
regards the first, Dowagiac was very deficient in the first years of its his- 
tory, and hence the more to be proud of at this time. Being built on the 
banks of the creek, the village was in places marshy, and it is said that 
in the months of high water the farmers of Sil\"er Creek had to hitch 
their teams on the other side of Dowagiac swamp and come across as 
best they could on foot to do their trading. Furthermore, to C]uote the 
language of an early settler, "there was not grass enough in the whole 
town to bleach a sheet on." Grace Greenwood, the well known writer 
and sister of Dr. W. E. Clarke, while visiting the latter in 1858. wrote 
a descriptive article to an eastern paper, in which she complainetl that 
the people did not plant shade trees in their door \ards or in the streets, 
and that the burning sun shone down pitilessly on the grassless ground 
and unpri.itected d\\"eliings. Of course these deficiencies have long since 
been relieved, not by organized effort so much as by the individual ac- 
tion of many citizens moved by the desire to beautify and adorn their 
own property. The paving of streets and laying of substantial side- 
walks has been going on for years. Board walks are becoming more 
and more rare, brick antl cement being the popular materials. A num- 
ber of streets are improved with gravel roadways, and in 1894 Front 
street through the business section was paved with brick, that being 
one of the l-est in\-estments the city has made, since a paved street is at 



1.■i^ HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

the verv l)asis of a melnipulit-'.n aii-i)earance. wliich prepossesses tlie fa- 
vor of strangers and visitors. 

The majority of the citizens have jiersonal recollections of the 
time when all the streets were dully illuminated with kerosene lamps. 
In 1887 the Round Oak Gas & Fuel company drilled two thousand feet 
below the surface in search for gas. hut fc)und none. The Dowagiac 
Cias iK: Fuel Cnni])any was estahlishe<l in iXcjj and supplies light and 
fuel til a large numher of patrons. 

Nearlv eveiy village and city has had its disastrous fires. The 
first one in Dowagiac occurred in January, 1864, when the business 
houses on Front street north of Commercial were burned. In January, 
iSrifi. a $50,000 fire destroyed Front street south of Commercial, and 
in lune. 1882. the block south of Beeson street was destroyed. In 1854, 
six vears after the founding of the village, a meeting of the citizens was 
held to provide for fire protection, hut it was not until 1858 that any 
important action \Aas taken. A hand fire engine was purchased and 
other apparatus procured : the engine continued in use for a quarter of 
a centurv. Hamilton Hose Co. No. i was also fomied and is still 
in existence, having been reorganized in 1880. With the installation 
of water-works in 1887 the efficiency of the fire department was increased 
several fold. The pressure in the mains rendered the old hand engine 
unnecessary, and the placing of electric signal apparatus and other im- 
provements afford a fire protection \vhich is equal to that of any other 
city of the size in southern Michigan. The volunteer hose company 
and hook and ladder company of the city are reinforced in their work 
by the independent companies of the Round Oak Stove and the Dowa- 
giac Manufacturing companies' plants. 

Dowagiac's schools and churches and library, which are the cor- 
nerstones of its institutional life, its clubs and social and professional 
interests, and much other infomiation bearing on the history of the 
citv will be. treated in other chapters, for which the reader is referred to 
the index. In a resume of the main features of Dowagiac's growth, 
the railroad nnist, of course, be given first place as the originating cause. 
As soon as the trains began canying the mail through this point in- 
stead of the stage coach or horseback carrier, a postoffice was estab- 
lished, in November, 1848. Arad C. Balch, who became the first post- 
master, at the time sold goods in the Cataract House, the name that had 
been given to a boarding house for the railroad workmen, which stood 
on the bluff east of the track. In nann'ng the successive postmasters 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 159 

many of Dowagiac's prominent citizens are mentioned, for the suc- 
cessor of Mr. Balch was M. T. Garvey, whose long career in pubhc 
affairs made him one of the best known men in Cass county ; following 
him have been Noel B. Hollister, James A. Lee, William H. Campbell, 
William M. Heazlitt, Henry B. Wells, David W. Clemmer, Clarence 
L. Sherwood, A. ]\I. ]\l<ion. H. A. Burch and Julius O. Becraft. Mr. 
Becraft is serving his third, though not successive, term. In 1899 free 
city delivery was established, and this event is another milestone in 
Dowagiac's career. 

Dowagiac's business area is now quite solidly concentrated along 
Front street from Park Place to Division and for some distance up sev- 
eral of the intersecting streets. Going back half a century in our en- 
deavor, to picture the commercial status of tiie young village, it is evi- 
dent that the business center at that time, while comparatively large 
and showing excellent groAvth since the founding of the village, was 
only a nucleus of wliat it is now. There is at hand a business direc- 
tory of Dowagiac as it appears in the Cass County Advocate of January 
II, 1851, that being the first paper established in Dowagiac, its founder 
being Ezekiel S. Smith, a brother of Captain Joel H. Smith, a long- 
time resident of Dowagiac. 

The Dowagiac House is first named in this directory. It stood 
on the corner of Main and Front streets, and is said to have been the 
first hotel built. A. J. \\^ires was the builder and was landlord at the 
date alxive given. The house received various additions, and was later 
known as the Continental. Bock's hotel, at Division and Front streets, 
has already been mentioned. The next advertiser is Livingston & 
Fargo's American Express, names very suggestive in express company 
histor\'. William Bannard was local agent of the company. 

Under the head of "dr}' goods, groceries, etc.." are named four 
firms. The first is Lofland, Lybrook & Jones, whose large brick store 
was on the northwest side of Fixint street facing the depot. The firm 
consisted O'f Joshua Lofland. Henley C. Lybrook ami Gilman C. Jones. 
G. W. Clark, also in business at that time, had a store on the corner 
of Front and Commercial streets. 

W. H. Atwood was then in business in succession to the first im- 
portant mercantile enterprise of Dowagiac. Before the founding of 
Dowagiac Joel H. Smith and brother, Ezekiel S.. had been in business 
at Cassopolis, but at the beginning of 1848 they moved a stock of goods 
by team from* Cassopolis. passing through LaGrange, then a thriving 



160 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

villas^c and which to man)- seemed at the time a more favoral)le loca- 
tion for business than Dowagiac. Tlie Smitli brothers built their one- 
story frame store on the corner of Main and Front streets, it being the 
first building specially ei'ected for mercantile purposes. It was a land- 
mark in Doiwagiac, having stood at the comer for half a centun', until 
it was moved out to Indian lake to be converted into a barn. The 
Smiths sold their business in about a year to Mr. Atwood, who, as we 
see, was proprietor in January, 185 1. 

E. H. and B. F. Spalding were also proprietors of a general store 
at that time. Turner & Rogers dealt in groceries, drugs and med- 
icines, S. Sheridan in groceries and provisions. S. Bowling in boots, leath- 
er, etc., J. C. and G. W. Andrews, who advertise stoves and tinware, 
were the pioneer hardware firm, G. \V. Andrews continuing in business 
until 1877. Their first store was in the basement of Bock's hotel. 

Others who advertised in the Advocate were Parker B. Holmes. 
iron worker and general jobber; George Walker, draper and tailor: 
Henry Arnold, carpenter and joiner: J. H. Sharp, carriage and wagon 
maker: Thomas Brayton, physician and surgeon, and J- T. Keable, 
physician and surgeon. 

There were several other Ijusiness concerns in the \iliage be- 
sides those named in the aflvertising directoi")', but the only one calling 
for mention is the clothing house of Jacob Hirsli, who beg'an business 
here in 1850. being the founder of the business which is still carried on 
by Hirsh & Phillipson. 

Other business men whose long connection w^ith commercial life 
makes them desenang of mention were Benjamin Cooper and Francis 
J. Mosher, the first exclusive grocery merchants. Mr. Mosher's father, 
Ira D., was a resident on the site of Dowagiac when the railroad came. 

C. L. Sherwood, who has been in the drug business longer than 
any of his competitors, came to Dowagiac in 1868 and purchased the 
slocks of Asa Huntington and N. B. Ilollistcr, pioneers in the business, 
and also the store of Howard & Halleck. 

In the line of groceries George D. Jones, who has lived in the 
county since 1829 and in Dowagiac since 1864, has conducted his store 
on Commercial street for more than twenty-five years. 

F. H. Ross, who was in the hardware business from i860 to 1886 
and then a real estate dealer until his retirement in 1901, is another 
who contributed to the commercial enterprise of early Dowagiac. 

The proprietor of the Daylight Store on Front street is one of the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY Id 

oldest merchants still in active business. Burget L. Dewey came to 
Dowagiac in 1865 and began as a clerk, and since 1873 has been in the 
drygoods business, building u]) one of the leading merrantile concerns 
of the city. 

The manufacturing enterprises of Dowagiac have been at the core 
of her prosperity and the source of its wealth and rqjutation among the 
cities of Michigan. An account of these interests is reserved for the 
chapter on trades and manufacturing, Init it is proper to mention the 
dates of the estaljli.shment of the different enterprises, each one of which 
marks another step in the city's progress, and also the men who have 
been foreinost in this department of activity, 'llie first of a long list 
of subsequent industrial enterprises was the tesket factory established 
in 1857 by Horace and Gilman C. Jones. In a ven,- small way. such 
as could hardly be dignified with the name of factory. P. D. Beckwith 
was already casting plows and doing general repair work, having come to 
the village in 1854, and soon laid the basis for the mammoth enter- 
prise with which his name will always be associated. In 1859 Mark 
Judd helped to establisli the planing mill which was the nucleus for the 
Judd lumber and planing mill business, which is not least among Dowa- 
giac's large enterprises. It was in 1868 that H. F. Colby became iden- 
tified with the mill interests of Dowagiac, and although, as we know, 
milling was one of the first industries at this locality, the energy and ex- 
ecutive ability displayed by Mr. Colby in expanding and organizing the 
industry are reasons for considering the date of his coming to Dowagiac 
as marking an epoch of industry. And in the sixties also were made 
the beginnings of the manufacture which has since developed into the 
large Dowagiac Manufacturing Company's plant. Myron Stark, the 
veteran manufacturer and inventor, patented his sand band in 1876 and 
soon after made Dowagiac his permanent liome. Willis M. Farr, the 
present manufacturer of the Common Sense sand bands, identified him- 
self with the manufacturing interests of the city in the seventies, at 
first as one of the partners in the drill works, and then joined with Myron 
Stark in perfecting and putting on the market the latter's excellent in- 
vention. The Hedrick sawmill dates back to its foundation in i860, 
and the extensive lumber yard and planing mill of John A. Lindsley was 
established in 1885. This summary indicates the principal events in 
Dowagiac's industrial career. 

With the splendid transportation facilities afforded by the Miclii- 
gan Central Railroad, with some of the most important manufacturing 



162 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

enterprises of Michigan, with good mercantile houses, with municipal 
iniprovemerits in keeping with the size of the city, with excellent schools, 
and churches and library, Dowagiac occupies a position of increasing 
influence among the cities of southwestern Michigan, and her devel- 
opment fully justices the faith which Jacob Beeson evinced in this 
wilderness locality in 1848. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 163 



CHAPTER XI. 
CO.MAIUXICATIOX AXD TRAXSPORTATIOX. 

Man cannot live alone : he must communicate with others. We 
are parts of a great organism. So it is with communities. The time 
came when the railroad and telegraph Ijronght them in closer relations 
with each other. But even from the first there was communication 
with the outside world, for ahsolute isolatii.m is impossible. At first 
there were no railroads leading out from the eastern cities across the 
great \-alley of the Mississippi. The mountain ranges and dense forests 
were great harriers between the east and Michigan territclr^•. There 
was a canal fmm Troy to Buffalo, there were a few steamers on the 
great lakes, and there was a short horse-car railroad running out of 
Toledo. There were no wagon roads, but in place of them were Indian 
trails. 

In all lands, however primitixe and liarbarous, even in the dense 
forest fastnesses of Africa or South America, there are passages from 
one locality to another. The word best descriptive of such courses of 
early communication is "trail." Before cix-ilizatiim introduced scientific 
road-making, wild animals were doubtless the markers and sun-evors 
of roads. The narrow, deep-worn, and wavering path through the 
woods, indicating the route of the deer or bear between its lair and the 
spring where it quenched its thirst or the thicket where it sought its 
quarry, was the course which the Indian, and later the white man, took 
in going through the wnods or across the prairie. Trails are easily 
made, as anyone may knuw who observes how quickly the turf of a park 
or meadow is worn down by the regular passage of human feet. And 
as the wild animal pushed its way through the brush and trees, pursuing 
the easiest and therefore a winding course to its goal, it left evidence 
of its progress in the broken twigs anrl bent bushes and trampled grass, 
so that the next creature b<iund in the same direction would pursue the 
same way and lietter flefine it, until a new trail was marked out. Thus 
the animals were the first road makers, and blazed the wav for their 
immediate successors, the roving Indian. The latter would naturally 
extend and connect the trails of animals into certain long a\enues of 



1114 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

travel across the country, which they would follow in making their pil- 
grimages from one hunting ground to another or for their war expe- 
ditions. 

Thus it happened that when the white man first came to southern 
2\lichigan, as was also true of an}- other part of our countr}-, he found 
certain courses of communication already marked out. These were 
used by the pioneers until better, broader, straighter and more direct 
roads could be made. Oftentimes these old trails formed the most prac- 
ticable and convenient route of travel, and were consequently the basis 
of a highway ordered and constructed by the state or county. 

A description of these primitive roads in Cass count}-, showing how 
useful they \\-ere to the early settlers, was furnished by Mr. Amos Smith, 
the county surveyor at the tinie, for the History of 1882, and being 
authoritati\-e information, is quoted as follows: 

"I find that every township, in the olden time, had its highways 
and its bvw-avs. Some of these seem to have been of great importance, 
connecting localities widely separated froni each other, while dthers of 
less note served only neighboring settlements. 

'Tt is noticeable that the principal Indian trails, like our own main 
thoroughfares, ran east and w^est, while others tributary to these came 
in from the north and south. The Chicago trail, more important because 
niore used than any of the others, coming from the east, entered the 
county near the half-mile post on the east side of section i in South 
Porter, and ran thence westerly, crossing sections i, 2, 3, 4, 5. 8, 7, 
and 18 in South Porter: sections 13, 14, 15. 16, 21, 20, 17, 18, and 
7 in Mason: sections 12, 11, 10, 3, 4. 5, 6, and 7, in Ontwa: and 
sections 12, n, lO', 15, 16, 17, 18 in Milton. Tlie Chicago road, as 
it is now traveled, varies but little from the trail as above described. 

"Near the corner of sections 4, 5, 8, 9, in South Porter, the Chi- 
cago trail was intersected by the Shavehead trail, a branch from the 
north. This trail or rather system of trails, as more than a dozen dif- 
ferent ones united to form it. had two main branches which came to- 
gether on section 29, in North Porter, near the low-er end of Shavehead 
lake. The west branch, which commenced near the north line of Penn 
townshin, led southerly across Young's prairie, dividing on section 28 
in Penn. One trail continued south and east to the w-est, and 
south of Mud lake in Calvin, the other running between Donell and 
Mud lakes, the two uniting near Birch lake in Porter. The last nien- 
tioned trail was of great service to the early white settlers in procuring 
supplies from the old distillery situated on the East Branch of Chris- 
tiann creek, a little south of Donell lake. The east branch, coming from 
the direction of Pig Prairie 'Ronde, crossed the county line at the east 
line of section 12 in Newberg, just north of Long lake, ai-id ran south- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 105 

westerly across sections 12, 13, 23, 26, ly, 34, and t^t^, in Newberg, 
and sections 4, 9, 8, 17. and 20 in North Porter, and united with the 
west branch on section 29, as before stated. Another branch of the 
Shavehead trail, of less extent than either of those just described, com- 
menced at the Indian 'sugar works, near the half-mile post on the line 
between sections 10 and 11, in North Porter, and ran thence south- 
westerly, crossing Shavehead prairie in its course, and uniting with the 
main branch on sectiiju 32. 

"Besides the three i>rincipal branches of the Shavehead trail above 
mentioned, there were many others. In fact, the whole township of 
Porter was a perfect network of trails — a regular "stamping ground" 
of the Indians, so to speak, as the numerous sugar works, Indian fields 
and villages abundantly attest. 

"The second branch of the Chicago trail commenced on section 
30, in Calvin, running thence southeasterly, crossing sections 2 and 12, 
in Mason, very nearly where the wagon road now runs, intersecting the 
Chicago trail at an Indian village a few rods west of the present village 
of Union. 

"The third branch commenced on section 3, in ]\Iason, and ran 
southwesterly, entering the Chicago trail near what is now Adamsville. 

"llie fourth and last branch of the Chicago trail, coming from 
Fort Wayne, Indiana, intersected the county and state line near the 
southwest comer of section 20, in Ontwa, and running thence north- 
westerly, united with the main trail on section 16 in Milton. 

"The trail from the Carey Mission to Grand River Mission, some- 
times called the Grand River road, crossed the county line near the 
corner of sections 6 and 7, in Howard, and running thence angling 
across Howard, Pokagon, Silver Creek, Wayne and Volinia townships, 
left the county at the north line of section 2, in Volinia. It had 
no branches. The present angling road running through the greater 
part of Pokagon township, the northwest corner of Howard and a por- 
tion of Wayne, occupies very nearly the same position. In fact, we are 
indebted to the Indian, or it may be to his predecessor, for some of our 
best lines of communication, and as many of these old routes are traveled 
today, and probably will be for all time to come, where thev were 
marked out hundreds and possibly thousands of years ago, it shows that 
remarkable skill must have been exercised in their location." 

Though the pioneers entered Cass county over the Indian trails, 
the settlement of the county had hardly progressed beyond the initial 
stages when there was agitation coupled with energetic effort on the 
part of the settlers and government alike to improve these trails into 
highways and to open new courses of travel. 

7'he establishment of post-roads is a power granted to the general 
government by the Constitution. In pursuance of the plan of internal 



166 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

inipro\-enicr.ls tlnis ]iro\i(led tor. tlie government undertook tlie laying 
out of such [jostal highways across Michigan territor\' long hefore Cass 
county was settled. As incidentally referred to in a previous chapter, 
the Chicago treaty with the Indians in 1821 contained a clause espe- 
cially stipulating- that the Cnited States should have the privilege of 
making and using a ro.-ul through the Indian country from Detroit and 
Fort \\';i_\ne. respecti\-ely, to Chicago. 

'I he lirst of the congressional acts whicli leil toward the construc- 
tion of the Chicago road was passed in 1824. It authorized the presi- 
dent of the United States "to cause the necessary surveys, plans and 
estimates to he made of the routes of such roads and canals as he may 
deem of national importance in a commercial iir militarv jioint of \-iew, 
or necessary for the transportation of the puhlic mail." Tlie sum of 
thirty thousand dollars was appropriated for the surveys and the jiresi- 
dent was authorized to apjKjint two competent engineers. 

The route from Detroit to Chicago was one of those which the 
e.xecuti\-e "ileemed (if national importance." and the sum of ten thou- 
sand dollars was set ap.art from the a|>propriation for the survev. In 
1S25 work was couTmeuccd at the eastern end oi the road. Tlie sur- 
veyor hegan on the plan of running on nearl\- straight lines. Init had 
progressed only a few miles when he came to the conclusion that if he 
carried out his originrd intention, the money apportioned for the work 
would be exhausted long before he could reach the western terminus. 
He then resolved to follow the old path of the Sacs and Foxes, and the 
road thus marked was ne\'er straightened. The trees were blazed fiftv 
feet on each side of the trails, the recjuirement being that the road 
should measiu-e one hundred feet in width. 

The Chicago road was surveyed through Cass county in 1832, by 
Daniel G. Garnsey. The roa<l was not worked through St. Joseph, 
Cass and Berrien counties by the government until after the Black Hawk 
war. Immigrants made such improvements as the\' f(_uind necessary, 
and the stage companies worked the road sufficiently to get their coaches 
through, and built some Iiridges. In 1833 the government made thor- 
ough work of building the road through Branch county, and in 1834 
through St. Joseph and Cass counties. It was grubbed out and leveled 
for a width of thirty feet, and the timber was cut awa^■ on each side. 
The first bridge over the St. Joseph was built in 1834. at IMottville. 
which- crossing was designated as "the Grand Traverse." 

The Chicago road, which follows appro.ximately the Chicago Indian 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 107 

trail already descriiied, was the great thoroughfare from east to west 
until the advent of the railroad in the late forties. The present genera- 
tion has difficulty in understanding the vital relation in which such a 
road stood to the people of sixty or seventy-five years ago. In making 
the journey from Cass county to Chicago hardly any one would think 
of going any way than by train, and to drive the distance, even over 
modern roadbeds, would be considered almost foolhardy. 

Sixty years ago there was no other means of reaching any of the 
great centers, such as Chicago or Detroit, except by wagon road. It 
was a seven days" trip from Niles to Detroit, when now it can be made 
in as many hours. A traveler was fortunate if he could go from 
Edwardsburg to Chicago in two days. 

But slow and difficult though this route was, it was the only one — 
the only certain means of communication and travel that an inland 
country possessed. Then came the railroad. It was the successor, or 
rather superseded this long inter-county, inter-state dirt road. and. as 
the trend of public thought is at last beginning to recognize, the rail- 
road is the national highway, the public thoroughfare, of the present, 
just as the Chicago road was the national postal and commercial route 
of the past. 

The Chicago road was also known as the "Territorial road," and 
its course from east to west along the southern border of the county was 
as much of an impetus toward settlement and development of such 
centers as Edwardsburg during the early half of the century, as tlie 
Michigan Central proved a fostering cause in the founding and growtl: 
of Dowagiac in the latter half. 

The establishment of continuous and definite highways from place 
to place was also one of the most important functions of the early terri- 
torial and state government, and continued so until the railroad age 
changed all the methods and means of long-distance travel and trans- 
portation. In the early historj- of the state it was not to be expected 
that the various and often widely separated settlements could undertake 
any extensi\-e and co-operative plan of road-making. The settlers, 
busied with the labor of clearing the forests, of making their first crops, 
and providing for immediate wants and creature comforts, had no time 
for road building except so far as to construct a temporary way to the 
common trading point. Certainly without some larger supervision 
most of the roads would have served only local purposes and would have 
been short and disconnected, and many years would have been suffered 



168 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

to elapse Ijffiirc anvtliiui;' .ippn inching a system of pulilic highways would 
have been estnhlished. 

As we may inter from the foregoing, few of the earl}- roads were 
laid out on the rectangular plan of section lines. .Vnd e\-en the later 
introduction of this method did not cause the disuse and abandonment 
of the favorite nld-time winding and diagonal routes that had been laid 
out according to the needs and conveniences of the pioneers. In the 
new prairie localities of the west, where no settlements were made until 
after the laml had been bbicked out into regular cjuadrangles by govern- 
ment engineers, the checker-lioard system of roads was adopted easily 
and natiu'ally. But in such a country as Cass county, covei'ed over at 
the time of settlement with forests and dotted with lakes and marshes, 
with Jill the conditions and appliances primiti\c and new. the settlers 
■were \er\- likel\- to disregard geometrical lines, even when made liy gov- 
ernment officials, and choose the "short cut" Iietween localities. 

Din'ing the thirties and forties the territorial council and the state 
legislature passed many acts "authorizing the establishment" of high- 
ways within or entering Cass county. Some of these became practicable 
thoroughfares, others never were constructed except officiallv. 

An act of Jul}- 30. 1830. authorized the laying out of a road "com- 
mencing where the township road laid out by the commissioners of 
Ontwa towr.ship, Cass county, from Pleasant lake in a direction to Pulaski 
(Elkhart), in Indiana, intersects the southern boundary line between 
the territory of Michigan and the state of Indiana; thence, on the road 
laid out as aforesaid until it intersects the Chicago road a few rods west 
of tlie jiostoffice, near the bouse of Ezra Beardsley, mnning thence on 
the mo.st eligible ami [iracticalile route to the entrance of the St. Joseph 
ri\er into Lake ^Michigan." Ceorge Meacbam, John Bogart and Scpiire 
Thomjison were the commissioners appointed to lay out and estalilish 
this road. 

Similarl}-. ancjther territorial road was authorized "commencing at 
the county seat of Branch county, running westerly on the most direct 
and eligible route through the seats of justice of St. Joseph and Cass 
counties to the mouth of the St. Joseph river. Another from White 
Pigeon by Prairie Rondc and Kalamazoo to Grand Rapids. "A road 
from Adams\'ille on the most direct and eligible route to the Paw Paw 
river at or near the center of Van Buren county," and many others. 

To open and inipr(i\e these roads the territorial and later the state 
government made liberal appropriations from the reserve of internal im- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 169 

provement lands. For example, the legislature in 1848 appropriated 
three thousand acres for the purpose of opening and improving a road 
(authorized in 1840), "commencing at some point at or near the north 
bank of the river St. Joseph, in the vicinity of the village of St. Joseph, 
thence running in an easterly direction on the most eligible route to the 
village of La Grange, formerly called Whitmanville, in Cass county." 

In the late forties, at the beginning of the railroad era in this part 
of the west, the "plank mad" had a lirief reign of favor as a means of 
internal communication. ]\Iany companies were incorporated by the 
state to construct such roads with the privilege of operating them as 
toll roads. The only one constructed for any distance in Cass county 
was planned to connect Niles and Mottville via Edwardsburg. Tlie 
company was incorporated in 1849, '^^'itb capital stock authorized at 
$100,000. Only five miles of the proposed road was built, between 
Niles and Edwardsburg. Such a road was a great improvement for the 
time. Much hea\-ier loads could be hauled over the plank roads than 
over the soil roads, and they helped greatly in the development of the 
country. Had not the railroads at about the same time begun to net- 
work the country, the plank road would have been no doubt adopted as 
a solution of the transportation problem. After the railroads came all 
was changed ; old centers were abandoned, new centers were formed, 
the markets were brought nearer the farmer's home, distances were 
shortened, marketing made easier, and the development of the country 
W'as wonderfully accelerated. 

In a fair consideration of the means of communication which the 
county has employed, the stage coach must be included — the old "twice- 
a-week" stage coach. It Avas a slow mode of travel, but the passengers 
had a good time. The rate of speed in pleasant weather and wdth good 
roads w'as perhaps seven or eight miles an hour, and the average cost 
was perhaps five cents a mile. These vehicles have been forgotten as 
completely as the days they represented. When the steam horse which 
at first plowed the water took to land in the east, the finest of the stages 
were taken west, and some of them as far as the Rockies, where the stage 
coach is even yet not unknown. But the coach and the tvpe of life it 
represented are gone forever from this part of the country. 

Sixty years ago, however, the residents of Edwardsburg and other 
points along the old Chicago road, on hearing the blast of the driver's 
horn as the stage topped the hill to the east of town, hailed the event 
as a break in pioneer monotony and with one accord assembled about 



170 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

llic stage station tn welcome tlie arrival. Xo one who e\'er witnessed 
such a scene would forget the excitement and the deep interest that 
attended ever}- detail of this little drama. The stage hr(jught the latest 
news from the outside world, hrought the newspapers, brought the mails. 
The stage put the jieople in connection with the great world, and when, 
the horses having been changed and the passengers again emltarked, it 
disappeared on the prairie and then in the woods to the west, the isola- 
tion of the community was again complete until the coach came again. 
All this gives ns an idea of the life of those days, wdiich hardly seems 
real to us now when we are in direct and constant communication with 
all parts of the world. 

This is tlie descrijition of (jne of the old "Concord" stage coaches 
as described by a writer in the former history of Cass countv : "You 
can fancy this ancient vehicle — a Ijlack painted an<l deck-roofed hulk 
— starting out from Detroit, with its load of passengers, swinging on 
its thorough-braces attached to the fore and hind axles, and crowded 
to its fullest capacity. There was a Iwot projecting three or four feet 
liehind for luggage; an iron railing ran around the top of the coach 
where extra Ijaggage or passengers were stowed as occasion required. 
The driver occupied a high seat in front; under his feet \\as a ]>lace for 
liis traps and the mail ; on each side of his seat was a lamp, firmlv fixed, 
to light his way by night; inside of the coach were three seats which 
would accommodate nine passengers. You can imagine the stage coach, 
thus loaded, starting out at the "get ape' of the dri\er. as, he cracks his 
whip over the heads of the leaders, when all four horses spring to their 
work, and away goes the lumbering \-ehicle, soon lost to sight in the 
woods, stmggling along the road, lurching from side to side into deep 
ruts and often into deeper mud holes." 

Edwardsburg was a junction point on the Chicago road at which 
a branch line of stages went toward Niles. The first stage coaches in 
Cass county are said to ha\-e passed tlirough in 1830 upon the Chicago 
road and this branch. At first two stages went o\-er the road each week, 
but trips were being made tri-weeklv before the Black Hawk war sus- 
pended operations entirely in 1832. In 1833 a new line of stages was 
estalilished between Detroit and Chicago. The route was from Detroit 
via Ypsilanti, Jonesville, Coldwater river, White Pigeon, Edwardsburg 
and Niles. Teams were changed about every twelve miles. By subse- 
quent changes in ownershiii tliis line became the "Western Stage Com- 
pany." 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 171 

In 1835, on account of the great increase in immigration and gen- 
eral travel, it was found necessary to put on daily stages. These were 
almost invariably crowded, and the company was compelled to put on 
a double line before the season was over. Even then the agents were 
sometimes obliged to hire extra teams and common wagons in which 
to convey passengers. The most desirable seats in the stages were fre- 
quently sold at a heavy premium by speculators. The stage companies 
upon this direct through line 'to Chicago were very liberally patronized 
and grew rich. They flourished until the railroad superseded the 
"Concord." 

RAILROAD ERA. 

But the chief developer and re-arranger of civilization is the rail- 
road. At a time when the relations of the railroads to the individual 
citizen, the civic community and the country at large bulk so large in 
public attention and discussion, it is needless to describe the importance 
of the railroad as an institution of modern life. The coming of the rail- 
road to this part of the west marked the end of the period of pioneer 
development and the beginning of the era of n:aterial progress in which 
we are still living. 

When Cass county was first settled the pioneers had no intimation 
of the revolutionary changes in transportation and consecjuenth- all 
departmennts of industry and methods of living that would be effected 
by the railroad. It will be remembered that the first railroad in the 
United States — several miles in length only — was constructed in 
1826, almost coincidentally with the first settlement in Cass county. In 
1830, after the tide of immigration had resulted in the organization of 
the county, there were only twenty-three miles of railroad in oiJeration 
in the United States. Hence, at that time the people of Cass county 
could hardly have looked forward to any time in the near future when 
they could anticipate using railroad transportation as a common facility. 

But by the year 1835 the railroad age in the United States had 
been fairly inaugurated, with over a thousand miles in operation, and 
the lines increasing at a phenomenal rate. By this time the fever of 
railroad building had penetrated the middle west, and the subject was 
thenceforth one of increasing imp^jrtance among all classes. 

It was a long while, however, before the railroad actuallv came 
this far west. In the meantime the demands of the people for improved 
transjxjrtation resulted in the agitation of canal construction and the 



172 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

opening- of the \vater\va_\-s ot conimerce. Canal buildins^' in the middle 
west reached its fullest extent during the late thirties and the ft.irties, 
and for a time the canal and the railroad competed on even terms. 

The only convenient water way ever utilized "by the peoi^le of Cass 
county for transportation was the St. Joseph river. The early settlers 
were compelled to haul in wagons their surplus wheat and corn and 
other products to some point on this stream, such as Niles, and thence 
"ark" them to Lake Michigan, for carriage by lake vessels to the mar- 
kets of the world. Se\-eral years before the advent of the railroad, 
the first steamboat began plying on the St. Joseph, as the forerunner 
of the considerable fleet which up to the present day has navigated on 
the lower courses of that stream. 

The only serious plan for bringing this waterway into more useful 
relation to Cass county was that discussed at a meeting held in Ed- 
wardsburg, Febniary, 1836, to consider the project of constructing a 
canal from Constantine to Niles. Such a canal would have crossed 
south central Cass county, and would have been a short cut across the 
great arc made by the river in its bend into Indiana. Had the railroad 
era not been so near, this canal would doulitless have been constructed 
at some lime, and v.nuld lia\'e lieen of inestimaljle advantage to the 
development of Cass county. 

But a majority of those present at the Edwardsburg meeting fav- 
ored, e\en then, the idea of a railroad rather than a canal. The result 
was that the friends of the enterprise secru"ed the passage of an act 
by th.e legislature, March 26, 1836, incorporating the Constantine and 
Niles Canal or Railroad Company, with a capital stock fixed at $250,000. 
The company was empowered to construct either a canal or railroad 
between the termini mentioned in its name and charter. The first di- 
rectors were William Meek, George W. HofTman, Wells T. House, 
Watson Sumner, John G. Cathcart, Edward N. Bridge, J. C. Lanman, 
Jacob Beeson and Vincent L. Bradford. This enterprise ended in the 
storm of financial disaster that overtook the country in 1837, and it is 
not certain that even a survey of the route of the proposed canal or 
railroad was made. 

Such was the only canal building ever attempted in this county. 
Already the attention of the people was directed to the advance of the 
railroads from the east. In 1832 the territorial council of Michigan 
had incorporated the Detroit and St. Joseph Railroad Company. The 
ciim]ianv v.as nutlmrized to build a single or double track railroad from 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 1T3 

Detroit to St.. Joseph by way of the village of Ypsilanti and the county 
seats of Washtenaw. Jackson, Calhoun and Kalaniazoo' counties, and 
to run cars on the same "by the force of steam, of animals, of any 
mechanical or other force, or of any combination of these forces"; was 
bound to begin work within two years from the passage of the act. to 
build thirty miles of track within six years, to complete half of the road 
within fifteen years, and to finish the whole of it within thirty years, 
under penalty of the forfeiture of its franchises. 

The route was surveyed, work was begtm at the eastern end. but 
before the set period of six years had expired Michigan had become 
a state. With its new dignity of statehood, Michigan was most zealous 
in fostering enterprises of internal improvement, not merely opening 
the way for the exertion of private or corporate effort, but even going 
to the extent of constructing under state auspices and appropriations 
from the public treasuiw the railroad and other highways and public 
utilities. 

March 20, 1837, an act of the legislature was approved that pro- 
vided for the construction of three railroads across the whole breadth 
of its territory, to be called the Northern, Central and Southern rail- 
roads. The Central was to nui from Detroit to the mouth of the St. 
Joseph. The act also provided for the purchase of the rights and prop- 
erty of companies already established, and especially those of the Detroit 
and St. Joseph Compan\'. The sum of $550,000 was appropriated for 
the survey and making of the three roads, $400,000 of which was set 
apart for the Central. Tine legislature also authorized a loan of fi\-e 
million dollars for railroad construction. 

The commissioners of Internal Impnivements were thus provided 
with funds for the carrying out of this stupendous undertaking. But 
the building began in a period of industrial depression, unlocked for 
obstacles hindered the progress of the work, and when the year 1846 
came the Central had been completed only to Kalamazoo, while the 
Southern's western operating terminal still tarried at Hillsdale. Public 
opinion as to the feasibility of railroad construction by the state seems 
to have changed in the meanwhile, and by an act of the legislature in 
the early part of 1846 an entire change of policy was efifected. 

By this act of 1846 the Michigan Central Railroad Company, com- 
posed of private individuals, was incorporated. At the same time a 
transfer of all the state's equity and control of the Central Railroad 
was made to the new corporation for the consideration of two million 



174 HISTORY OF CASS CCiVX'W 

(lollars. The cliarter required tbe new cumpaiiy tn follow substantially 
the route originally decided upon, but instead of specifying that the 
mouth of the St. Joseph should be the western terminus, allowed the 
companv to build from Kalamazoo "to some point in the state of Michi- 
gan on or near Lake Michigan which shall be accessible to steamboats 
on said lake, and thence to some point on the southern boundary line of 
Michigan" ; the men. \\ho composed the company insisting on tbe latter 
provision in order that tbe\' might have a choice of destination. 

Tbe object of the compau}- was to jiroject their line across the 
northern portion of Indiana and plant its western terminus at Chicago. 
The story of the intense rivalr}' between tbe Michigan Central and the 
Michigan Southern in their struggle to be the first to accomplish this 
end is not pertinent here. But the change of the objective point from 
St. Joseph to Chicago resulted in diverting tbe course of tbe line direct 
from Kalamazoo to New Buffalo (the terminus of the Michigan char- 
ter) and thus crossing the northwest corner of Cass county. iJad the 
original jilan been carried out, Cass county would have been without 
railroad connection for a numl^er of years longer. 

But now, in the haste to construct the line, the new companv. as 
soon as the transfer bad been effected, surveyed a route to New Buffalo 
and at once pushed the work of construction as far as the Michigan 
charter would carrs^ it. The road was completed through this county 
as far as Niles by October 7. 1848. and in the spring of the following 
year New Buffalo was reached. The conflicting interests of the two 
rival railroads and the legislatures of the states through which tbe lines 
were to pass delayed tbe completion of the Michigan Central across 
Indiana. But the line was opened to Michigan City in tbe winter of 
1851-52. and in the following- spring was completed to Chicago. 

Had the plans contemplated by tbe state been carried out, the 
Michigan Southern would have lieen constnicted along the southern 
border of the state and hence through Cass county. But it was seen fit 
to turn this line south from \Mute Pigeon, and thence was constructed 
across Northern Indiana. 

The first constitution of Michig'an had expressly affirmed the pro- 
priety of internal impro\-ements being undertaken bv the state and paid 
for out of the pul)lic funds or public lands. The unhappv results that 
followed tbe projection and partial construction of the Central and 
Southern railroads under state auspices worked a complete reversal of 
public opinion on this policy. Accordingly tbe constitution of i8^o 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 1V5 

contained a provision prohibiting the state from contriljuting to or 
otherwise engaging in any such forms of internal improvements. 

Though the people as a state were thus forbidden to construct rail- 
roads, it was understood that smaller corporate units oif towns and cities 
were not affected by the constitutional provisions. After the Civil war 
for several years, there passed over the country a wave of popular 
activity and participation in railroad construction. Towns, villages and 
counties, not to mention hundreds of private citizens, not only in this 
state but in many states of the middle west, voted generous subscrip- 
tions or ''bonuses" to railroad enterprises, many of which Ijegan and 
ended their existence in the fertile brains of the pi'omoters. This move- 
ment had a vital connection with Cass county's welfare, and its ulti- 
mate results may be said to ha\-e gi\-en the county two of its railroad 
lines. 

By the beginning of the seventies the towns and cities of the state 
had voted to various railroad companies subscriptions aggregating sev- 
eral millions of dollars. Individuals had given perhaps as much more. 
Now followed a decision of the state supreme court declaring that the 
act under which the voting had taken place was unconstitutional ; hence 
these minor civil corporations could not obligate themselves by contri- 
butions to railroad construction any more than the state itself could. 
Tl.Tis was the final phase of internal improvements under pulilic direc- 
tion or support. So much history of the matter is necessary to a proper 
understanrling of the manner in which the "Air Line" and the Penin- 
sular, now Grand Trunk, railn^jads were constructed through Cass counts-. 

LaGrange township alone, \\ith the prospective benefits of two 
railroads before it. had voted tliirt}- thousand dollars of l»nds to the 
two projected roads. But fortunately these bonds, as was true of the 
bonds of other townships in the county, were still in the keeping of the 
.state treasurer at the time the decision of the supreme court was given. 
Soon after the decision was made known a majority of the citizens of 
the various townships voted to recall the bonds and prevent their Iieing 
surrendered to the railroad companies and hence to individual purchas- 
ers. The state treasurer, however, refused to return the bonds until 
the supreme court, in behalf of LaGrange township, issued a mandamus 
compelling the state treasurer to restore the bonds. In the case of some 
townships of the state, the bonds had already passed into the financial 
markets, and in such instances the townships were obliged to pay their 
subscriptions. 



176 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

The Air Line branch of the Michigan Central which now crosses 
Cass county nearly centrally from west to east was projected almost 
entirely l.)v local capital and enterprise, the corporate name being- the 
Michigan Air Line Railroad Company. The people of the counties of 
Cass. St. Joseph, Calhoun and Jackson were the ones most vitally in- 
terested. Jackson county sttbscriljed nearly two hundred thousand dol- 
lars to the undertaking and the jjrincipal officers of the original organi- 
zation were citizens of Jackson. The line was opened to travel from 
Jackson to Homer in the summer of 1870, to Three Rivers in the autumn 
of the same year, and was completed to Niles in February, 1871. Almost 
coincident with the completion of the road it w'as leased to the Michigan 
Central Railroad Company, and soon became the property of that com- 
pany. The first regular passenger train over this road was run through 
Cass county on January 16, 1871. 

The late Mr. S. T. Read, of Cassopolis, has been given the credit 
for suggesting to the president of the Canadian Railroad the scheme 
for extending that line from its western Canadian terminus at Port 
Hunm across the peninsula of Michigan to a terminal in the com- 
mercial metropolis of Chicago. The Grand Trunk Railniad was built, 
and due to the public-spirited and persistent efforts of ]Mr. Read the 
line passed through central Cass county and the coinit}- seat. The 
people of the county liberally supported the enterprise, contributing in 
cash subscriptions and donations of rights of way to .the amount of 
one hundred thousand dollars. 

The track was completed to Cassopolis from the east on February 
9. 1871, and in the course of the same year the line was extended to 
\'alparaiso, Indiana, and subsecjuently to Chicago. 

The Grand Trunk Railroad in the United States is a patchwork of 
smaller lines and extensions of \arious date. The first line was con- 
structed under a charter given tu the I\:)rt Huron and Lake Michigan 
Railroad Company in 1847. In 1855 the Port Huron and Milwaukee 
Railroad Company was chartered, and not long afterward was amal- 
gamated with the first-named organization. October 3, 1865, the 
Peninsular Railroad Company was chartered to constnict a railroad be- 
tween Lansing and Battle Creek. January 3, iSfiS, the Peninsular Rail- 
road Extension Company was chartered for the extension of a line from 
Battle Creek to the Indiana state line. These two companies were con- 
solidated as the Peninsular Ivailway Compan}-. Numerous other con- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 177 

solidations and changes preceded the final organization, in April. 1880, 
of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway Company. 

In the earlv eighties the Cincinnati. Cleveland. Chicago & St. Louis, 
popularly known as the "Big Four."' was constructed between Niles and 
Elkhart. This route passed through the southwestern curner of Cass 
county, in Alilton township, but as only a» signal station called Truitt 
has been established on that section of the line, the "Big Fnur" is not n 
Cass county road in the same relation as the Michigan Central, with 
the Air Line branch and the Grand Trunk. 

Although at tlie date nf this compilation Cass county's means of 
communication do not include electric lines, the course of development 
will soon reach this stage, and it is appropriate to describe the present 
status of this subject. 

About 1901 the "Eastern and Northwestern Railroad Company" 
was formed by a group of capitalists with headquarters in Chicago. They 
proposed a railroad from Benton Harbor to Toledo, entering Cass county 
at the northwest and leaving it about the middle of New berg tnwnship 
on the east, cuttmg the existing lines about at right angles. The line 
of original survey was run three miles to the north of Cassojiolis. 

The citizens of that village, alive to the possible loss of another 
railroad, at once made efforts to bring the road throngh the county 
seat. The terms asked by the promoters were a right of way for the 
distance of two and a half miles and land for depot site. The Cass- 
opolis citizens complied, and the road was to be in operation as far as 
Dowagiac by May, 1902, and the entire line completed by July, 1903. 
A large part of the grading was done, indeed in this respect the line is 
practically complete to Jamestown in Penn township. Cass county, but 
the financial backing failed before the rest of the construction was 
finished, and the grades and cuts are all that Cass county so far has to 
show for the enterprise. 

But tentati\-e negotiations are in progress, according to a plan to 
utilize this route for an electric road. The network of interurban elec- 
tric lines is certain to inclose Cass county within a few years. To the 
south there is a line of electric communication almost continuous be- 
tween Michigan City and Toledo. On the west a branch of the same 
system touches Niles. Berrien Springs and Benton Harbor, Berrien 
co■unt^•. Kalamazoo is another center for the radiation of these roads. 
.A.s this form of intercommunication in the middle west is the product 



178 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

of little more than a decade, it is not unreasonable to expect an equally 
phenomenal increase with the succeeding ten years. 

POSTAL SERVICE. 

No phase of the general subject of communication is of more vital 
interest to the people than postal facilities. The desire to know what 
is going on in the world outside the circle of immeiliate accjuaintance is 
as deep-seated as it is wlntlesonie, and the isolation from friends and 
relatives and the settled ])arts of the country was one of the severest 
privations connected with settlement on the frontier. In truth there was 
a time in most such communities when news — if such it c(.)uld be called 
when it often was very old when it reached the hearers — had no reg- 
ular lines of dissemination and was carried only by the chance trav- 
eler. All pioneer communities have experienced such a situation in 
some degree, and the early settlers of Cass county had little definite 
connection with the outside world, although living in a comparatively 
modern age and only a few }ears before the in\'ention of the telegraph. 

Accordingly one of the first impro\-ements sought after actual home 
and shelter and means of subsistence were provided was a postal serv- 
ice, such as all the settlers had been familiar with in their former homes 
in the more settled regions. We have seen how the government early 
made provision for the establishment of a great post road from the east 
to the west. But the actual transportation and distribution of mail was 
a \er\' uncertain matter for many years, and depended" largely on the 
provision that each communit}- could make for that purpose. In the 
CcU'ly days a mail route was established between Fort Wa_\-ne and Niles. 
The mail ^\as at first carried once in four weeks, then once every two 
weeks. This mail was carried by a character known as "Old Hall," 
who bestrode one horse wdiile the mail bags were carried on a horse that 
be led. .\t Niles the mail for all the surrounding country was distrib- 
uted, the \arious communities in Cass county each receiving it by 
special carriers. Some con\'enient settler's cabin was selected as the 
postoffice, and there the neighbors would gather to receive a chance 
letter or hear the reading of a newspaper brought in by the last mail. 
The histor}- of many of these early postoffices is told in the chapter on 
the centers of ]xi])ulation. 

Letters were a luxurx- in pioneer times. They were written on 
foolscap paper and so folded that one side was left blank, so as to form 
its own envelope, it !)eing sealetl with wax or a wafer. This latter cus- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 179 

torn was followed for many years, and some of these sheets folded ac- 
cording to the usual manner and with some of the wax of the seal still 
adhering to them, are still to be found in the count}-. 

It was perhaps well tliat the pioneer could not foresee the con- 
veniences that his twentieth century descendant enjoys in the way of 
postal facilities; he might ha\-e felt his deprivations more severely had 
he known that in 1906 the rural mail routes, radiating in every direction 
and approaching within convenient distance of e\ery luime in the county, 
would be delivering packages, letters and metropolitan dailies cmce each 
day and with greater regularity and punctuality than was the case in the 
large eastern towns of his time. 

TELEPHONES. 

To imderstand the development that has taken place in the means 
of communication it is not necessary to go back beyontl the memory 
of the present generation. As the result of successful experiments Mr. 
Alex. Graham Bell exhibited at the Centennial exposition in Phil- 
adelphia in 1876 an invention which was described by a standard en- 
cyclopedia published in 1877 as an instrument for the "telegraphic trans- 
mission of articulate sounds." The article further goes on to state as 
the climax of the wonderful discovery that "we may confidently expect 
that Mr. Bell will give us the means of making voice and spoken words 
audible through the electric wire to an ear hundreds of miles distant." 
And in 1906 there is probably not a person in Cass county who does not 
at least know of the telephone, and in hundreds of rural homes and in 
nearly every citv and village residence and business house will be found 
one of these instruments, so necessary to modern life. Various telephone 
and telegraph companies are now operating their lines in and through 
this county, and the news of the Russian crisis comes to every village as 
soon after the occurrence as in former days a report concerning a trial at 
Cassopolis would reach the outlying districts of the county. 

From the foregoing it appears that the world is coming to be all 
of a piece. Once every little comnumity could live by itself, make its 
own clothes, wagons, tools, and all the articles necessaiy for its exist- 
ence. But this view of self-dependence and isolation either in man 
or in the community is now thoroughly discredited. With the coming 
of railroad, telegraph, telephone, etc.. closer relations were established, 
and individuals, coiuiuunities and states ha\'e become dependent on 
each other. 



ISO HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XH. 
INDUSTRIES AND FINANCE. 

Tliat familiar heru of jiu'cnile fictimi, Ruljinson Crusoe, after being 
cast upon his desert island, was compelled to l)nild his o\\n shelter, to 
make his ,.)wn clothes, to fashion man\- of his implements and his house- 
hold utensils, to cultivate the siiil and raise and prepare all things need- 
ful for his liodily sustenance, to enact for his own guidance all his laws 
and rules of conduct, anrl to lie his own army for protection against the 
cannihals. Such a type of all-ar(_iund man, jack-of-all-trades, self-suffi- 
cient and prepared for all the uses and ad\'ersities oi the world, was 
at one time considered the projier ideal liy which each [jerson should 
fashion his life. 

But such indixidualism is now seen to be exceedingh' jirimitix'e. 
and instead of making man more inde|>endent reallv puts him nmre 
abjectly in dependence on all the humbler wants and necessities which 
are at the base (_)f the higher life. Society as now organized, and in its 
general tendencies toward the working out of the problems of human 
destiny, divides into numerous occupations the work of the world. 
S|iecializing it fr)r each clas-^ of wiirkers, and tliereh\' lea\es each of us 
the greater libert\' to work out our indi\idualitv to its h.ighest possi- 
bilities. 

The men and women who settled Cass county in the twenties and 
thirties of the last centm"v were in a measure Crusoes. in that most of 
the necessities of life, whether for eating, wearing or for jierforming 
the work of the field ,ind liiiusehold. were hrime products. Planted in 
the de])th of a great wilderness, remote from mills and often unattended 
bv craftsmen, the men and women who laid here the foundations of 
civilized societv were, of necessity, their own artisans to a \'ery large 
extent, and e\'ery home was a factory. Many a farmer or farmer's son. 
becoming skilled in some particular trade, was enabled thereliy to add 
substantially to the famil}' income. 

The conversion of raw material into forms suitable for the uses 
of mankind was undertaken immeiliatcK' n])on the arri\-al of the first 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ISl 

permanent white settlers, who, with few tools hut an ax. hastily con- 
structed a rude cahin of logs and fashioned a few primitive articles for 
domestic use, such as tahles. henches. heds. and other furnishings of 
immediate necessity. 

Next to shelter and foodstuffs cluthing was the issue nf paramcnint 
importance to the hardy pioneers, and in the division of lahor this in- 
dustry was left to the women. Every cahin was flanked hy its patch of 
flax, and the planter who did nut possess a few sheep had to trade with 
his neighbor for wool. From these raw materials the old-fashioned 
housewife was expected to produce clothing for the famil}- and linen for 
the bed and table. The full grown flax was pulled up and spread out on 
the grotmd to rot in the rain and dew. after which it was thoroughly 
broken, liy the older I'oys. if there were any, with the \-ieorous use of 
the flax-brake, then put through a srjftening process called "scutcliing." 
and a separating process called "hackling." which left ready for the 
spinstress two fabrics, tow and thread fiber. 

By tlie use of the little spinning wdieel, proficiency in the handling 
of which was for the girls a test of advancing womanhood, the fiber, 
or lint, was made into a fine, strong thread called warp, and the tow 
into a coarser thread used as filling. These were wo\'en together on a 
hand loom, and fnun the tow-linen produced was made the summer 
wear for the family, the females usually preferring to color theirs with 
home-made dyestuf¥ to suit their taste, while the less pretentious men 
folks were satisfied tn take it as it came from the loom. WHien the 
wool was brought in. the good mother and her daughters, after thiM'- 
ougbly cleansing or scouring it by washing, shaped it intu con\enient 
rolls by the aid of a pair of hand-cards provided for that i)ur]iiise and 
spun on the big wheel into yarn filling (sometimes used for knitting 
stockings, mittens and comforters), which, when woven with linen 
warp, made tlie "linsey-woolsey" of the good old days, or, if woven 
with cotton warp, resulted in the fabric known as "jeans." The former, 
suitably dyed, was in general use as a strong, warm and handsome text- 
ure for feminine apparel, and the latter, colored with butternut juice, 
was tailored by the women for the men's wear. 

As commerce with other parts of the United States increasefl, 
cotton became a more generally used material. But during the height 
of the abolition moyement, which, as we know, had some very strong 
advocates in Cass county, a prejudice arose against the use of any 
material made by slave lahor. although only two or three instances are 



l'S2 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

recorded of persons wlio alisiiliitel\' refused to wear ejarments tint 
contained any part cotton. 

For footwear tlie wmiderinc;' cob1iler, wlio traveler! froni house 
to Imnse. was relied ujion to fasliiim lioots and shoes frnni the home- 
tanned hides, or moccasins were procured from the Indians. Occa- 
sionally the shoemakers wr)u1d nnt qet arorcud until after snowfall, and 
man)' a ^•enerahle ofrandsire can tell of sjoing barefooted to his clnores 
with sniiw on the ground. .\ well prepared coonskin made a verv 
warm and equally unsightly cap. Cnonskins also formed a kind of 
currency .if the woods, the pelt being considered as good as gold and 
accepted in exchange for all commodities. 

Properly selected rye straws were woven by the women into bon- 
nets for themselves and hats for their masters. The women also fash- 
ioned for themseh'es curioush' \\rought sunhonnets of brightlv-colored 
goods shai>ed over pasteboard strips with fluted and ruffled capes fallinfr 
behind o\-er the shoulders. The manufacture of quilts gave oppor- 
tunit\' for social gatherings when there were neighb<Trs close enough 
to get back home liefore chore time, and the quilting ranked along 
with the huskings. log-rollings and house-raisings among the primitive 
society functions of the early davs. The industries of the homestead 
did not include the preservatii^n of fruits and vegetables. sa\-e to a small 
extent by drying, but meats were ]ireserved in various ways ; lye hominy 
or hulled corn was a regulai' institution, and some other food articles 
were occasionally laid b\' frir winter, thus forming the beginnings of 
the packing and canning industries of later times. 

Prior to the advent of cabinet malcers the settlers, perforce, in- 
cluded that trade among their acconijilishments. and made their owri bed- 
steads, tables, cupboards and .chairs. For bedsteads an oak butt, about 
eight feet long and of .sufficient diameter, was split into rails and posts. 
a shorter log was split up for slats, and the pieces selected were dressed 
down with the drawknife and fitted together with the axe. Two rails 
were used for each side and three for each end, the rounded ends of 
the slats being driven into auger holes in the rails, and the four high 
corner-]iosts Avcre tied together at the tops with strong cords, frnm 
which curtains might be suspended if desired. Even less pretentious 
forms have been described, and, of course, each article of furniture 
would be likely to vary according to the ingenuity and skill of the 
maker. In the niore fortunate homes were bedsteads with tiu'ned posts, 
square rails and cords in place of slats, a feather bed surmounted the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 183 

"straw tick," and with plenty of "i<i\ei","' such a lodgment was com- 
fortable on the coldest winter night. There was also the trundle bed, 
a low bed that could be pushed under the large bed, where it remained 
during the day, and was pulled out for the smaller children's use at 
night. 

With equal skill a table was constructed by pinning two thin oak 
clapboards, smoothed with a sharp ax on the upper side, to cross-pieces 
set on four strong legs, the surface of the table being about fiiur feet 
by six. This type also varied. Three-legged stools were made in a 
similar simple manner. Pegs dri\-en in auger holes in the logs of the 
wall supported shelves, and on others was hung the limited wardrobe 
of the family. .\ few other pegs, or, perhaps, a pair of deer horns 
formed a rack on \\hich were suspended the rifie and powder horn, al- 
ways found in every pioneer cabin. 

Fortunately, among the early settlers there was here and there a 
craftsman who could be called upon by his neighbors to perform the 
.special form of labor for which his skill fitted him. A numlier of such 
persons have been mentioned in former chapters. It was not usual 
during the first years of the djunty's history for an artisan to depend 
entirely on his trade. There was not sufficient demand for his ser\"ices. 
He had his claim and cultivated the ground just as the other settlers, 
and during the winter season or the interims of farm labor, he was 
ready to ply his trade. 

As we have seen, certain forms of manufacturing, such as those 
represented in the sawmill and the grist mill, were introduced very soon 
after the settlement of the county began. These two particular institu- 
tions supplied the immediate necessities of life, and no community could 
progress very far without them. Other forms of manufacturing soon 
came in. and at an early date manufacturing interests formed a distinct 
part of the industrial affairs of the county. 

At Cassopolis, the name of Abram Tietsort, Jr., is first and most 
prominently associated with a trade. The log building in which he did 
cabinet making for the villagers was located on the banks of Stone 
lake, just out of the village site. He made various articles of furniture 
for the pioneer homes, and now and then was called upon to furnish a 
plain and simple coffin; for death was m-t an unknown visitor to the 
early community. 

An institution, of which there were several examples in early 
Cass countv, was the distillerv for the manufacture of the whiskey 



l.^-i HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

which, according to general knowledge, was a more universal beverage 
and consumed in more copious quantities in those days than at the 
present. .In 1833 Jacob, Abiel and Benjamin F. Silvers put up a dis- 
tillery on the Ijanks of .Stone lake, the first manui'acturing institutinn 
of Cassopolis. The frame was so large and made of such massi\e tim- 
ber that it required the efforts of a great force of men to raise it. Xearlv 
all the m;!le population of the central ])ni-tion of the cnuntv assisted in 
the wnrk. which tdok tlu'ee days" time. The distillery was run to its 
utmost capacity for a number of years, and the farmers in the surround- 
ing countr)- recei\-ed a great deal of money from its proprietors for 
their surplus corn. 

I'-acli settler learned to lie skilled in sharpening his own tocils. and 
even fasbi(.ned out by homemade process some of the iron implements 
needed. But as soon as possible he resorted for the more important 
work to a regular blacksmith, it often lieing necessary to go for that 
purpose many miles, b^or instance, it is related that a settler on Beards- 
ley's prairie had to lake his i)lowshare to be sharpened by Israel Mark- 
ham, who conducted the first blacksmith shop in the countv on Pokagon 
prairie. 

0\'er near the ])resent Jamestown, in Fenn townshi]). a man by the 
name of Peck established a lilacksmith shop about 1S28. but did not 
remain long. 

The early advent of carpenters and joiners to the county has been 
spoken of in an earlier clrqnei'. As soon as the people advanced beyond 
the log cabin stage it became quite necessary to procure the services 
of a skilled builder in tiie construction of the houses. 

With the art of clotiies-making delegated so completely to the 
pioneer bou>ewife. earh' Cass count\ w(juld hardly seem a pr()fitable 
l<ication for a tailor. bUit there is record of one who located at Ceneva 
about 1834, when ibat was still a \illage of some proportions. He 
was also cmplo>ed in the same line for a time at W'hitmanville. 

The business activity of Edward.sburg was increased, in 1837, '^Y 
the arrival of a hat maker named James Boyd, who later moved to 
Cassopolis, where he died. The business of bat-making was a common 
pursuit in the east during that time, but few found their way to the 
sparsely settled west. Mr. Boyd, however, made hats in this county 
tor six years, as the onl\- rejiresentative the county ever had in that iii- 
dustrv, and he sold his hats in all ]iarts of the county. 

No one could forget the old-time sugar bo.x. It was a necessary 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 185 

article in every liouseliold, ami. besides holding sugar, it often served 
other no less useful purposes. There are instances on record where 
the sugar box became the receptacle for the pioneer mail, where it was 
kept until the neighbors had time to call for it. Did the lnuisewife 
need a sugar box. it was (juitc likely that she sent her husliand to Ed- 
wardsburg. About 1837, a Mr. Keeler located in that \'illage. ;uid be- 
sides making these indispensalde sugar boxes, he split out and softened 
and wove long strips of wood into baskets for the settlers' use. He 
was a character in the neigbliorhood, made verses as well as baskets, 
and in peddling his wares aliout the county he drove to his cart, in 
lieu of a horse, a ])atient ox named "Bright."" 

Perhaps not a month passed that some one wdio claimed special 
skill in a particular craft < r to be a jack-of-all-trades — a wandering 
tinker, a coblder. a tinsmith, etc. — did not pass through or locate UKire or 
less permanently in early Cass county. Though no historical record is 
kept of such mechanics, they are worthy of our attention so far as show- 
ing how much df the work now done by a regular mechanic was attended 
to at that time b}' the well known "tinker"" character. 

In pioneer days the same spreading tree that sheltered the village 
smithy usuallv cast its shade also upon the local wagon shop. The two 
industries were born twins and did not drift apart until the era of great 
factories set in and made the manufacture of vehicles at the crossroads 
shop an economic impossibility. In tiie early years a wheelwright came 
to the county in the person of Benjamin Sweeney, who was located at 
Edwardsburg a number of years. He was also a civil engineer, and 
laid out many roads through the county. 

We have alluded to the existence at the Carey Mission of a grist 
mill as earlv as 1826. .\t that time there was not another within a 
hundred miles. Hither the first settlers brought their meager grist, if 
they did not pound or grind it with some rude contrivance at home. It 
is hardly possible to assign an exact date for the location of the first 
mill in Cass county. But the Carpenter mill, on Christiann creek, near 
the site of Vandalia.-was probaldy built about 1828. All the burrs and 
other iron parts of the mill were brought from Ohio. 

A few vears later this mill l)ecame the property of James 0"Dell, 
a miller, who located in Penn township in 1S32. Mr. O'Dell was 
prominent in pulilic aft'airs as well. ser\ ing as super\-isor. and in other 
township offices, in the state legi'^lature. and was a member of the first 
constitutional con\-ention in 1835. 



ISC HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

As population increased otiier grist mills were establisheil. Closes 
Sage built one in Adamsville in 1835, ^^'^^ such was the demand for 
Hour that he ran it night and day for several years. Grist mills, as 
well as saw mills, were at hrst necessarily located by convenient water 
power. i\fter the introduction of steam power the flour mills, as a 
rule, were centered in the \-illages, and where the best transportation 
facilities were offered. 

Of sawmills there were a great number throughout the county. 
Job Davis had one in L;i Grange township in 1829, the first mechanical 
industry in the township. .At the outlet of Jones lake, in the north- 
eastern part of the township, Henry Jones and Hardy Langston built 
a mill in 1830. Carding machinery was afterwards installed, this being- 
one of the early attempts at the woolen industry in this county. 

On Dowagiac creek, on the north border of L.a Grange t<j\vnship, 
and near the site of present JJowagiac, William Renneston Ijuilt, in 
1830, a woolen mill, bringmg the machinery from southern Indiana. 
Three years later he built a grist mill at the saiue place. This was 
the Ijeginning of the milling industry which has Ijeen carrieil nn at that 
location to the present time. 

The first sawmill in J'orter was commenced on sectinn 7,2, by 
Othni Beardsley, and was completed in 183 1 by Lewis, Samuel and 
Jacob Rinehart, who ran the mill fifteen years. The lumlier which 
was not bought and hauled from the mill by local purchasers was hauled 
to the St. Joseph river and thence rafted down to Mishawaka and South 
Bend, and much of it to St. Joseph. 

.Another earl)- niill, erected in the early thirties, was Uuilt on the 
south branch of Pokagon creek, in section 6 of Jefferson township, by 
John I'ettigrew-, Jr. Tins contained an old-fashioned upright saw. 
All the machinery had been Ijrought by wagon from Ohio. Primitive 
as it was, this mill supplied material for building many of the houses 
of the surrounding country, and some of its product was sold in Niles, 
South Bend and Elkhart. 

Various sites along Christiann creek have contained mills at dif- 
ferent periods of history. The Shaffer-Beardsley mill was an institu- 
tion known for a number of years, having been Imilt in 1S3O. Near by 
was the grist n-iill of Robert Painter, built in 1840. close to Painter's 
lake. Here he later installed a saw-mill and machinery for woolen 
manufacture, but th.e \icissitudes of manufacture finally overtook the 
enterprise w-ith failure. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 187 

On that part of Christiann creek which lies in section 19, of Cal- 
vin, Daniel Mcintosh and Samuel Crossen built the first sawmill in 
that township in 1832. It soon passed into the hands of Joseph Smith, 
who, in 1833, erected a distillery and manufactured and sold pure 
whiskey at 25 cents a gallon. In the fifties J. C. Fiero, a merchant at 
Edwardsburg, erected and operated a steam grist mill in that place, 
near the site of the present creamery. The mill was destroyed hy fire 
in the spring of 1861. 

In Peter Shaffer's mill, near this location, was sawed the lumber 
for the first court house at Cassopolis. The year 183 1 is the date of the 
building of a grist mill near the present site of Brownsville. 

Several tanneries did business in the county during the early years. 
One of them was located at Brownsville. It is thus seen that at various 
periods in her history Cass county has had a great many forms of man- 
ufacturing. As a country develops, certain forms of industry become 
profitable in certain stages of that development. A tannery could sup- 
ply a very e\ ident need of the settlers, and might be operated profitably 
as a local institution for some years. But as soon as railroad transpor- 
tation become general and the centralization of manufacturing began, 
it would be necessary either that the tannery should enlarge tO' more than 
a local concern or go out of business entirely. The latter was more often 
the case. This process of industrial growth and decay is found every- 
where, and in itself illustrates the historical development of communi- 
ties. 

The twenty-third annual report of the Michigan Bureau of Labor, 
giving the results of factory inspection made m Cass county in April, 
1905, names the following industries, with the year of establishment: 

At Cassopolis: 

C. W. Bunn, lumber, 1885. 

City Steam Laundry, 1900. 

Cassopolis Steam Laundry, 1902. 

Cassopolis Manufacturing Company. 1900. 

Cassopolis Creamery, 1902. 

Cassopolis Vigilant, 1872. 

Milling Power Company, 1891. 

National Democrat, 1850. 

R. F. Peck, cigars, 1904. 

Rinehart & McCoy, cigars, 1897. 

At Dozvagiac: 

City Steam Laundry, 1903. 



188 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Colby Milling Company, 1857. 

Creamery Package Mfg. Company, 1903. 

Dowagiac Gas & Fuel Company, 1892. 

Dowagiac City Water Works, 1887. 

Daily Ncn's, 1881. 

Dowagiac Manufacturing Company, 1881. 

Geesey Brothers & Cable, hoijps and staves, 1903. 

Wm. Hislop, lumber. 

Herald, 1892. 

J. A. Lindsley, lumber, 1885. 

Byron C. Lee, cigars, 1904. 

Round Oak Stove Works, 1873. 

Republican Printing Company, 1857. 

Standard Cabinet Company, 1899. 

S. F. Snell, cigars, 1901. 

At MarccHus: 

Simon Brady, cigars, 1894. 

H. S. Chapman, gasoline engines, 1888. 

H. J. Hoover, lumber, 1895. 

Wdlard McDonald, butter tubs. 1900. 

Marcellus Milling Company. 1891. 

Marcellus Steam Laundry. 1903. 

Municipal Lighting Station. 1902. 

Murcclhis Nczcs, 1872. 

Reliance Cigar Compau}', 1905. 

.// Clciv'icood. the Hamptr)n Stock Farm Companv, staves and 
headings, established 1902, and at Polaf^oii, J. II. Phillips, lumber, estab- 
lished '1888. 

As will be seen, the inspectinn did not include the villages of Ed- 
wardslnn-g. \'andalia and L'ni(_in, where factories of equal importance 
with snme nf those mentioned are to be found. But from the figures 
gi\en some interesting summaries are drawn relative to the importance 
of manufacturing industries in the count\-. \t Dowagiac sixteen fac- 
tories and workshops were inspected, eleven kinds of goods were made 
or handled. The whole number of empkjyes found at the time of in- 
spection was 880, indicating that in a city of less than five thousand 
population, one person out of five de]iends on these industries for means 
of livelihood. Of course the Round Oak Sto\'e Works, employing, at 
the rlate of inspection, 590, and the Dowagiac Manufacturing Com- 
pany, with 165 employes, are the major industries. Taking the thirty- 
se\'en industries named in the repoi't, it is seen that the aggregate num- 
ber of employes is 994. This apprn.ximates fi\'e per cent of the popula- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 189 

tinn of Cass county depending on what are officially designated as "fac- 
tory" industries. \\'ere the data at liand for all the handicrafts and 
manufactories of the countw the proportion of those engaged in indus- 
trial pursuits would be much larger, perhaps at least ten per cent nf the 
entire population. 

^\'ith this general survey oi the trades and factories of the pioneer 
times and the present, this chapter may appropriately be closed with some 
sketches of the largest and oldest of Cass county's manufactures. Many 
of the productive enterprises which have proved the industrial core of 
se\-eral communities in the county have been mentioned in connection 
with the history of such localities. 

Cassopolis has never been a center for manufactures. In iqoO' a 
large plant was built near the Grand Trunk depot for the manufacture 
of grain drills, the concern being known as the Cassopolis Manufactur- 
ing Compan}'. At this writing the works have been bought by the Kel- 
logg Switchboard & Supply Company, who propose the inauguration 
of an extensive industry, the village having lent its support to the prop- 
osition by voting a subsidy of $7,000, providing the companv expends 
$150,000 in wages within a certain tinie. The most substantial Cassopo- 
lis enterprise is the Power &: Milling Comjjany, which, as elsewhere 
stated, furnishes electricity and ]nimps water for the \-illage and also 
converts large ciuantities of grain into flour and food products, thus 
making the village a good grain market. The plant of the Cassopolis 
Milling Company was Imilt by J. Hopkins & Sons in 1882. and for a 
number of years the stone (irocess of milling was used. \\'. D. Hop- 
kins & Company and W. D. Hopkins were successively proprietors, and 
in 1889. the plant having come into the hands of \\'', D. Hopkins and 
A. H. Van Riper, it was changed to the full roller S}'stem and incorpo- 
rated by the name Cassojiolis Milling Company. The jilant was en- 
larged wdien the citv water works were established in i8gi, and again 
enlarged and readapted when the electric light plant was installed in 
1895. The present proprietors are W. D. Ho])kins, C. W. Daniels, 
Irving Paul, 

Dowagiac is ])re-eminently the industrial center of the C()unt}", and 
because of their importance in the history of both city and county some 
special account should be made of the i^ound Oak Stove Works, the drill 
works, the Colby mills and several other factories. 



190 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ROUND OAK STOVE WORKS. 

Tlie late P. D. Beckwitli came trj Dowagiac in 1854 and Iniilt a 
small frnindrv and machine shoj), 25x60 feet, on the east side of 
Front street near Park Place. The macliinery was run hy horse jjower, 
and he and one wiirkmar. were then sufficient to do all the work. .\t 
first he made plow castings and did general repair work. The demand 
for plows was still light, despite the great improvement in agricultural 
methods since the pioneer period. In 1858 Mr. Beckwith bought a new 
site for his plant at the foot of Front street on the south side of the 
creek, where the drill works are now located. He improved the water 
]iower, and continued the manufacture of plows until the production was 
greater than the demand. 

In the meantime J<_ihn S. Gage, of Wayne township, had designed 
and patented a rude form of the roller grain drill and succeeded in get- 
ting Mr. Beckwith to buy an interest in the patent and to begin the man- 
ufacture of a type of machine which has been developed into one of the 
most useful agricultural implements that the farmers of the country 
ha\'e adopted. 

In 1867 Mr. Beckwith made his first stove, fashioned on the prin- 
ciples of the present Round Oak, but crude in workmanship and style. 
One of these stoves was placed in the Michigan Central depot, and be- 
cause of its excellent heating qualities and durability the company had 
Mr. Beckwith make several others for their use. With the stove and the 
grain drill as articles for manufacture, Mr. Beckwith in 1868 trans- 
ferred his location to a plot of two acres just across the section line in 
La Grange township and near the depot grnmids. The works have re- 
mained here e\-er since, although the grounds have Iieen extended to 
the bank of the creek. Here he erected a brick factory and installed 
machinery for the manufacture of stoves and drills. He patented his 
Round Oak stove in 1870. During the seventies the business passed 
through its most critical period. During the general financial stagna- 
tion over the entire country he was compelled to resort to personal solic- 
itation to dispose of his product and In meeting his obligations his abil- 
ity as a financier was tested to tlie utmost. But in a few years the Inis- 
iness was estajjlislied on a substantial basis, and the Round Oak stove 
works is not only the largest industrial enterprise of Dowagiac, Ijut has 
made the name of its founder and the name of the city household words 
from one end of the country to the other. The name "Round Oak" 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 191 

can be found on stoves and ranges in the most remote localities, and 
the "Round Oak" furnace has gained an enviable reputation, and Dowa- 
giac is associated with no other fact in thousands of minds that know 
nothing" of the city or its history. 

From the first stages of the manufacture Mr. Beckwith built up his 
enterprise to splendid proportions, and since his death in i88y the 
"Beckwith Estate" has C(jntr<illed and managed the business with in- 
creasing success and growth. The present officers of the Round Oak 
Company are : Fred E. Lee, general manager ; A. B. Gardner, assistant 
general manager: J. O. Becraft, secretary; J. A. Howard, manager of 
sales; A. E. Rudolphi, assistant manager of sales; H. L. Mosher, man- 
ager of furnace and advertising departments; A. K. Beckwith, super- 
intendent : and O. G. Beach, chairman. 

As already mentioned, Mr. Beckwith began his Dowagiac career 
in manufacturing in a shop 25x60 feet. At the present time the 
floor space of the plant is 250.000 scpiare feet and a new addition being 
constructed at this writing will bring that up lo 300,000 scjuare feet, or 
about fifteen acres of floor space. Mr. Beckwith began with one helper. 
At the time of his death about one hundred employes were needed to 
produce and sell the sto\es, which Ijy that time had become the sole line 
of manufacture. At this writing the force of employes is not far from 
eight hundred. And the managers are proud of the fact that the works 
are in operation practically all the time, the only shut-downs being at 
holidays for repairs. As is evident, such a force of employes in a city 
of five thousand forms the largest part of the population that could be 
classified in one group. Perhaps not far from half the population of 
Dowagiac depend on the Round Oak works for livelihood. Strikes and 
labor troubles have been unknown. It is estimated that si.xt_\--five per 
cent of the emplo_\'es have their (jwn homes, and their character as cit- 
izens is much, above that of the "factory average." 

A few other items as to the manufacture may prove pertinent to 
historical inquiry. Every day the process of manufacture requires six- 
ty-five tons of pig-iron melted in two cupolas. The incoming shipments 
of pig-iron, coal and coke for this one plant are as large as the freight 
shipments for the entire city twenty-five years ago. About twenty years 
ago the firm decided to bring out a furnace to supplement their line of 
stoves and ranges. It took ten years to bring this type of furnace to the 
degree of perfection which satisfied the Round Oak people. Every item 
of criticism or advice from the purchasers of these furnaces was care- 



192 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

fully cunsidered and often became the ground for an improvement. 
W hen the furnace was hrst put on the market tliere was much to criticise; 
after ten years customers entirely ceased to suggest improvements or ttj 
find defects, and therefore the company knew they had at last made a 
perfect furnace. The twO' points of superiority first produced by ]\lr. 
Beckwith in his original Round Oak, namely, economy in consumption of 
fuel and durability through all the tests of usage, have been maintained 
throughout the existence of the business. The latest product of this plant 
is the Roiuid Oak Chief steel range, which was brought out three years 
ago, and the present addition to the plant is a building for the manu- 
facture of ranges. I'he steel range was a success from the start, has nev.er 
once proved a failure, and remarkable sales indicate its }X)puIarity. At 
first only live or six were made each day ; now the number is eighty-live 
and soon it will be a hundred. In the conduct of the business the one-price 
principle has alw ays been maintained ; no jockeying in prices has been 
indulged in, all customers ha\e been treated alike, and a solid and sub- 
stantial basis underlies the Round Oak works in factory and counting 
rooms. In conclusKin, a word should be said of the artistic cata- 
logues and literature A\ith which the conii)anv firings their goods to the 
attention of the wcjrld. The best in the art of chromatic engraving and 
printing has been employed to produce the \arious booklets. The adver- 
tising, of which AJr. II. L. .Mosher has charge, is in keeping with the 
class of g\iods which are sold. 

DOWAGIAC MANUFACTURING COMPANY. 

According to the statement made on the first page of this company's 
catalogue for 1906, Dowagiac grain drills were first made in 1866 and 
ha\e since Ijeen continuously made on part of the present site — "the 
largest in the world devoted exclusi\ely to the manufacture of grain- 
seeding macliiner)-." The plant has grown from an eight-horse water- 
wheel plant to its present immense proportions. 

The prototype of the famous Oowagiac drill was a shoe drill first 
brought into practical form liy William Tuttle. a farmer of this section 
of Michigan. The first one made, in i8(>C), as stated, had wooden shoes 
ccivered with tin, and Philo D. Beckwith cast the first iron shoes. The 
mode of covering the grain by a chain, the second part of the invention, 
was the idea of Shepard H. Wheeler, a ])i(M:eer of Dowagiac. The first 
drill was put up and made re.idv for wi irk in the wood-working and 
repair shop of John Crawford and Ann is Knaiip, and in February, 1867, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 193 

the two inventors secured the first patent on the machine. A part of the 
present site of tlie plant — just south of Dowagiac creel< on the west 
side of Front street — was purchased of Tvlr. Beckwitli in 1868. The 
factor}- was burned down in 1872, but was soon rebuiU, and the plant 
has been increasing in size and amount of output ever since. The bus- 
iness was in the hands of various parties during the first few years. J. 
P. Warner, who invented the spring-tooth harrow in 1880, was the 
principal partner during the seventies and for a l(jng time the plant 
was known as the Warner Drill Works. In Xo\eniber, 188 1, a stock 
company was formed under the name Dnwagiac Manufacturing Com- 
pany. In 1890 the stock was bought up by X. F. Choate, F. W. Lyle, 
C. E. Lyle. W. F. Hoyt and Charles Fowle. From the crude begin- 
nings of forty years ago the business has grown to what its owners 
claim it to be — the largest plant for the manufacture of seeding machin- 
ery in the world. At the date of the factory inspection of April, 1905, 
the number of employes given was 165, but the full force is between 
300 and 350. the output naturally varying in different seasons of the 
year. 

COLBY MILLING COMPANY. 

As elsewhere stated, the milling interests are the ijldest institutions 
of Dowagiac. William Renniston ha\ing built a carding mill in 1830, 
and a few years later a grist mill on the creek near the Cnlby Com- 
pany's present mill, on the northeast corner of section six in LaGrange 
township, where the Cassopolis and Dowagiac road crosses a branch of 
the Dowagiac creek on the mill dam. After being owned by several 
parties, this property was sold by Erastus H. Spalding in 1868 to Mr. 
H. F. Colby and became the nucleus of the present mills. 

In 1857 G. A. Colby, a brother of H. F., had built a merchant mill 
at the head oi Spalding street, and this was known as "the lower mill." 
to distinguish it from "the upper mill," which was the original Rennis- 
ton mill, though rebuilt by H. F. Colliy in 1868. H. F. Colby soon 
bought the lower mill, and the milling interests of Do\\agiac have since 
then been largely identified with the Colin- family. The Colby Milling 
Company was organized in 1891, its first members being H. F, Colb\-, 
F. L, Colby and F. H. Baker. It is a copartnership, and in 1900 Mr. 
F. L. Colby sold his interest in the business to F. \\\ Richey. The firm 
is now made up of H. F. Colby, F. H. Baker and F. W. Richey. The 
upper mill is known as the Crown Roller IMills and the lower mill as the 
State Roller Mills. 



194: HISTORY OF CASS COUXTY 

SAXD liANDS. 

The credit for ])ni(lucinti;- this useful invention is due to Myron 
Stark, (il l^nwagiac. and William M, l-'arr has lieen associated in its 
manufacture for thirty years and is now the sole pniprietor of the plant. 
Sketches of hoth these men will he found elsewhere in this \-olunie and 
it is sufficient to say here tl;at the factory has grown to he one of those 
that increase the reputatinn of L^owagiac as a sulistantial manufactur- 
ing center and liring outside wealth to this jwint. 

OTHER MANUFACTURES. 

Among the plants enumerated in the inspector's report, mention 
should also he made of the Standard Cabinet Company, which was estab- 
lished in \Xi)<) and eni])loys thirty or forty men. Its outimt is sold 
throughout the middle west. 

Banking and Finance. 

Cass county had none of the unfortunate experiences with "wild- 
cat" finance which are jjart of the record of some Southern Michigan 
counties. Of ourse the financial panics and business depression of the 
thirties extended their baneful influence to the people of this county, but 
the frenzy of speculation and inflated currency were never localized here 
in a hanking institution of the wild-cat type. 

Cass(ip(ilis has the honor of possessing the first banking institution. 
Asa and Charles Kingsbury, two names most prominent in the bank- 
ing history of the county seat, began a private banking house in 1855. 
This was a Cjuarter of a century after the settlement of the county and 
\\hen we consider how important and necessary the bank is as an insti- 
tution in this age the question might naturally be asked, Where did the 
))co])le put their monev and transact their financial affairs during those 
years? In the first place, the amount of money in circulation was very 
small and the wealth of the people was quite fully represented in labor 
and tangible property. A place to keep the cash surplus was little needed. 
Then, the financial transactions of the time were not of every-day occur- 
rence, and the machinery of checks and drafts and organized finance 
was not so essential. So \\e see that banks were not so much needed in 
the earl\- da_\s as grocery stores and schools and churches, and were 
not established until the country reached a fair degree of tle\ elo])ment. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 195 

FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF CASSOPOLIS. 

The Kingsburys dissuhed partnership in 1857, and thereafter Asa 
Kingsbury conducted the business until the organization of the First 
National i3ank. This well known institution has had an existence of 
thirty-tive years. The personnel of its officials and stockholders has 
always been maintained at a high standard, and the organizers, in No- 
vember, 187c, were representative of the best business interests of the 
village and county at that time, as those now concerned in the man- 
agement are representati\'e of the business ideals of this epoch. The 
incorporators and stockholders were: Asa Kmgsbury, S. T. Read, Jo- 
seph K. Ritter, Isaac Z. Edwards, David M. Howell, Charles \V. Clis- 
iaee, Charles H. Kingsbury, Joel Cowgill, E. E. Sherman, Amanda E. 
Ritter. Daniel Wilson, all of Cassopolis ; also David Lilly, of LaGrange 
township; James E. Bonine, of Penn township, and N. Boardman, E. 
M. Irvin, D. C. Read and Henry F. Kellogg, from outside the countw 

The first directors were: Asa Kingsbury, Joseph K. Ritter, David 
M. Howell, David Lilly, James E. Bonine and E. B. Sherman. The 
present directors are: 2\l. L. Howell, C. A. Ritter, J. H. Johnson, H. 
D. Smith, A. M. Kingsbury, Ellen R. Funk, W. G. Bonine. all of 
Cassopolis excepting J. H. Johnson, a resident of Penn township, z^sa 
Kingsbury was president from the date of the first charter until his 
death in 18S3, when he was succeeded by David M. Howell, who first 
held the office of vice-president, and served until his death the same 
vear. His successors have been Joseph K. Ritter, 1SS4-91 ; Sylvador T. 
Read, 1893-98; Marshal L. Plowell, since 1898. The first cashier was 
Charles H. Kingsbury, who was succeeded by Charles A. Ritter. the 
present incumbent, in 1891, who then was assistant cashier ami was 
succeeded by David L. Kingsbury, assistant at this time. The bank has 
a capital of $50,000; surplus and profits, $50,000. 

DOWAGIAC BANKS. 

H. E. ,Deiiman was the first banker of Dowagiac, establishing a 
private bank in 1856, and was the leading spirit in organizing the First 
National Bank in 1865. This for six years was the only national bank 
in the county. Also in 1865 the late Daniel Lyle and Joseph Rogers 
established a private banking office. In 1869, Mr. Denman having re- 
linquished the controlling interest in First National stock and Mr. Lyle 
beconfing the chief stockholder, the two institutions merged their inter- 



106 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

... iJ; 

ests, witli Mr. Lyle as president of the I'irst National, while in the same 
year Nelson 1*". Choate became cashier. 

When the charter of the First National expired in 1883 it was 
not renewed, hut the hank was reorganized as a private bank under the 
firm name of D. Lyle & Company, Bankers. On the death of Daniel 
Lvle — one of the foremost citizens, a man whose memory deser\es per- 
manant record not only in financial affairs of his city, but in public- 
spirited citizenship — another reorganization was effected, this time a 
state charter bein,g taken out, and at that date the City Bank of Dowa- 
giac was born. Then again, in 1004. the state bank organization was 
dissolved and since then the bank has been conducted by the firm of 
L\le, Gage & Company, Ijankers, under the old name. 

The first officers of the bank under the state organization in 1887 
were: John Lyle, president; N. F. Choate, vice president; F. W. Lyle, 
cashier; L B. Gage, assistant cashier. At the next change, in 1904, the 
officers became: F. W. Lyle, president; N. F. Choate, \"ice president; 
L B. Gage, cashier; Leon R. Lyle, assistant cashier. In Febniary, 1906, 
occurred the death of Nelson F. Choate, who had been identified with 
banking interests in the city nearly f(_irty years. The ofiicial director- 
ate then became: F. \\'. Lyle, president; I. B. Gage, vice president; 
L. R. Lyle, cashier; F. J. Phillips, assistant cashier. The flourishing 
condition of the City Bank is shown in the statement of nearly $350,- 
000 deposits and surjilus, indicating the creditable management since 
1865 and als(j the financial .status of the city and country. 

LEE JiUOTUERS COMIWNY, BANKERS. 

This institution, whose offices are in the Beckwith Theatre block, 
IkuI its origin in the brokerage business begun by C. T. Lee in 18(17 
and the exchan,ge bank established by him in 1875. T'^^ present firm 
was established in 1887, its personnel being C. T. Lee, Henry M. Lee 
and Fred F. Lee. C. .\. Hux has held the office of cashier since 1896. 
This bank has deposits of o^•er $300,000. 

The Sage brothers, Martin G. and Norman, while engaged in the 
mercantile and milling business at Adamsville, received money and is- 
sued certificates of deposit and sold exchange on New York. 

Aliout ten vears ago a private banking concern, backed by Chica.go 
capital, was started at Edwardsburg. .\ failure of the Chicago enter- 
prise resultec' in closing the Edwardsburg branch. The citizens there- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 197 

upon organized a "Citizens' Bank," which did Ijusiness for one year, 
when it also closed. 

^ farmers' mutual i-ire insurance company. 

This company has had a lonser continuous career than any other 
of the financial concerns of the county. It was organized May 8, 1863, 
its object being the insurance of farm buildings at a minimum cost 
and on the mutual plan. In the list of its officials during more than 
forty years' successful business have been numbered some of the UKJst 
influential and substantial agriculturists o( the county. Its first of- 
ficers and ilirectors were: Jesse G. Beeson, one of the founders of 
Dowagiac cit)', president; A. Jewell, of Wayne township, treasurer; 
A. D. Stocking, of Dowagiac, secretary; and \\'. G. Beckwith, of Jef- 
ferson. Israel Ball, of Wayne, William R. Fletcher, of Wayne, I-'rank 
Brown, of Pokagon, Daniel Blish, of Silver Creek, directors. 

The present ofi^Icers are as follow^s : Samuel Johnson, president ; 
Frank Atwood, secretary ; J. J. Ritter, treasurer ; James H. Graham, C. 
H. Scott, Clint Elsey, Edson Woodman, Walter N. Sommers, director. 



1^8 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XIII. 
AGRICULTURE. 

The ])i()neer farmers (if Cass county were probably as progressive 
as those of any other part <>f the country at that time. They brought 
with them fmm their JKjmes in the ohler states the methods which pre- 
vailed there. And. as man}- of them came from the east, which was 
considered the most progressive section of the country, thev must have 
kno\^n the best methods of farming which were practiced in their (la\'. 

But the first farmers of this county were confrduted with a task 
such as has been unknown in the settlement of the more western prairie 
states. The obstacles to lie nvercome were great, the implements and 
means were primitix'C. The steel plow was not invented until after Cass 
coimty had been substantially settled and improved. Whereas the west- 
ern prairie sod is turned over for the first time by immense gang plows, 
drawn by fnur (ir fi\-e horses, (ir e\en Ijy a traction engine, the farmer 
of the twenties or thirties had to deiiend (jn a wooden moldljoard shod 
with an irun share roughh' made at a kical blacksmith shop. 

With this hint at pioneer conditions it is evident that agriculture 
has undergone de\-eloi)ment in as wonderful degree as any other phase 
of the county's historw It will lie the jjurpose of this chapter to de- 
scribe as far as jiossible the metlrnds and circumstances of early agricult- 
lu'e, and from the ])oint nf \iew of the past indicate the great changes 
that have preceded modern agriculture. 

The pioneer farmer's first work, after a rude temporary shelter had 
been pro\idcd, was to (irepare a little spot of gr<iund for the first crop. 
Those who located on Pokagon. Beardsley's and other well known 
prairies — and, as Ave know, those were the favorite selections of the 
first settlers — were \er\' fnrtunate in this respect. Relieved of the neces- 
sitv to clear ofT the trees, they had nnly tn turn nver the prairie sod. 
But even so. the undertaking involved lalior that one man alone could 
hardlv accomplish. The turf on the prairies was very tough, and the 
ground in most ])laces was filled with a net-w(.)rk of the wire-like red 
root. If the location was in the oak woods, it was necessary to girdle 
the trees, clearing away the underbrush and sweeping the surface with 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY IW 

fire. The dead trunks of the trees were sometimes left standing the first 
season, and the corn grew up among tlie aisles of the lilasted forests. 

Although the surface of the grcjund had been cleared, just beneath 
there remained the roots of the former growth, and these, formed into 
massive '"stools."' were for several years insuperable obstacles to easy 
farming. An ordinary plow team would have been useless among the 
stools and grubs, and a common plow would have been quickly demol- 
ished. The jjIou used was a massive construction of wood and iron, 
and was known as the "bull ijIow." The share and coulter were of iron, 
and made \ery heavy and strong. The beam was long and of huge 
proportions, to resist the en'jrmous strain brought upon it. Usually the 
weight of one of these jionderous Ijull plows was about three hundred 
pounds, and occasionally one was found weighing five hundred pounds. 
Six or seven yoke of oxen, and sometimes more, were required to pull 
this implement through the ground. With such an equi)iment. the ordin- 
ary roots were torn from the ground like straws and subsequent culti- 
vation w"as -made easy. It usually took two persons to do the plowing, 
a man to hold the plow and either a man or a bov to drive the team. 
This process of "breaking"" new land was made a regular business by 
some of the pioneers, just as threshing is at the present time. 

In a few years plows with iron moldboards were introduced, but 
as the)' would not scour well in all kinds of soil, the}- were not consid- 
ered a success at first. Besides, as the ground was full of roots, of new 
stumps and standing trees, the wooden moldboard was less lialjte to 
break than one of iron, so it was better adapted to the conditions than 
the iron one. The cultivation was done with the hoe at first, then came 
the "fluke," a V-sbaped wooden frame with five iron flukes, drawn liy one 
horse, then the single shovel plow, then the double shovel plow, which was 
in nse for a number of vears. Among the trees, stumps and roots both 
the plowing and cultix'ation were tedious, laborious and disagreeable 
work. This condition continued for a number of years, until the stumps 
had decaved sufficientlv to make it possible to remove them. 

The planting was likewise ])rimiti\c. As the sod was turned over, 
a man followed about everv third furrow, dug into the top of the fur- 
row with his foot or wdth a hoe and planted corn, covering it in the 
same way. In some instances the corn was dropped in the furrow very 
near the outside, so that the edge of the next furrow when turned over 
would lie directly o\-er tlie grain. The corn would then come through 
between the two furrows. Wheat was sown among the stumps and trees. 



200 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

The grain \v;ls liarmwcd in with a wooden-toothed harrow. The tann- 
er who chd not have even nne nf those rude implements would cut a 
small tree, trim cjff part of the limbs -^o as to leave a bushy end, weight 
it with a log, and, hitching his team to it, would get about the same 
results as from a tooth harrow. 

ill harvesting the com the stalk was not utilized, as is done at the 
present day. The pre^•ailing■ practice was to pull the ear from the stalk, 
husk and all, haul the corn to a pile and then husk it. The husk was 
utilized for feed, and as much of the grain as was not needed for home 
consumption was hauled aw a}' to market. As soon as large crops of 
corn were grown husking bees became the fashion. The corn was 
])ulle(I from the stalk and put in a pile, as when the farmer himself, or 
he and his family did the husking. Then a number of neighbors assem- 
bled and everybody husked. This was repeated at the home of each 
farmer until all had their crops husked. 

Wheat was harvested with the craille, such an implement as a 
reaper nr har\-esting machine of any kind not then being dreamed of. 
Besides the cradle, the sickle also was in use at that time. But that was 
used only in wheat that had bluwn dnwn or g'rew among stum])S and 
trees, making it difficult and sumetimes impossible to cradle. And for 
the first few years that was a large portion of the crop. It was well 
that only a limited area ci^nkl be sown, because had there been a greater 
acreage it doubtless wduld nnt have been harvested. The work of har- 
vesting with those old-time implements was extremely slow in compar- 
ison w ilh the \vay it can I;e done with our improved harvesting machin- 
erv". The threshing was done either with a flail or the grain was tramped 
out l)y horses. Both processes were \'erv slow, the former being about 
as slow as harvesting with the sickle, ^^"hen liorses were used a thresh- 
ing floor was made (iut-of-d(jors liy smoothing the ground or beating 
it until it was as solid as could be made. The horses were ridden by 
boys, while two men worked the grain toward the center of the floor 
and thi-ew out the straw. 

In the early forties a machine came into use which threshed out the 
grain and dispensed both with the use of the flail and the tramping of 
horses. This machine consisted only of a cvlinder, and was operated 
by horse power. \\'hen the threshing was done by any of these methods 
the grain had to be separated from the chafY by fanning with a sheet, 
the wind blowing the chafT away. There were no fanning mills then. 
Init the\' were introduced a few vears later. These mills were in the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 201 

crudest furni, but were considered a great improvement over tlie win- 
nowing sheet. All of this labor had to be done in order that the farmer 
might produce a supply of wheat sufficient to provide bread for his 
family and, if possible, a small surplus to sell. 

Wheat regularly sold for fifty cents a bushel for many years, which 
seems a small remuneration for the labor bestowed upon the raising. 
During the earh- thirties, however, when immigration was greater than 
the settled population, the newcomers took all the surplus wheat at ex- 
travagant prices. This stimulated the farmers to unusual efforts and 
the following }ear ever^'body had wheat to sell, and prices were too 
low to pay for the labor of raising. George Meacham, in his capacity 
as sheriff of the cnunty, called the farmers together at Cassopolis to take 
concerted action for disposing of the grain. It was suggested that a 
warehouse should be built at the mouth of the St. Joseph. Abiel Silver, 
one of the proprietors of the distillery at Cassopolis, came to the rescue 
bv agreeing to purchase all the surplus. It w^as not long after that the 
tide of immigration increased so that the demand once more tr.ok all 
the supply. 

Corn and wheat were the two leading crops grown then, as they 
are now. r)tlier crops that were grown were oats, rye, potatoes, buck- 
wl:eat and flax. Oats were usually fed in the straw, only enough be- 
ing threshed out for the next year's seed. A patch of potatoes was 
planted on every farm for home use, but there were very few, if any. 
grown for market. The crop being a bulky one and the market so dis- 
tant made the growing of potatoes as a market crop impracticable. Flax 
was raised for home use, the product being manufactured into linen 
for a part of the family's wearing apparel. 

No attention was paid to the rotation of crops. Corn was planted 
after com, and wheat after wheat, and that was continued year after 
year. Sometimes these crops were alternated, but only as a matter of 
convenience and not to prevent exhaustion of the soil. It was not nec- 
essar}' at that time to give any attention to this matter, which has come 
to be one of the most important questions the farmer of the present 
day has to consider. When the timber was first cleared away the land 
was full of fertility, and the possibility of the soil losing its substance 
had not yet 1ieen thought of. Had the same care been exercised in con- 
serving fertility then as the farmers are compelled to exercise now. the 
soils would never have become impoverished, as so many of tliem have. 

It has alreadv been told how some of the first settlers, immediately 



202 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

on arrixing in the county, esjiecially if they came in the faU uf the 
year, busied lhenisei\es witli cutting and stacking a sufficient amount of 
the nati\e hav to feed their stock fur the winter. Uzziel I'utnam and 
Aliram Townsend cut their iirst winter's supply of forage on the prairie 
almut the ])resent site of Eduardsljurg. 

1m »r man}' years the ha_\ crcj]) consisted of the nati\-e grasses. 
\\ hen the settlers were \"et few in number the prairie and marsh land 
grasses fm'nished an abundant supi)]y of hay for their li\e stock. When 
the prairie lands were all taken up each farmer on those lands set off' 
a portion of his farm for a mead(jw, but this was sufficient only for the 
owner, and those whrj had settled in the timber had to look elsewhere 
for a supply. There was an abundant grcjwth of grass on what were 
then known as wet jirairies, nr mowing marshes, which after being cut 
and cured in the sun, was called "niassauga" hay because of the numer- 
ous snakes by that name on tlie marshes. At first every settler could 
find a sufficient su])ply of this marsh grass near his home if he had none 
on his farm. This hay had to I)e mowed by hand, then thrown to- 
gether and bauletl from the marsh on a small sled drawn ])y a _\dke of 
oxen. The ground was so soft that a team of horses and a wagon could 
not be driven over 't. Only a small liit could be hauled out at a time 
in this way, and it took a number of these sled loads to make a wagon 
load. The same metho<l of making hay had to be employed on all of the 
v\et prairies of those days. 

With this view of the status of agriculture sixty years ago, it is 
not difilcult to realize the l)road developments that have taken place 
since then. b""arming has liecome easier with ever\- year. Its condi- 
tions and surroundings are no longer those of the common laborer. 
Several things have contributed to this change. Some claim that the 
invention of lal:or-sa\-ing machiner)- and its general use has done more 
to elevate agriculture than any other factor. It certainly is not wide 
of the mark to measure the progress of agriculture by the distance that 
separates the self-binder from the cradle. Yet there are other factors. 
The working and hiring of bel]) has been quite reformed from the 
methods of fifty years ago. The progi-essi\-e farmer no longer depends 
on transient labor. Not so-many years ago, when harvest time or other 
extra press of work arrived, the farmer would start out into the sur- 
rounding countr)- and hire by the day such men as were available. 
This is neither practicable nor imssible now. Improved machinery has 
done much to relieve the farmer of the necessity of hiring day laborers. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY '203 

His pulicy nuw is to hire a man by the year, and often a man of family, 
who will live on the farm and give it his entire attention. 

Transportation has also effected many changes in farming methods. 
In place of marketing by the bushel, the farmer now markets "on the 
hoof," that is, feeds his grain products to stock. And of recent years 
the farmers do nut hesitate to import stock cattle from distant ranges 
of the Dakotas or the Southwest and feed them for market on grain 
raised in Cass county. This in itself is one of the most important de- 
velopments of Cass county agriculture. 

In the general upward trend (if pmperty \alues land is the last thing 
to appreciate. At a distance of ten years from the beginning of the 
present remarkable era of prosperity, the farm lands of the county show 
only a slight increase in value. But now more than ever the worth of 
Cass county lands is being understood. Instead of passing on to the 
western lands, where climate and soil are uncertain, the farmers of 
Ohio and other states in the east and middle west, after selling their 
farms at from $60 to $100 an acre, are choosing to locate on moder- 
ately priced lands in Cass county rather than in\'esting in property- which 
not for many years will have the environment of comfort and culture 
found here. 

^luch of Cass county is situated in the famous Michigan fruit lielt. 
The northern part of the county shares with Van Buren count)- a repu- 
tation as a grape growing center. The shipping points of INIattawan, 
Lawton and Decatur draw upon northern Cass county for large c^uan- 
tities of grapes, as well as other fruits. There is a large acreage in the 
county better adapted to fruit culture than any other crop, and fruit- 
growing is increasing at the expense of otiier crops. 

Mention should be made of the mint culture which has become a 
feature of Cass county agriculture during the past few years. The 
muck land of \'ulinia and Wayne and other townships is well adapted 
to mint growing. ]\Iint is cultivated in rows like corn, and is cut just 
before it blooms, and from the harvest is distilled the mint oil. A still 
plant can l)e built for about $300. As an example of the croi)'s value, 
it is claimed that eight acres in V(ilinia township last season produced 
mint oil to the value of $1,050. 

One of the conspicuous methods of caring for crops should be 
mentioned, ^^'ithin recent years progressive farmers have built silo 
plants for the purpose of preserving the essential qualities of "roughen- 
ing" or fodder throughout the winter. One of the first things to catch 



-'"i HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

the attention on many farms in tiie county is the silo plant, and often 
there are se\eral of them, in tliese huge cyhndrical, air-tight tanks, 
built of "silo lumber," a.nd some of the recent ones of cement, the 
green corn, stalk and all, after being cut up by a special machine, is 
stored very much as \egetaljles are canned. While in the reservoir it 
undergoes a slight fermentation process, but with the exception of a 
small portion on the top, which rots and molds just as the top of a can 
of fruit often does, and which is thrown out before the rest is used, 
the entire contents of the tank are preserved with original sweetness 
and wholesomeness for feeding tO' stock during the severe winter sea- 
son. \\'hat an improvement this method is over the old one of stacking 
the dry fodder in the late fall, when most of its essential cjualities have 
dried out, even one unfamiliar with agricultiu'e can readily realize. 

THE GRANGE. 

The Grange, whose basic purposes are educational, fraternal and 
the general improvement of the farmer and his family and the con- 
ditions under which he works, has not been the factor in agriculture in 
this county which it has ]iro\-ed in other counties of Michigan, and yet 
its influence as a state and national organization for the uplift and im- 
provement of agriculture has l)een so great and so widely distriljuted 
that it deser\es some mention in this chapter. 

The National (rirange organizatiem was commenced in iSby; but 
it was during the middle se\-enties that the movement reached its height 
in southern JMichigan, The general name applicable to the organization 
as a whole is "Patrons of Husbandr)-," the "granges" being the subor- 
dinate branches, but the name Grange is the one generally used in re- 
ferring to all departments of the organization. The Grange was the 
first fraternal organization to admit the wives and daughters on an 
equal basis in e\-ery wa)-. 

A few words should lie said about the work of the Grange in 
general. The Grange was one of tlie most active forces behind pure 
food legislation in Michigan, and to its efforts — to give only one ex- 
ample — is due the fact that oleomargarine must be lalieled with its 
true name, and not as butter. The Grange has more or less actively 
entered the field of commerce. In soiue counties "Grange Stores" have 
been established and successfully conducted. In Cass county they have 
not Ijeen so successful. 

The Grange claims to be the father of rural free delivery. Cer- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 205 

tainly it has used its influence nowhere to better advantage, for free 
deHvery in the country is now conceded to be the greatest boon that 
has come to tlie farmer. It has brought him in touch witli the world and 
more than anything else has made obsolete the term "countrified" as 
applied to the tiller of the soil. And this is in direct line with the pur- 
poses of the Grange. 

CASS COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

With the celebration of the Cass ci.ninty fair in September of this 
year (1906) will be rounded out a period of fifty-five years since the 
first fair in the county and the above organization came into existence. 
The society was organized in the spring of 185 1, and the first fair 
held in the following fall. Justus Gage was president and George B. 
Turner secretary during the first year. The society held annual fairs 
from its organization up to 1884. Since that time no fairs have been 
held by the society. One }ear ago a new organization was eft'ected 
and held a successful fair. 

The Agricultural Society has been unfortunate in its choice of 
location, which three times has been changed owing to the exercise of 
"the right of enu'nent domain." Until 1857 the fairs were held on 
Samuel Graham's land at Ca?sop<iIis. Then fair grounds were bought 
and laid out near where the Air Line depot is. The Peninsular (Grand 
Trunk) railroad had the right of way, ran through the grounds and the 
society was compelled to mo\e, but at once got in the road of the Air 
Line, having purchased the grounds on which is Forest Hall on the 
shore of Diamond lake, and had to abandon its second location. In 
1 87 1 the society bought twenty acres of land of Samuel Graham in the 
nordi part of the village at a cost of $3,000. This location was als<i 
interfered with a few years ago when the railroad was surve\"ed and 
graded in a northwesterly direction across the county. 

During the years the society held its fairs it succeeded in paying 
off all its indebtedness, but to do so life memberships were sold to manv 
of the patrons. This cut down the receipts at the 1884 fair, so that there 
was not money enough to pay the premiums. Money was borrowed for 
that purpose, and a mortgage given on the grounds to secure the loan. 
In time foreclosure proceedings were begtm and the village of Cass- 
opolis bought the land and now owns it. 

VOLINIA farmers' CLUB. 

Most notable, in many respects, of all the farmers' organizations 



2nfi HISTORY 0I< CASS COUXTY 

was the X'ciliiiia i-~aniK'rs' Chili, which was urganized in 18(13 f(ir the 
purpose ijf increasing "the knowledge of agriculture and horticulture" 
among its memhers and which held annual fairs in Volinia that were 
occasions of widespread interest and yearly anticipation, and of in- 
estimahle \alue in raising the agricultural and stock standards of the 
l(x-ality. "J'he first ofticers of the cluh were B. G. Buell, president: A. P>. 
Cojjlcy and John Struljle, \ice presidents; I^'. E. Warner, treasurt'r; 
II. S. Rogers, secretary. Of the older and original nienibers John 
Huff and William Krskin are pmlxihly the only ones now li-\-ing. Prom- 
inent among the memliers now deceased were H. S. Rogers, secretary 
for many }'ears; M. J. Card, father of the present count}- treasurer: B. 
G. Cuell. Le\-i Lawrence. Benjamin Hathawa)-. I. X. Ciard. M. B. 
Goodenough. Dr. Thomas. J. W. Eaton and James S. Shaw. 

The dull met once a month, and the annual fair was held in the 
fall on the I. N. Gard farm, and once on the Buell farm. The fair was 
an agricultural and stock displa\-. at which no premiums except ribbons 
were offered, and e\'eryone had a right to exhibit. The expenses were 
met largely by a small indixidual fee uinjii the members and by rental of 
booths. There were running races, but the horse racing feature was 
not de\-el(.)pe(l to the exclusion oi all (ither interests. .\ big tent was 
used to sheher some of the disi)lays and to provide Cjuarters for other 
indoor features. The fair lasted two da)-s and drew its attendance 
from all the country round. 

\"01.INI.\ .\Nn W.WNE .\NTI-II0R.SE THIEF SOCIETY. 

This organization, begun in 1852, and still maintained among 
the farmers of the two townships named, pro\-ides the effective restraint 
upon horse tliie\es with which nearlv ever}' agricultural communitv 
has at some time been troubled. There are about one hundred members 
of the society, although the maintenance of the organization is the only 
business of importance transacted. The sijciety has always, succeeded 
in reco\-ering captured animals, and its record is the best justification 
of its existence. The meetings of the society are held at Crane's school- 
hriuse in Volinia. At organization the charter inembership included 
eleven men, and was then confined to \'olinia township, but member- 
?hi]i was later extended to Wayne township. The first officers were 
Isaac Waldron, chairman: George Xewton. secretary: Jonathan Gard, 
treasurer. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XIV. 
THE COURT HOUSE AXl) OTHER COUNTY INSTITUTIONS. 

The contest Ijetween Casscipolis and other \'illag'cs for the localitMi 
of the county seat has Ijeen elsewhere descriljed. For fi\-e or si.\ years 
after the organization of the cimnty there was no fixed home for tlie 
transaction of official Inisiness. The lirst courts and tlie lirst meetings 
of tlie Ijoards of supen'isors were held at lulwardsburg, and later in 
private houses in Cassopolis. A jail was the first consideration with 
the supervisors. This having loecn completed, the board, in the fall nf 
1S35, provided for the erection, on the west side of Broadway, mirth 
of York street, of a wooden Inhlding, 34 by 24 feet in dimensions, 
costing not to exceed fotu" hundred and liftv dollars, the same to l)e 
used tor a court house and "to contain desks for judges and liar." The 
late Joseph Harper took the contract for the erection of this court 
house, and it was ready for occupancy ]May i. 1835. This brst court 
house, it is seen, was not on the pulilic square and stood well to the 
north end of the original \iilage. 

However, the court house with which most of the old inhabitants 
of Cass county are familiar is the building which now stands on the 
south side of State street, west, and is used as a storage house. Its 
classic lines, its solid columns, conibining the effects of the Greek tem- 
ple with Colonial residences, indicate that in its better da\s it w;is ,-i 
nvire pretentious structure and sheltered affairs of larger importance 
th.'ni it now does. For more than half a century this Iniilding. which 
is ]iictured on another ])age, stood on the northeast quarter of the 
pulilic square, and within its walls transjMred the official actions which 
accompanied Cass county's ]>rogress from jiioneer times to the close 
of the last century. 

The "Court House Company" constructed this court house. The 
memlaers of that company were the well known citizens, Darius Shaw. 
Joseph Harper, Jacob Silver, Asa Kingsbury and A. H. Redfield. In 
August. 1839. they entered into a contract with the county commis- 
sioners, Da\-id Ho]ikins. Henry Jones and James W. Griffin to erect 
a court house 54 feet in length and 46 feet in width and 24 feet high 



208 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

from sills to eaves, the material to lie of wood, except the large brick 
vault; the first story to he fitted for office rooms and the second story 
to form the court and jury rooms. Six thousand dollars was the price 
agreed upon for putting up such a building, one-third of this sum to be 
paid in cash and the remainder in village lots, which the original own- 
ers had gi\-en to the county in consideraticm of the locating of the 
county seat at Cassopolis. 

The Court House Compan_\' discharged their duties in strict con- 
formance with specifications, and the building was ready for use in 1841. 
according to contract. Nearly sixty years elapsed from this date until 
the stone building ikjw in use was completed and accepted for court 
house purposes. The old building early became inadequate for the 
accommodation of all the county officers, and in i860 the offices of 
clerk, judge of probate, register of deeds and treasurer were trans- 
ferred to a brick building specially erected by the board of supervisors 
on the northwest quarter of the square, where the}' remained until 
the completion of the court house six years ago. The building, ciim- 
monly called the "Fort." is now used for a laundry. It was built by 
Maj. Joseijh Smith. 

THE PRE.SENT COURT HOU.SE. 

The building (jf the court house which now adorns the jnililic 
square in Cassopolis has a history such as few buildings of the kind 
in Michigan possess," and in a permanent record of the county it i^^ 
proper to prepare an adequate rmd accurate account of the events and 
circumstances connected with the erection of this building. 

October 19, 1897, at the regular session of the board of super- 
visors, Mr. C. H. Kimmerle introduced a preamble and resolutions 
which was the first effective move toward the construction of a suita- 
ble county building. After reciting the facts that the old court house 
was "inadequate for the accommodation of business and was becoming 
old and dilapidated." and that the records of the county were "crowded 
into small and incon\'enient rooms in a separate building unprotected 
from fire and theft" (referring to the office quarters that had been built 
in t86o). it was resolved to construct a court house costing not to ex- 
ceed forty thousand dollars, "such building ti> be fireproof and of suffi- 
cient capacitv to accommodate all the count}' officers, the board of 
supervisors and the circuit court." 

The board deferred the consideration of the original resolution 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 209 

until the January session, and on January 6, 1898, the board adopted, 
by a vote of 14 to 4, an amended motion whose sahent provisions were 
the following : The sum of forty thousand dollars, which was to cover 
the entire cost of the building, including furniture, plumbing, heating 
apparatus, was to he raised by loan secured and evidenced by four 
hundred bonds of the county of one hundred dollars each, bearing in- 
terest at the rate of four per cent per annum and payable as follows — 
the first eighty on January 15, 1899: and eighty on the 15th of January 
each year thereafter until all were paid. 

The resolution also provided that the ])ropositi(jn should be re- 
ferred to the people at the township elections, and it will lie of interest 
to record the \-ote as cast for and against this proposition by the \-arious 
tov.'nships of the county. The total vote was 501 1, and a majority of 
229 was cast in favor of the new^ court house. The talnilated \'ote is 
as follows : 

Yes. No. 

Marcellus 174 335 

Volinia 59 222 

Wayne 44 133 

Silver Creek 81 145 

Pokagon 112 i;7 

I^ Grange 507 38 

Penn 189 1 33 

Newberg 142 192 

Porter 130 131 

Calvin 177 1 04 

Jefferson 133 39 

Ho\\ard S3 123 

Milton 32 34 

Ontwa 108 -y 

Mason 92 74 

Dowagiac, ist ward 199 141 

Dowagiac. 2nd ward 172 108 

Dowagiac, 3rd ward 164 123 

2620 2391 

The old court house was soon sold to the highest bidder, George 
M. Kingsbury being awarded the sale at $25, conditioned on his re- 
moving the building from the court house site and giving the use of the 
building for county purposes until the new^ structure was finished. 

The committee on specifications, consisting of six supervisors and 



210 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

one outsider, was first made up of tlie following: Supervisors* Huntley, 
White, Breece, Phillips, Beenian, Lindsley and Mr. David L. Kings- 
Ijury. 

The building committee consisted of Supervisors Kimnierle, Hunt- 
ley. Lindsley, Motley and Mr. Kingsbury. 

The finance committee, as lirst made ui), were Supervisors White, 
Atwood and Card. 

D. 11 Smith was elected local superintendent of construction, and 
on October 5. 1898, the corner stone of the building was laid by the 
local lodge of Masons. 

In the meantime the cnmmittees had been called upon to consider 
the bids of the \arious contractors — and there were at least half a 
dozen applying for the contract — and on July 15, 1898, the contract 
was awarded to J. E. Gibson of Logansport, Ind., on the liasis of the 
following letter: "I. the undersigned, propose and agree to furnish all 
the material and labor necessary to erect and build your proi)osetl new 
Court house according to revised plans for and in consideration of the 
sum of $31.500. — J. E. Gibson." 

Tlie contract was let to Gibson by a vote of 11 t(T 5. The work 
then i)roceede(l. The superstructure was only partly comiileted in the 
rough when certain differences between (iil)son and the committee came 
to a crisis. The contractor claimed remuneration for extra work, while 
the committee charged failure to follow the plans and the use of improper 
matei'ial. Acc<irding to the minutes of Xo\-emher 10, "Contractor Gib- 
son announcei] he wouhl do no further work until an estimate was 
made an<l not then unless the estimate was a lilieral one, he to be the 
judge." 

Because of this alleged "unreasonable neglect and suspension of 
work ;m(l f;n'lnre to follow drawings and specifications" and various 
other items enumerated, including unauthorized departures from the 
original jilans. a meeting of the board of supervisors was called, No- 
vember i/th. at which it was resolved that the contract between Gibson 
and llic countv was terminated. In I'-ebruary, 1899, the work already 
done on the court house was estimated at the value of ten thousand 
dollars, and it was calculated that $25,000 was needed to comiilete the 
building according to plans and specifications. 

Febrnarv 23. iSqq, the board made a contract with the firm of 
lames Rowsnn and August ^lohnke. of Grand Rapids. .\ quotation 



*For full names of supervisor.^, see official lists for the year. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 211 

from the contract \vill show the position of the board with reference 
to the matter. After reciting the original contract between the county 
and Gibson and the status of the work up to date, it continues — "Where- 
as said Jordan E. Gibson so disregarded his said contract and the plans, 
specifications and dra\\ings both in the use of unfit material anil in the 
manner of the performance of bis work and so delaj'ed and neglected 
the completion of said building that much of the work done b\' him has 
been injured and damagetl by the frost, so that the said county through 
its board of supervisors acting under provisions of said contract tle- 
clared his employment at an end and took possession of said luiilding 
and premises and all and singular of said material, au'l to the end that 
said imperfect work and material might be removed, mended and re- 
placed and said building constructed according to plans and specifica- 
tions, this contract is entered into, etc." 

Under the new contract the work proceedetl rapidly. January 8, 
1900, the building committee reported that "the court house is now 
substantially completed. About that time the county offices were 
moved to their new home, and the court house was formally accepted 
at the October session of 1900. The total cost of the building, includ- 
ing all extras, was as follows : 

Amount under contract, including that paiil Gibson $35,200.00 

Furniture, including lighting fixtures 3. 575-09 

Extra work on building 1.922.79 

Heating contract 3.100.00 

Total $43-797-88 

The excess of cost over the first contract was credited to the failure 
of Gibson to perform his contract. "Since the county was compelled 
to re-let the contract at an increased price and re-build a considerable 
part of the work constructed l)y Gibson, for which the county had 
actually paid him. the excess apparent from this report was created." 

The finance committee managed the negotiation of the Ixinds admir- 
ably. The first series of $8,000. payable January 15. 1899. was not sold, 
but le\ied u])on the taxable property of the countv for the \'ear 
1898. thus effecting a sax'ing of nearl_\- two hundred dollars in interest. 
The remaining thirty-two thousand were sold to the First National 
Bank of Cassopolis and delivered in sums of not less than five thousand 
dollars as the work on the court house required. 

In the meantime I. E. Gibson had sued the count\- for the value of 



212 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

the material which he claimed tn he (ni the gnniinl at the time the contract 
was terminated. Jn the faU df jSyy the L'nited States circuit court, 
before which the case was heard, decided adversely to the county, and on 
March y, 190 1. the judgment was affirmed in the United States court of 
appeals, to which the county had taken an appeal on a writ of error and 
bill of exception. As there were no available funtls in the countv treas- 
ury to meet the judgment, it was resolved hy the board of supervisors 
to issue fifteen bonds of $1,000 each, at four per cent, the first seven to 
mature on January 15, 190^, and the remaining eight cm January 15, 
1905. Supervisor Kimnierle, with the county treasurer, negotiated 
these bonds successfully tn tlie hanks of the cuunty, Jn estimating the 
cost of the ciiurt house to Cass county, the amount of this judgment 
must he added to the other estimate, so that the aggregate cost of the 
court hduse was nearly sixty thousand (kjjlars. 

JAILS. 

Cass county's first public Iniilding was ;i jail. The boartl of super- 
visors, in March, 1S32, voted a sum n<it to exceed $350 from the 
amount subscribed for the location of the county seat at Cassc^polis to 
be expended on a "gaol." .\lexander 11. Redfield let the cuntract, which 
specified that the structure should be 15 by 30 feet in gniunil dimen- 
sions and (ine stnrx high, of hewn logs one foot scjuare. The building 
was not complete<l in contract time and was not ready for use till 1834. 
Shortly afterward the jail was iloored and lined wHth plank, the logs 
being driven full of nails and covered with strap iron as additional 
protection. The l(.)ck", nearh- as large as one of the windows, is now 
a relic in the Pioneer Society's collection. This first iail, which was 
torn down about 1870, stood on the northeast corner of block i south, 
range 2 west, on the south, side of State street and west of Disbrow. 
The jailer's residence, v. frrmie building erected a numljer of years after 
the jail, is still standing, ha\ ing been converted into a paint shop. 

The first jail was re])laced in 183 1 by a brick structure that stood 
on the court house square just north of the present court house. It 
was not a satisfactory building in point of its main purpose, the secure 
confinement of prisoners. 

In 1878-79 was erected the present jail and sherift"'s residence at 
a cost of $17,770. W. H. ]\Tyers, of Fort Wayne, Ind., was the con- 
tractor, and Charles C. Banks, Charles L. ^lorton and Joseph Smith 
were the bnilding committee, Daniel ?>. Smith being local sujicrintendent 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 213 

of construction. The jail was completeil in Februar)', 1879, the first 
plans for its erection having been made by the board of supervisors in 
1877. 

When the jail was built there was installed what was then a 
modern heating plant. It jiroved unsatisfactory, and when the new 
court house was built a brick addition to house the furnace plant was 
erected adjoining the jail, and a model steam heating plant installed for 
both buildings. 

C.\SS COUNTY rOOR FARM. 

The Cass County Poor Farm, comprising 280 acres in sections 2. 
3 and 10, of Jefferson township, with its equipment of buildings, is the 
principal public charity in the county. Though the poor and unfortunate 
are always with us, the provisions for their care change to greater effi- 
ciency onlv to keep pace with the development of the community, and the 
increase of comforts with S(jciety at large. Hence the first maintenance 
of the public poor was as crude as the need for such charity was limited. 

The county poor were first provided for at a farm near Edwards- 
burg, a visit of the county commissioners to the institution being re- 
corded in the later thirties. 

The county officials next ]:)urchased of Asa Kingsbury the land in 
Jefferson township upon which the present institution is located, l)ut 
a small log house was the only building designed for shelter, and small 
as was the number of inmates, the methods and means of caring for 
them was completely lacking in system. In view of this situation the 
board of supervisors, in October, 1853, appropriated the sum of $2,000 
for the erection of a suitable building. Pleasant Norton was the agciU 
appointed to manage the construction, and W. G. Beckwith and Joshua 
Lofland were the Ijuilding committee. The contract for a brick build- 
ing was given to Lewis Clisbee and son, at $1,795. ^nd the work com- 
pleted and accepted in November, 1854. 

Fourteen years later, in 1868, a committee from the board of super- 
visors rejxirted that the poor house was "an utterly unfit habitation for 
the paupers of the county," consequently the board recommended the 
raising of $5,000 for an addition to the building. This tax levy was 
approved by the people at the polls in April, 1869. The money could 
not be used, however, for the erection of a new building, only for 
"additions." and the appropriations were made under that strict con- 
struction, although when the additions were completed early in 187 1, 
the institution was practicallv new throughout. P. W. Silver was the 



214 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

contractor, and was paid in all nearly $8,000 for the construction work. 
D. Al. i'lowell, James Boyd and Ciideon Gibbs. superintendents of the 
poor at the time, were also the building" committee to whom the credit 
of erectinji the Iniildings belongs. In 1871 the as_\'lum, a brick addi- 
tion t\\-o stories high, was constructed, its cust being about the same as 
the outlay fur the other buildings, so that the count}- invested about 
$15,000 in this institution during the early '70s. 




/£^ 




^-c^ 




y 




HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 215 



CHAPTER XV. 

EDUCATION [N THE STATE AND COUNTY. 

By William H. C. Hale, 
County Commissioner of Schools. 

In giving a histoiy of education in Cass county, it is necessary to 
speak briefly of education in the state of Michigan, as the educational 
affairs have always been nearly uniform throughout the state. 

Michigan was under the government of France from 1634 until 
1760. Settlements were made at various places around the Great Lakes 
by the Jesuit missionaries, but the most important French settlement 
was the founding of Detroit by Cadillac in 1701. 

Under the French control centralization was the fundamental prin- 
ciple in all affairs. The military commandant was supreme in the state, 
and the priest or bishop in the church. Education was the function of 
the church. The initiative in even'thing was in the officials, not in 
the people. There were no semi-independent local organizations. like 
the New England towns, to provide for the management and support 
of schools. 

Two years after the founding of Detroit, Cadillac recommended 
the establishment of a seminary at that place for the instruction of chil- 
dren of the savages with those of the French. It is doubtful if this rec- 
ommendation produced any immediate results, as it is stated that no 
indication of schools or teachers can l;e found until 1755. a half century 
later. Private schools of varying degrees of excellence are reported 
to have existed from 1755. Most of these were short-lived and of in- 
ferior character. 

Under the English control educational aff'airs remained the same 
as under the French, and after the United States occupied and formed 
a territorial government there w'as little change in educational affairs 
until 1827, when a law w^as enacted providing for the establishment of 
common schools throughout the territory. This act required every 
township containing fifty families to support a school in which "read- 
ing, writing, orthography, arithmetic and decent liehavior" should be 



216 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

taugln. This was the first legal course ui study for the Michigan pu- 
])ils. The period of centralization had now passed, and local democracy 
was to ha\e its opportunity. Emigration from the eastern states had 
now reversed the old J^rench ideas. 

The actual state of elementary education an.d of educational affairs 
as late as 1836 is well pictured by Justice Thomas M. Cooley of the 
State Supreme Court. "The scliodjs at the time state government was 
established were still \er) primitive affairs, 'fhere were as vet no pro- 
fessional teachers. Some farmer or mechanic, or perhaps a grown-up 
son or daugh.ter who had had the advantages of the common schools 
of New "^'ork or New I^ngland, offered his or her ser\-ices as a teacher 
fluring the dull season of regular employment, and consented to take 
as wages -^nch sum as the district could aiYord to pay. A summer school 
taught liy a woman, who would be paid six or eight dollars a month, 
and a winter schoijl taught by a man whose compensation was twice as 
great was what was generally provided for. Rut in a<ldition to the 
wages the teacher received her board 'boarding round' among the pa- 
trons of the school and remaining with each a number of days deter- 
mined by the number of ])upils sent to school. If we shall incline 
to \-isit one of these schools in the newer portion of the state we shall 
be likely to find it housed in a log structure covered with bark, imper- 
fectly plastered between the logs to exclude the cold, and still more 
imperfect!}- warmed by rm ojien fireplace or Ijy a box stove, for which 
fuel is provided, as the board for the teacher is, by proportional con- 
tril)utors. Tlie seats f^r the jiupils may be slabs set on legs; the desks 
may he other slabs laid upon supports fixed to the logs which constitute 
the sides of the room, 'fhe school books are miscellaneous and consist 
largely of those brought by the ])arents when emigrating to the terri- 
tory. Those who write must rule their paper with pencils of their own 
manufacture, and the master will make pens for them from the goose 
f|ui]l. i'or the most [iru't the ink is of home mrmufacture. There are 
no globes: no means of illustration; not even a blackboard. Such in 
many cases was the Michigan school. Better school buildings were 
now springing up, but as a rule nothing could seem more dreary or dis- 
piriting than the average school district. Ne\'ertheless, many an intel- 
lect recei\e(l a quickening in those schools, which fitted it for a life of 
useful and honorable activity. The new settlers made such provision 
for the education of their children as was possible under the circum- 
stances in which they were placed, and the fruits of their labors and 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 217 

sacrifices in this direction were in many cases surprising." Long after 
the formation of the state government in 1S37 the schools of Cass 
county fitted very chjsely the descriptions given by Judge Cooley of 
the territorial schools. 

Michigan owes a large debt of gratitude to Isaac C. Crary and 
John D. Pierce. More than any other two men, they were instrumental 
in laying the foundations of her educational system, and in giving direc- 
tion to its early development. 

Mr. Crary was a member of the constitutional convention of 1835, 
and was appointed chairman of the committee on education. The com- 
mittee reported an article on education wdiich was adopted by the con- 
vention almost without debate. This article provided for a system of 
education very similar to what we now have. 

In the constitutional convention of 1850, Mr. Crary and Mv. Pierce 
were both members from Calhoun county. 'Slv. Pierce was a member 
of the committee on education. An article was finally adopted provid- 
ing for our present system of education, but not without some very ex- 
tended and serious debates. 

The question of free schools was earnestly debated, and the de- 
bates revealed a wide diversity of views. The discussions upon this 
topic were long and earnest, and resulted in the compromise which pro- 
vided for a free school in each district for three months each year. The 
limit of three months was unsatisfactory to the friends of free schools, 
but they accepted it on the principle that "half a loaf is better than no 
bread at all." 

It is impossible in this article to enter into a full discussion of 
every section of the constitution on education. Section one states that 
"the superintendent of public instruction shall have the general super- 
vision of public instruction, and his duties shall be prescribed by law." 

John D. Pierce was appointed the first superintendent of public 
instruction by Governor Mason July 26. 1836. At the session of the 
legislature held in January, 1837, he reported a system of common 
schools, and a ])lan for a university and its branches. The plan has 
undergone many changes since then, Init the fundamental principles 
remain practically the same. 

Mr. Pierce gave a long and verv complete report to the first legis- 
lature. As a basis for the recommeuflations which be proposed to make, 
he began by calling attention to the vital im]3(irtance of knowledge and 
virtue as the "Ijroad and permanent foundations of a free state." 



21N HISTORY OF CASS C"OUNTY 

In regard to tlie importance of education he said : "In an educated 
and virtuous community there is safety; the rights of indi\iduals are 
regarded and property is respected and secure. It may be assumed as 
a fundamental principle in our form (jf government that knowledge is 
an element so essential to its existence and vigorous actinn that we can 
ha\-e no rational hope of its perpetuation unless it is general!}- diffused." 
He emphasized especiall}- the \alue and importance of elementary edu- 
cation for the great mass of the penple. "L'niversities may be highly 
important and academies of great utility, Ijut primary schools are the 
main dependence. National liberty, sound morals and education must 
stand or fall together. CVmimon schools are democratic in their nature 
and influence; they tend to unify society; in them the rich and the i)cior 
come together on terms 'jf perfect ecjualitv. 

"Let free schools be established and maintained in perpetuity and 
there can be no such thing as a permanent aristocracv in our land; for 
the monopoly of wealth is jjowerless where mind is allowed freely to 
come in contact with mind. We need wisdom, and prudence, and fore- 
sight in our couucil-;; hxedness of purpose, integrity and uprightness of 
heart in our rulers ; unwavering attachment to the rights of men among 
all people : but these high attributes of a noble patriotism, these essential 
elements of civilization and impro\'ement will disajipear when schools 
shall cease to exert an all-i)er\ading influence through the length and 
breadth of oiu" land." 

A primary school system was soon organized. Tbe unit of this 
system was, as it still is, the subdi\ision of the township known as the 
school district, and not to exceed nine sections or one-fourth of a town- 
ship. This limit was not remo\e(l until igoi. The school district was 
made practical!}- ;flmost independent in tl-ie n-ianagement of its educa- 
tional affairs. As the law- riow stands, the officers are the niotlerator, 
treasurer and director, all elected fi-)r three years. 

In the upper peninsula an entire toW'Usliip n-iay be organized into 
one district, w-ith a board of education consisting of five members. In 
the township districts there may be anv number of schools. Tlie ol:)ject 
of the township unit systen-i was to firing all lands of a tow-nship under 
taxation for school purposes. 

School districts ma}' now lie consolidated into one district by the 
consent of a niajorit}- of tlie resident taxpayers of each district. 

School districts when consolidated, may levy taxes for the pur- 
pose of transporting pupils to and from school w-ithin the boundaries 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 219 

of the district and may use the funds arising from the one mill tax 
fur the same purpose. The law for the consolidation of school dis- 
tricts was enacted in 1903. Since then there ha\-e been a few cases of 
consolidation. There Inue been nine cases of the consolidation of two 
districts and four cases where three ov more districts have been con- 
solidated. The counties where consolidation has been tried are St. 
Clair, Wayne, Genesee, Kent, Isabella, Marquette, Emrnet, Macomb, 
Kalamazoo and Charlevoix. 

The legislature of 1901 enacted a law by which township high 
schools may be organized. Only pupils who have passed the eighth 
grade can be admitted to those schools. There have been no such 
schools organized up to this time, but the matter has l)een under con- 
sideration in se\'eral counties. 

One of the pro\-isions with which the early settlers became un- 
willingly familiar was the famous "rate bill" law, passed in 1843, 
which provided that the patrons of each school might raise the funds 
necessary to continue the school through the tenn. The_ parents or 
guardians of the children were assessed a tax in proportion to the time 
such children attended school. This rate bill was made out by the 
teaciier at the close of each term, and the amount distributed among 
the patrons. The law did udt work well, for the poor parents or those 
indifferent to education would send tn school as long as the public funds 
lasted, and when the rate h\\\ set in would take their children nut. 
Primary education thus Ijecame a question of ability U> pay for it. and 
the fundamental princijile of po]>ular education was threatened. Never- 
theless, despite the inequalitv, the rate bill law was not repealed until 
1869. 

CERTIFICATES OF TEACHERS. 

Under the provisions of the first school law of the state the tnwn- 
ship school inspectors were the examining and supervising board of the 
township. They were requirerl to examine all persons proposing to 
teach in the public schools "in regard to moral character, learning and 
ability to teach school." At first the certificates were valid for one year. 
An amendment to the law in 1839 allowed the inspectors, in their 
discretion, to grant certificates for a term of not less than six months 
nor more than two years. Until the passage of the act creating the 
office of county superintendent in 1867, all examinations of teachers 
of all grades, and all supervision of the common schools were made 
by the township boards of school inspectors. This system of certifica- 



220 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

lion and supervision continued fur thirt_v years. It liad many weak 
points, and was pronounced a failure by the state superintendent in his 
report for 1866. 

In 1867 the legishiture passed an act creating the oftice of county 
superintendent of schools. The law pro\-ided for the election of the 
superintendents, for a term of two years, by \ote of the people at the 
April electiiin. The count}- superintendents held examinations in each 
township at least once a year, and granted three grades of certificates. 
The first grade was valid for two years; the second for one year; and 
the third for six months. 

The extent of the examination was left to the tliscretion of the 
superintendent, \vith only the proviso that it must include orthography, 
reading, writing, grammar, geograjihy and arithmetic. 

In 1S75 the legislature repealed the county su[)erintendency act and 
submitted a system of townshi]) su]ierintendents, difl:'ering only a little 
from the discarded and wortliless plan of township inspectors. The 
township superinten<lent's duties were xery similar to those of the 
county superintendent, in the holding of examinations, and granting 
certificates. 

A new law, enacted in 1881, attempted to coml>ine county exami- 
nations with township supervision. The law pnn'ided for a county 
hoartl of three examiners elected by the chairman of the boards of 
school inspectors, for a term of three years. This board examined the 
teachers of the county and ga\-e three grades of certificates, the first 
grade valid f(jr three years; the second for two years; the third for one 
year, throughout the county. The chairman of the board of school 
insjiectors was made supennsor of the schools of his township with the 
ordinar}- duties and powers pertaining to that position. 

In 1S87 this law was revised and amended. Under this new law 
twij coimtv examiners were chosen for a term of two years, Ijy the 
chairman of the township lx)ards of inspectors. These two with the 
judge of proliate, ap])ointed and employed a secretary for the term of one 
year. " The secretarx- examined candidates for positions as teachers, and 
the cither members of the board acted with him in granting certificates. 
The examination questions were to lie furnished by the superintendent 
of public instruction. In 1881 theory and art of teaching, history of the 
United States, and civil government had been added to the studies 
in which examinations must be made. In 1887 physiology and hygiene 
were also included. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ' 221 

The secretary was required to visit each school in tlie count\' at 
least once in the year, and to perform all the usual duties of a supervis- 
ing officer. 

In 1891 an act was passed providing for ccjunty commissioners of 
schools and two county examiners. 

Until 1903 commissioners were elected on the first Monday of 
April for a term of two years ; since then they are elected for four years. 
The commissioner is a county superintendent with a different title, and 
is charged with the duty of supervising the schools of the countv. 

Two school examiners are elected by the county board of super- 
visors for a term of two years. The examiners assist the commissioner 
in conducting examinations. 

Three grades of certificates are granted. The first grade is valid 
for four years, the second grade for three }-ears, and the third grade 
for one vear. 

.Ml questions for examination are prepared and furnished by the 
state superintendent. Certificates may be renewed without examination 
under certain circumstances, and the examiners in one countv mav 
accept examination papers written in another county and treat them 
as if written before themselves. 

The State Board of Education conducts examinations every year 
and grants teachers' certificates valid for life, or until revoked by the 
board. 

The Normal College at Ypsilanti, and the normal schools at Mt. 
Pleasant. Marquette and Kalamazoo, grant limited and life certificates 
to their respective graduates. 

The State Board of Education also grants limited and life certifi- 
cates, without examination, to graduates of such colleges of the state as 
comply with certain prescribed conditions in respect to courses of 
study and instruction. 

In 1891 authority was granted by the legislature to the faculty of 
the department of literature, science and the arts of the Universitv, 
to give a legal certificate of qualification to teach in any of the schools 
of the state. 

In incorporated cities the superintendent and board of education 
are empowered to examine their teachers and grant certificates. 

Graduates of county normal training classes are granted certifi- 
cates, which are valid for three vears. 



22:> HISTORV OI' CASS COL'XTY 

SCHOOL FUNUS. 

The moneys used for the support of the common schools are, the 
interest from the primary interest fund, the one-miU tax, the unappro- 
priated dog tax, hhrary moue_\s which are appropriated hy the township 
board for school pui"poses, the tuition of non-resident pupils and the 
voted tax in the district. The primary money can be used for no other 
purpose than the payment of the wages of legally qualified teachers and 
only by districts in winch fi\e mtinths of school were maintained during 
the last preceding year. 

The supervisor assesses upon the taxable prupert)- of his town- 
ship one mill upon each dollar of valuation. This tax is paid o\-er to the 
treasurers of the se\-eral school districts. 

The cpialified \'oters may levy a ta.x for general school purposes. 
When a tax is voted, it is reported to the super\-is(>r who assesses it on 
the taxal)le pro])erty of the district. 

\\'hene\'er the unappropriated dog tax in any township is over and 
abii\e the sum of one hundred dollars, it is apportioned among the 
sexeral school districts of such township or city in proportion to the 
numlier of children of school age. The primary money in 1845 ^^'^'^ 
twenty-eight cents a scholar. There was a slow increase per cai)ita until 
1880. when it was forty-seven cents a scholar. After 1880 a portion 
of all s]iecific state taxes, except those received from the mining com- 
panies of the upper peninsula, were applied in paying the interest upon 
the primary school fund. Since then there has been a steady increase. 
In 1881 it was $1.06: i8go, $1.33: 1900, $2.15; 1905, $3.30. On 
account of the back taxes on railroads jjaid during the year 1906 the 
primary money for the Octol>er semi-annual apportionment is esti- 
mated at $10 per capita. 

SECONDARY EDUCATION HIGH SCHOOLS. 

In the first school law no prox'ision was made for the union of 
districts or for the grading of schools, and no law was made authorizing 
the consolidation of districts to form union .schools until 1846. The 
first graded school was established at Flint in 1846. From 1846 to 
i860 there were twenty-se\-en graded schools established in the state. 
Cassopolis and Dowagiac established graded schools in 1857. In i860 
Detroit reported a high schoril with a single teacher and an average 
attendance of thirty-seven ]nipils. 

The first constitution of the state provided for the establishment 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 223 

of branches of the university. These branches were to serve a three- 
fold purpose, provide for local needs, tit students for the university, 
and prepare teachers for the primary schools. Branches were estab- 
lished at Pontiac, Monroe, Niles, Tecumseh, Detroit, Kalamazoo, 
Romeo and White Pigeon. These branches were supported by appro- 
priations made by the regents of the university. 

After graded schools began to be established in 184O, the L"ni\-er- 
sity branches went into disfa^jr, and they ceased to exist after 1849. 
High schools then became the connecting link between the unixersity 
and the ordinary common schools. 

Cass county has five graded schools, three of which are on the 
university list. Dowagiac, Cassop(jlis and Alarcellus high school grad- 
uates may enter the state university without entrance examinations. 

The Dowagiac schools employ thirty teachers, Cassopolis nine, 
Marcellus se\'en, \'andalia four, Edwardsburg four. 

CASS COUNTY SCHOOLS. 

Schools were soon established in Cass county by the early set- 
tlers. ^^'hene\■er a settlement was formed, arrangements were soon 
made for the education of the children. The first school in the county 
was taught in 1828 in the western part of what is now Pokagon town- 
ship. The first school in the limits of La Grange township was taught 
in 1830. Penn 1830, Ontwa 1829 or 1830, Volinia 1832 or 1833, Por- 
ter 1838 or 1839, Wayne 1835. Howard 1833. Milton 183 1 or 1832. 
Jefferson 1833, Calvin 1834, Marcellus 1840, Mason 1836. The date 
of the building of the first school house in Silver Creek was 1838 or 
1839, and Newberg 1837. Schools may have been taught before the 
.school houses were built, but if so the fact is unobtainable at this time. 

There are at the present time one hundred and fourteen organized 
school districts in tlie county, in which are employed one hundred and 
fifty-seven teachers. The total wages paid to teachers in 1905 was 
$48,901.86, of which men teachers received $14,003.91 and women 
teachers received $34,897.95. 

The average monthly wages paid men teachers was $46.83. and 
women teachers received an average wage of $33.43 a month. 

The legislature of 1903 enacted a law permitting the establish- 
ment of county normal training classes for teachers of rviral schools. 
In accordance with that law a class was organized and conducted in 
connection with the Dowagiac city schools during the year 1905-1906. 



224 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

A class of fourteen was graduated June i8, 1906. The graduates were: 
Fred J. FI. Fricke, F. Ethel Wooster, N. Beryl Van Antwerp, Lillie 
Elaine Pray, Hilary F. Sweetland. Bernice E. Williams, Ethel Eugenia 
W'dodin, Agnes Straub, Jennie May Easton, Claribel ?^Iorton, Ray 
Murphy, Grace Asenetli East, J(ihn Alfred Norton, Mabel Cook. 

Graduates of county normal training classes are granted three- 
year certificates which may l)e renewed in the county where received, 
or they may be transferred to other counties. 

The pupils of the eighth grade in tiie rural schools are examined 
each year upon questions which are furnished by the state superintend- 
ent. Those who pass are granted diplomas by the county commissioner. 
These diplomas will admit those who hold them to high schools and the 
Agricultural College without examiuatidu. 

SUPERVISION OF SCHOOLS. 

From 1837 til 1867 the common schools were under the supervisimi 
and management of the township boards of school inspectors. Then the 
legislature created tlie office (if county superintendent of schools. The 
first county superintendent of schools for Cass county was Chauncy 
L. Wliitnev. who was elected April i, 1867. The term of office was two 
years. Mr. Whitney resigned the position in the fall of the same year, 
and Rev. Albert H. Gaston was appointed to fill the vacancy. In 1869 
Ir\-ing Clendenen was elected, and in 1871 Eewis P. Rinehart. Samuel 
Idlmsnn was chosen in 1873 and filled the office until it was abolished 
in 1875. 

Emm 1873 to 188 1 the schools were under the supervision of town- 
shi]) superintendents. In 1881 the legislature enacted a law which 
pnivided fnr a county board of school examiners. This board con- 
sisted of three members and were elected for three years by the chair- 
man of the township board of school inspectors. 

The county board of school examiners on organization elected one 
of their number chairman and one secretaiy. The secretary was the 
executive officer of the board. The following are the boards of ex- 
aminers under this act: 

1881-1882: E. M. Stephenson, secretary, i year; Michael Pember- 
ton, chairman, 2 years; Daniel B. Ferris, 3 years. 

1882-1883: Michael Pemberton, secretary, i year; Daniel B. Fer- 
ris, chairman. 2 years ; Charles A. Mo.sher, 3 years. 

1883-1884: Daniel B. Ferris, secretaiw, i year; Charles A. Mosher, 
chairman. 2 vears ; Michael Pemberton, 3 )-ears. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY '225 

1884-1S85: Charles A. Alosher, secretary, i year; .Michael Peniber- 
lon, chairman, 2 years ; Ralph W. Hain, 3 years. 

1885-1886: Michael Pemberton, secretary, i year; Ralph W. Hain, 
chairman, 2 years; Charles A. Mosher, 3 jears. 

1886-1887: Ralph W. Hain, secretary, i year; Charles A. Mosher, 
chairman, 2 years; Michael Pemberton, 3 years. 

In 1887 the law was re\ised and amended. Two county examin- 
ers w^ere chosen for a term of two years, b_\- the chairmeir of the 
township boards of school inspectors. These two examiners with the 
judge of probate, appointed and employed a secretary for the term of 
one year, who became ex-officio a member of the county board and its 
executive officer. The secretary visited all the schools in the c<.>unty 
and recei\-ed a salary of $800 per annum. 

The following are the boards of county examiners under this act : 

1887-1888: Frank S. Plall, secretary, i year; Charles A. :\Ioslier, 
chairman, i year; Michael Pemberton, 2 years. 

1888-1889: Daniel B. Ferris, secretary, 1 year; Michael Pem- 
berton, chairman, i year ; William W. Chalmers, 2 years. 

March i, 18S9, Daniel B. Ferris resigned and George W. (iard 
was appointed to fill the vacanc}-. 

1889-1890: George W. Gard. secretary, 1 year; William W. Chal- 
mers, chairman, i year: Edmund Schoetzow, 2 years. 

1890-1891 : Michael Pemberton. secretary, i year; Edmund 
Schoetzow, chairman, i year; ?vliss Hattie Graham, 2 }ears. 

In the year 1891 an act was passed providing for count}- commis- 
sioners of schools and two county examiners, the three to constitute 
a county board for the examination of teachers. The county com- 
missioner wa'^ to be chrisen bv the people at the election nn the first 
Monday in April, for the term of two years. In igoj the act was 
amended and thereafter the commissioner was to be elected for a term 
of four years. To be eligible to the office of commissioner a person 
must ha\'e liad an experience of twelve months as a teacher in the 
public schools of the state, must be a graduate of the literaiy department 
of some reputable college, university or state normal school having a 
course of at least three years, or hold a state teacher's certificate, or 
be the holder of a first grade county certificate; but this last certificate 
qualifies the holder only in the county where it is granted. In counties 
having less than fifty districts a second grade certificate qualifies the 
holder. 

The two school examiners are elected bv the county board of super- 



22G HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

visors fur a term (jf two \eai-s. Any person is eligible to the office of 
examiner who has the qualifications required for a commissioner, or 
who has taught in the public schools nine months and holds, or has 
held within three years, a second grade certificate. 

'!"he law of 189 1 jinnided that the county hoard of supervisors 
shoukl elect a commissioner to serve from June J^, iSyi, until July, 
1893. In accordance with this act the Cass county board of super- 
visors elected Miciiael remberton commissioner. 

At the election held on the first Monday in April, 1893, Chester 
E. Cone was chijsen commissioner for two years. Mr. Cone was re- 
elected tln"ee times, thus serving eight vears. 

In 1901 William Irl. C. Hale was elected county commissioner 
for the term of two }-ears, and in 1903, the law having been changed, he 
was re-elected for a term of four vears. 

The following arc the county boards of school examiners under 
the act of 1891 : 

1891-1892: Michael I'emberton, commissioner, 2 )ears; Hattie 
Graham, examiner, 2 years ; Edmund Schoetzow, examiner, i vear. 

1892-1893: Michael Pemberton, commissioner, i year; George A. 
Shetterley, examiner, 2 years; Hattie Graham, examiner, i year. 

1893-1894; Chester E. Cone, commissioner, 2 years; Hattie Gra- 
ham, exatniner, 2 years ; George A. Shetterley, examiner, i year. 

1 894- 1 895 : Chester E. Cone, commissioner, i year; Simon E. 
Witwer, examiner, 2 years; Hattie Graham, examiner, i year. 

1895-1896: Chester E. Cone, commissioner, 2 )'ears; Lemuel L. 
Coates, examiner, 2 years ; Simon E. Witwer, examiner, i year. 

1896-1897: Chester E. Cone, commissioner, i year; Simon E. Wit- 
wer, examiner, 2 years ; Lemuel L. Coates. examiner, i year. 

1897-1898: Chester E. Cone, commissioner, 2 years; Lemuel L. 
Coates. examiner, 2 years ; Simon E. Witwer, examiner, i }ear. 

1 898- 1 899: Chester E. Cone, cotnmissioner, i \ear; b'rank E. 
l-'aulkner. examiner, 2 years; Lemuel L. Coates, examiner, 1 year. 

1899-1900; Chester E. Cone, commissioner, 2 years; John Finley, 
examiner, 2 years ; Sitnon E. Witwer, examiner, i year. 

1900-1901 : Chester E. Cone, commissioner, i year; Clififord N. 
Brady, examiner. 2 years ; John iMuley. examiner, i year. 

1901-1902: William H. C. Hale, commis.sioner, 2 years; John Ein- 
lev. examiner. 2 years; Clifford N. Brady, examiner, i year. 

I9<:)2-I903; William \l. C. Hale, commissioner. 1 year; Clifford N. 
Bradv. examiner. 2 years; Jolm Finley. examiner. 1 year. 

[903-1904: Willi.nn 11. C. Hale, commissioner. 4 years; Clifford 
N. Bradv. examiner, 1 year; John Finley, examiner, 2 years. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 227 

1 904- 1 905 : William H. C. Hale, commissioner, 3 years; Herman 
S. East, examiner, 2 years; John Finley, examiner, i year. 

1905-1906: William H. C. Hale, commissioner, 2 years; Herman 
S. East, examiner, t year; John Finley, examiner, 2 years. 

Mr. Hale's term expires July i, 1907. 

Mr. East's term expires October, 1906. 

Mr. Finley's term expires October, 1907. 

The commissioner's salary was .f 1,000 per annum until Octolier, 
1905. when it was increased to $1,200. The examiners recei\e four 
dollars a day for the time spent upon examination work. 

In closing it may be said that Cass county has always kept pace 
with the progress of the times and all the schools, city, village and 
rural, compare most favorably with those of the other counties in the 
state. There is a growing sentiment among the pupils of the rural 
schools to enter high schools and high school graduates are becoming 
more and more inclined to take college courses. The people of Cass 
county, as compared with other counties, ha\'e always lieen ^-ery liberal 
in the support of their schools, and no fears need be entertained in re- 
gard to our future educational progress. 



228 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XVI. 
CITY AND \TLLAGE SCHOOLS. 

CASSOPOLIS SCHOOLS. 

The first sclioolhuuse in tliis N'illag'e was a lug caljin. which stuod 
on lot 5. hlock i south, range 1 west, just south of where Fisk's drug 
store now stands. The first huildiug to be used exclusively as a school- 
house and erected for that purpose was a frame building, put up in 
1843, '^'i \^nd donated by Joseph Harper, on the east side of Rowland 
street on lot 8, block i north, range 2 east. The building is now occu- 
pied by John D. Williams as a dwelling house. The "union school" 
movement, described nn pre\inus pages, was made effective in Cass- 
opolis in 1857 by the erection nf a "Union" schoolhouse on the site 
of the ]>resent school liuilding at .a c<ist of $1,500, Daniel S. Jones being 
the builder. A])ril 29, 1878, this, a wood building, as it then stood 
with certain additirms and modificatidns from the original, was burned. 
School work for the rest of the term and for sexeral months in tlie 
fall was carried on in the most suitable temporary quarters that could 
be found. The sum of ten thousand dollars was voted for the new 
brick building, .and the completi<in of the building for occupanc}' in 
Januaiy, 1879, ga\e Cassoiiolis the central school which has now been 
in use over a cpiarter of a centurv. and in many cases has sheltered two 
generations of school children. The luiilding committee appointed to 
supervise the construction of this building were ^^'. P. Bennett, A. 
Garwood. J. K. Ritter. S. C. Van ALatre, J. R. Carr, W. W. Peck, 
the six school trustees. 

As originally constructed the Cassopolis school was the most mod- 
ern and perfect school structure in the county, and its long period of 
use shows that the money of the village was well spent in its construc- 
tion. The dimensions of the original building were 72 by 62 feet, two 
stories, the upper being used for high school purposes, and the first for 
the grades. In 1879 a two-story addition was built on the north side 
of the building and C(innected throughout with the old building. This 
building was necessarv to accomuKidate the increased school popula- 
tion and the extension of educational work that has taken place since 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 221» 

the old buikling was constructed. The cost of the addition was $3,000. 

Of the citizens who have done most for educational interests in 
CassopoHs, special mention should be made of John R. Carr, who for 
many years served as a member of the lx)ard, was a member of the 
building committee in 1878. and in numberless ways has shown a lively 
and helpful interest in the growth of the village's educational institu- 
tions. 

In 1876 the school was graded by H. C. Rankin, then superintend- 
ent, and the first class was graduated three years later. Since Mr. 
Rankin, who remained at the head of the school four years, the fol- 
lowing superintendents ha\e been his successors: 

1S81-82, G. A. Osinga. 1891-92, George M. Fisk. 

1883, C. W. Mickens. 1893-98, Joseph Biscomb. 

1884-86, W. C. Hewitt. 1899-1901, R. H. Struble. 

18S7-90, W. W". Chalmers. 1902-05, J. M. Geiser. 

At this writing the board of education consists of: C. C. Allison, 
president: C. E. Cone, secretary; C. H. Funk, treasurer; U. S. Eby, 
W. L. Jones. The faculty for 1906-07 are: 

Superintendent — Paul P. Mason. 

Principal of High School — Carrie L. Ranney. 

Sciences and Mathematics H. S. — Geo. W. Hess. 

Fatin in H. S. and 8th Grade — Elisabeth Steere. 

7th and part of 6th Grade — Fee Wolford. 

5th and part of 6th Grade — Daisy Billings. 

4th and part of 3d Grades — Ella Gardner. 

2d and part of 3d Grade — Grace Decker. 

1st and Kindergarten — Maud Eppley. 

Fi 1902 the high scliool was accredited with the F'ni\-ersity of 
jVIichigan. This means that the course of study and the grade of in- 
struction are such that the Cassopolis high school is on a par with the 
high schools of Michigan. The high scIkioI is noted for the number 
of its graduates who have gone to the \-ariiius universities and colleges, 
and at this writing a number of former students are studying within 
the walls of higher institutions throughout the countiy. 

CASSOPOLI.S GRAni'.\TES. 

1879 — May Smith. Fottie G. Rankni. 

1880— Ellen D. GifPin, Addie M. Kingsbury, Charles L. Smith. 
Kirk Reynolds, Mary Barnette, Carrietta Chapman. Lois .\msden, Min- 



230 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

nie B. Smith, Blanche E. Peck, Ellen N. Tietsort, Ellen A. Ritter, Al- 
Ijert H. Graham, Nellie M. French. 

i8Si — Addie Martin, William G. Loomis, Anna Graham, Melissa 
Beverley. 

18S2 — Bertha Lowella Chapman, Fanny Eugenia Glover, W. 
James Champion. 

iS<S3— Ella .M. Rogers, Eva Al. Colby, INIabel Patch, Lemuel L. 
Coates. 

1884 — Carrie Goodwin, Laura Beverley, Carrie Woodruff. 

1885 — Georgiana Kingsbury, Myrta Norton, George Shaffer, Ber- 
tha Anderson, Cora M. Banks, Katie Kingsbury. 

1886 — Perlia B. Ferris, Glencora Graham, James S. Stapleton, 
Lora M. Curtis, Rolfe F. Patrick, Frank H. Green. 

1887 — Susan R. Wei)!), b'rances Graham, Rosa Early. David L. 
Kingsbun", Carrie Higbee. Mary C. Bosvvorth, Belle Norton. 

1888 — h^va C. Ditzell, tiertha Kings.bun'. Lora Kingsliury. Addie 
Graham, Ada Tho-mas. 

1889' — Charles L. Beckwith, Fred Pattersnn, Carl Bngue. lunma 
Anderson, Clara Darling, Harlan P. Bosworth, William T. C. Shaft'er, 
Fanchon Stockdale, Jean Powell, E. Mae Carr. 

1890 — Otis Beeson, Wilber G. Bonine, \\'alter C. B(.)gue, I'aul A. 
Cowgill, Belle Bogue, Nettie Savage, Maude Mcllvain, Ethel Slnute, 
Charles A. Webb, Edward Reighard, Paul Savage, \\ illi.am ]\laiishe]d. 
Ella Johnson, Nellie Wetmore, Blanche Giffin, Dora Norton. 

1891 — Belle Goodwin, Jessie Cure, Melville J. Shepard, Delia Wil- 
son. Edna Stockdale, Raymond R. Phelps, J. Paul Hopkins, Jay C. 
Northrop, Helen French, Jessie Jones, Mildred Sherman. . 

1892 — Grace S. Hall, Ruby C. Abbott, Charles L. ■ Goodwin, 
George F. Bosworth, Bernice Merwin, Eva L. Trowbridge, Halford E. 
Reynolds, Mortimer F. Stapleton. 

1893 — Roy Bond, Walter George, Stanley A. Farnuiu. Lura Phelps, 
Winifred Smith, Flora Wright. Harry Eggleston, Stanford J. Farnum, 
True Savage, Winifred Marr, Ruth Myers. 

1894 — Glenn S. Harrington, Edith Younglilood. Frank B. French, 
Mav Kingsbur)', Belle Donough, Blanche Clark, Carrie Daniels, Ona 
Kline, Blanche McLitosh, Blanche Fulton. 

1895 — Gideon W. Tallerday, Florence Higgins, Bert Hayden, 
Robert Pangborn, Ward Shaw, Mary Miller, Clare Fletcher, Lora Mc- 
Cully, Adella Hartsell, Lena Deal, Joseph Churchill, Glenn Dunning. 

1896' — May Alexander, Blanche Fisher, Lutie Longfellow, Mary 
L. Stamp, Blanche Shepard, Bert A. Dool, Ernest Morse, Jesse L. 
Tallerday, Stephen Tallerday, Phillip Savage, Grace A. Dixon, Leona 
Fulton, Lottie L. North, Cora Skinner. George Donough, Glenn Leach, 
John P. Norton. LaMoine .\. Tharp, Fred L. Woods. 

1897 — Herbert A. Anderson, Zora Emmons, Flora Lawrence, Mai^ 
Shurte, Mary Townsend, Lottie M. Turner, Bessie S. Carr, Glennie A. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 231 

Kingsbury, Allan W. Reynolds, George Townsend, Jessie Bonine, James 
H. Kelsey, Carroll N. Pollock, Glennie Tietsort, Jessie M. Turner, Bart- 
lett Bonine, Jessie Howell, Justin Mechling, Percy F. Thomas, Grace 
Van Riper. 

1898 — Lynn B. Boyd, Frank Mansfield, Howard D. Shaw, Jasper 
Otis Haithcox, Jessie E. Kingsbury, Dora L. Messenger, Ellen S. Rick- 
ert, Asa K. Hayden, Frederick G. Walter, Herbert Leroy Smith, Uunald 
S. Morse, Josie Kline, Claudia B. McDonald, Crete Connelly. 

1899' — ^Florence Ashcraft, Bertha Dacy, Edna Graham, Nellie 
Jones, Bertha Myers, Grace Stearns, Grace L. Voorhis, Ray K. Holland, 
Leon Beall, Lilly Brown, Alma Emmons, Belle Hayden, Henrietta Law- 
son, Marie Pollock, Elnora Thickstun, Joseph F. Hayden, Cyrus Myers. 

1900 — Hattie Wright, Chloa McDonald, Mabel F. Aloon, Edith 
Ryon, Vivian Jerome, Frances Glennette Willsey, Kate Ditzell, S. Edna 
Cook, Una Jones, Vera Hayden. 

1901 — Helen Anderson, Alberta Kingsbury, Howard K. Holland. 
Fred Wright. Nellie Dunning, Hiram Jewell, J. Howard Mcintosh, 
Joseph K. Ritter. 

1902 — Charles Condon, Frank Kelly, Mayme Dunbar, Jav Hay- 
den, Charles Jones, Fanchon Mason, Nellie Stevens. 

1903 — Jules Verne Des Voignes, Eugene Eby, Vera Ditzell, Mary 
Sincleir, Helen Donough, Newton G. VanNess, Elizalieth Jerome, 
Maude Tharp. Mahala Reynolds, Vesta Pollock. 

1904 — Crv'Stal Thompson, Stella Hayden, Ruth Jones, Leora 
Johnston, Georgia Van Matre, Arietta Van Ness. Edna Pollock, Hazel 
Hayden. 

1905 — I\Iary Kinimerle, Read Chamliers, Carl Morse, Fred J. ]\liller, 
Clarence Timm, Winfield Leach. 

i9o6' — Mabel Peck, Robert \Vood, Rebecca Tones. 

DOWAGIAC SCHOOLS. 

The citizens of Dowagiac take great pride in their fine schools, 
which, with a history of development covering half a centiuw, are now 
in the front rank of schools in scmthern Michigan. To describe first 
the material equipment and school property, the eleven hundred pupils 
who now attend school in the city are accommodated in three buildings, 
any one of which is as far in advance of the pioneer shelter afforded 
by the log schoolhouse of the forties as is jiossible to conceive. The 
splendid high school building, which was cnm]ileted in 1003 at a cost 
of fortv thousand dollars, presents the most modern features of school 
architecture. It was built on the site of what A\as known as "the ward 
school," on James and Oak streets, anrl the old building, erected in 
1864, forms the rear wing of the structure as a whole. The high scbuol 



232 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

occupies the second lloor of the new hiiikhng, while the first contains 
eight grade rooms. The primary and kindergarten grades retain the 
first door of the old huilding, which while adjoining the high schndj 
with possibility of direct cnmmunicatinn. is nevertheless entirely separate 
so far as mo\'ement <if ])npils and administration are concerned. On the 
second tloor of the ward Imilding are located the rooms set apart for the 
use i)f the Xnrmal Training class, a new etlucational institution to he 
descrilied in a later paragraph. To mention only a few of the features 
that mark the new high .schocil huilding as a model, a brief description 
must include its chaste yet simple architecture, devoid of the tedious 
ornamentation of earlier ])eriods, the wide and ample and commodious 
effects gained without introduction of bare and factory-like exterior 
and interior: the large study room on the second floor; the well equipped 
laboratories: the grouping of rocnns and halls for the purpose of etYective 
discipline: the fan system of ventilali< m : the autiimatic regulation of 
fuinace heating: and man.)- other conveniences which a Ijrief inspection 
discloses. 

Besides the high school building, which is the general name for 
the entire structure at James and Oak streets, there is the Central build- 
ing or Union scliool l;uilding. on Main and Parsonage streets, the 
central porti<ai of which, built in iSoi. is the oldest school building in 
the city. L'ntil the erection of the new liigh school building, the high 
.school was accommodated there, but now it is the home of the Seventh 
and Eighth grades departmental work, and also the lower grades for 
that section of the cit}-. 

The McKinley Imilding, a foiu--room brick building in the First 
ward on the South side, erected in 1903. accommodates si.\ grades 
with four teachers. 

The institutions of education above descriljed have developed front 
the district school, supported at first by ])rivate contributions. The 
settlers of this vicinity had Iniilt a log schoolhouse and employed Miss 
Hannah Compton (afterward Mrs. Elias Jewell) as teacher in 1840. 
This schoolhouse stood on the n\d cemetery grounds, near West and 
Green streets, and was attended by the children of the Hamilton, 
AfcOmbei' and other pioneer families. .'\ school in Wayne townshij). 
near the present citv limits, next afforded educational facilities, as also 
a select school ke])t by ?\Irs. Henry Hills out on the State road, in .section 
25 of Silver Creek. Several select schools were taught. In 1850. after 
the founding of the village, a schoolhouse was built on the site of the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY -^33 

present Methudist church. The church suciet}', in the latter 50s, buught 
and removed this building. 

Such was the situation when A. D. P. Van Buren came to Dowa- 
giac and organized the schools on the basis of permanent growth. Tn 
quote his own words: "Miss H. i^Iarie Metcalf, of Battle Creek, had 
started the Young Ladies" school at Dowagiac, but soon found it so 
large that she sought help, consequently 1 was requested to take charge 
as principal, which 1 did, October 4. 1856, she l)ecoming assistant. The 
village of Dowagiac was then some seven }-ears nld, had some 1,200 in- 
habitants, had t\\(i churches, four ta\-erns, and stores enough to ac- 
commodate the surrounding countr}-. 

"The school was comix)sed of girls from the age of twenty down 
to the child of se\-en or eight years. These, with some ten or twelve 
Ixiys, to fa\i)r certain parents, constituted our charge. .Vfter we had 
taught a quarter of the term the directors of the school district made 
arrangements with us to take charge of the Union school, which the 
people of Dowagiac were about to organize. Hence our iirogram was 
changed, and I was to be the one to call the school clans together here, 
as I had done six }-ears before in Battle Creek, and form them into ;i 
union school." 

So Dowagiac became equipped with a union school, so far as the 
preliminary organization and a year's trial of the school was concerned, 
but the town yet lacked a suitable school building. It was not till 1861 
that this was provided, in the erection of a porti(jn of the Central school 
building mentioned above. 

The instruction and care of the eleven hundred pu]iils in attend- 
ance at these schools is the work of Superintendent W. E. Cimkling. 
with a corps of instructors consisting of one ])rincipal for each of the 
three buildings and twenty-seven departmental and grade teachers. This 
large teaching force in itself represents the progress from a time when 
one teacher could care for the school children of the village. Mr. Conk- 
ling, the superintendent of the schools since 1896, and himself a gradu- 
ate of the high school with the class of 1881, is an enthusiastic and able 
educator and merits much of the credit for the present satisfactory con- 
ditions of education in Do\\agiac. The Ijuilding committee who su|)er- 
vised the construction of the high school building, which, perhaps, for 
many years will lie the best example of public architecture in the city, 
were Dr. F. H. Fssig and Dr. M. P. W'hite, who are still members of 
the school board. The other members of the board at this writing are : 



234 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

E. Thillipstju, president; Dr. J. H. Junes, treasurer; and Dr. F. H. 
CiM.lding, secretar)'. 

Dowagiac high school is naturally the scholastic pride of the city. 
Its rank as an institution cf learning of secondary grade is indicated 
hy its being accredited for the fourth time with the Universit}' of Michi- 
gan, so that high school graduates enter without examination the uni- 
versity or any of tlie colleges and normal schools of the state. And the 
high school is also accredited with the North Central Association of 
Colleges and Secondary Scluujjs, which includes the leading colleges 
and universities of the north central states. The high school course of 
study adopted at the middle of the _\ear 1906 is that reported by the 
state superintendent uf public instruction in accordance with the report 
of the Michigan commission on high school curricula. 

At the present writing there are one hundred and furty ])upils in 
the high school. Since the first class was graduated in 1864 the gradu- 
ates up to ,\pril. lyoC). numbered 334. The graduating class in 190O 
contained seventeen members. ele\'en of whom had signified their in- 
tention to go to college. The axerage age of giaduates is now about 
18 years and 6 months. 

Many successful men and wonien found their earlv iuspiratidU 
and training in the Dowagiac High scIkxjI. In this sketcli uf the school 
we may mention specifically some of the graduates in the various years. 
Of the class of 1870 was Charles W. Foster, now a lieutenant in the 
U. S. army. Arthur K. Beckwitli, suiierintendent of the Ruund Oak 
slK)ps, graduated in 1878, and a classmate was Harry B. Tuthill, judge 
O'f Superior Court at iMichigan City, Ind. The class of 1879 gave Dowa- 
giac three of its well knnwn men. Dr. F. H. Ccidding, W. F. White, 
manager of the drill wurks, and I'rank W. Lyle. Fred L. Colliy. the 
mill man. now of Detroit. \\as in the class of 1880, and Victor M. Tut- 
hill, of Grand Rapids, came out in 1882. Another graduate is Dr. .Mice 
I. Conklin, of Chicago. Clyde ^^'. Ketcham, the lawyer, graduated in 
1894, and Fred E. Phillipson, also of Dowagiac, in 1893. Miss Louie 
Colby, of the Prang Educational Company, W. C. Edwards, of the Ed- 
wards Manufacturing Company, and A. B. Gardner, of the Round Oak 
wnrks, all graduated in 1888. The class of '94 also graduated John F. 
Mur])h\-, a surgeon in the If. .S. navy; Robert L. Hampton, the Glen- 
wood stockman: Earl B. FTawks, a lawyer in the state of Washington, 
and Bert H. Fleming, a Methodist minister. A. P. Oppenheim, the 
merchant, graduated in 1895 ; J. Bernard Onen, the Battle Creek law- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 235 

yer, in 1896; Fred L. Dewey, the merchant, in 1897. Classmates of 
Mr. Dewey, were Xels X. Stenberg, dentist at Three Rivers; J. Whit- 
iield Scattergood, local editor of the Daily News; and F. B. Wedow, 
with the American Express Co. at Manistee. Clifford C. Robinson, a 
physician at Indiana Harbor; F. E. Phillipson, the merchant in Dowa- 
giac, and Hall H. King, assistant secretary of state at Lansing, were 
members of the class of 1898. From the class of '991 should be men- 
tioned I. J. Phillipson, lieutenant in the army ; Bessie M. Vrooman, 
teacher at Big Rapids, IMich. ; E. J. Blackmore, dentist at Hartford, 
Mich. ; B. S. Gardner, dentist at Dowagiac, and S. P. Savage, principal 
of the Central school at Dowagiac. C. J. Brosan, principal of the 
high school at Ovid, Mich., belonged to the class of 1901 ; T. J. Brosan, 
now practicing law in Detroit, came out in 1902, and Roy Marshall, 
who has made rapid stritles in newspaper work and is now connected 
with the Detroit free Press, was also a member of the class of 190J. 

GR.JiDU.^TES OF DOWAGIAC HIGH SCHOOL. 

1864 — Isaac R. Dunning, Lottie Hills, Hattie Smead. 

1866^ — Jesse P. Borton, J. B. Craw-ford, Josie Harris, Lydia He- 
bron, John Rosevelt, Daniel E. Thomas. 

1867 — Annis Gage, Fannie Hebron. Una Hebron, Frank A. Lar- 
zalere. 

1868 — Delia Beckwith, Maggie Cullom. 

1869 — ]\Iinnie Arens. Marcia Buck, Nellie Cady. 

187O' — C. Wilber Bailey, Charles W. Foster, Frank H. Reshore, 
A. N. Woodruff. 

1872 — Florence Cushman, Carrie Harwood, Frank McAlpine. 

1873 — Sarah Andrus, W. H. Hannan, Etta Henderson, Nellie 
Hull, Byron McAlpine. 

1875- — Ella Reshore. 

1876 — Hattie Foster, Augusta Dopp, Ida Mosher, Anna Tuthill. 

1877 — Edward Brow-nell, Lola Keatley, b'annie Starratt. 

1878 — Melva Arnold, Arthur Beckwith, Eva Coney, Harry Tuthill. 

1879 — Ida Arens, Dora Blachlev, Lillian Brownell, Alice Barnev, 
F. H. Codding, Allie Clark. W. F.'Hoyt, F. W. Lyle, Belle Mason, 
Susie Rouse, Ed. Snyder, Nellie Stebbins, Cora \\'heelock. 

1880 — Addie Brasier, F. L. Colby. Grace Gustine, Homer D. Nash, 
Kittie E, Starks. 

1881 — Lottie Andrews, Stella Coney, W. E. Conkling, Ina Dopp, 
Stella Powell. May Spencer. Matilda Stark, Asa P. Wheelock. 

1882 — Kate Bassett, Emma Brownell, Ida Howard, Belle Huff. 
Carleton S. Roe, Nora Sliepard, Victor M.. Tuthill. 



230 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

1883 — Addie S. ,\danis, Cameron C. Clawson, Rutli E. Cone)'. 
Lou Keatley. Maude Martin. Mabel Rouse. Rose Snyder. 
1884 — Horace G. Conkling. 

1885 — Eva Barker, Eva Barney, Dixon Churcliill, Will Jessup. 
1886 — Grace Bilderhack. Stella Bond. Mary E. Conkling, Lyle 
I-'letcher. Ella Gra}'. Grace Mater, Lena Taylor, May Van Riper. 

1887 — Harrv I-Jigelnw. Lula Griswokl, Jessie H(j\vser, (jeorgia 
Watson. 

1888— Louie Colliy, W. C. lulwards, Lura Detendorf, Flora Bren- 
ner, A. B. Gardner. ( Irace Hardy, .\ddie Hendersun, Morence Junes. 
Edith Jones. Ruth Smith. Mary Taylor. 

1889 — S_\'l\ia L)a\'. Cora Ferris. Xellic hdanders. Lena Judd. 
Minnie Rice. Lena Starrctt. 1 lattie Wiley. 

1890 — Nellie Boyd. Alice 1. Conklin. Clara (iriswold, Mabel C. 
Lee. Hannah G. Stenberg. Minta M. Wenner. 

1891 — Estella Ackerman. Edward 1'. Cimk. Arthur W. Griswold, 
Frank C. Hardy, Lizzie Hartsell, Frances M. Merwin. Maleta Rudolphi. 
1892 — Jennie Larkin. Minnie Steele. Russell Van Antwerp. 
1893— \\\ E. Becker. Jay I'.oyrl. lA-a McNab. Mabel C. Miller. 
yVnna E. Rudolphi. Kate L. Bigelow, Harriet F. Dewey, Fred E. Phillip- 
son. 

1894 — L;A'erne C. Bilderback. ISlancbe A. I'danders. Bert H. Flem- 
ming. Earl B. Hawks. Inlin A. Iar\is Glennie E. Rcames. Grace E. 
^^'atson. Robert L. Hampton. M'abel E. Allen. Tna C. Gage. C. W. 
Ketcham. Parker McMasier. John 1'". Murphy, Bessie Stenberg. 

1895 — Hannah L. Ackerman. Letha B. Elkerton. Guy B. Flem- 
ming. Peter M. Halfert. Amy E. Pegg. Homer S. Reames. La\^erne E. 
Searls, Genevieve Howser. (iertrude Dewey, Bertha Van Ri]ier. Riiliert 
F. Munger, Leslie C. Sammons, .\. P. Oppenheim. 

1896 — Leon L. Barney. Phebe Hunter. Ralph Wanamaker. ]\lyron 
Copley. William N. Beach, Maude E. Becker, J. Bernard Onen. 

1897 — Eva L. Park. Louise J. Reshore, Margaret Shigley, Herbert 
P. Curtis, Fred L. Dewey, Mabel Smith, Glenn E. True. Martha E. 
Luedtke, Clarice Bushnell. Mvrta Mae Clarke, Bertha Sprague. Frank 
M. Broadhurst. Alice I. Frost, Ethel Goble, Nels L. Stenberg. J. W. 
Scattergood, Ethel Tice, Mae Williams, ^^'alter Lang. Thomas P. Leary. 
Verna E. M_\-ers. Frank B. Wedow. 

1898 — Eva Hollowav, Clara Lvle. Gertrude Rix. Eva Co])ley. 
Maude Miller. Jere Mosher. Clifford'C. Robinson. Herbert E. Phillip- 
scjn. Edith Bisho]), I<"red Woods. Bae Lake, Belle Stewart Gushing, 
Mabel Shotwell. Olive Marsh. Mabel Carr, Mary A. Murphy, Maude 
Smith, Ray Fiern, Edith Op|)enlieim. Addie Sisson. Minnie M. Par- 
meter. Paul H. King. 

1899^ — lr\-ing J. Philli]iscin. b^.essie Vrooman. Zora Denyes. Lucile 
Gregory. Harry W. Palmer. Katie Maier. Frank E. McMichael. Earl J, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY -Sdl 

Blackmore, Anna Elliutt, Bo}cl S. Gardner, Mabelle I'lewelling, Aliltun 
Hollovvay, James AUnphy, Edna Nurton, Laura Nicul, May Reighard, 
Sarah Parmeter, Samuel P. Savage, Verna B. True, Irene White. 

IQOO' — Mary E. Morse, Earle M. Parker, R. N. Cary, Jessie Gard- 
ner. Lena Swisher, Frank Edwards, Ezra Rutlierford. Henry Savage, 
Guy Zehier, OHve Knapp, Edward O'Brien, Ethel Wooster, Frank 
Stahl, Eugene Colgan, Jessie Smith. 

lyoi — Cornelius J. Brosnan, luuma Burk, Jennie Fisher, 01i\'e 
Gard, Grace Hampton, Alice Hawks. Hazel Hoyt, Hilda Hoover, Mattie 
Jenkins, Alice Julian, Burt Patch, I'earl Rice, Ina Sommer, Bernice 
Spencer, Harry Straub, Ber}l Van Antwerp. 

1902 — Frank Benedict, Robert Bielby, Frank Burn, Thomas J. 
Brosman, Eva E. Brown. Lilian Byers, Lloyd Conkling, Nellie Curtis, 
Birdie Fraser, Verna Hackett, Myrle Hopkins, Lora Leecler, Roy 
Marshall, Iva Michael, Ona Michael, Mary Norton, Ethel Pitcher, 
Maude Swislier. 

1903 — Pearl Anderson, DeZera Araue. Mabel Atlee. Earle Brown, 
Eva Burk, Hazel Caster, Ida Lee, Verge Lybrook, Viola IMerwin. Joseph 
R. Mitcheni, Irene Morton, Maud Preston, Donald B. Reshore, Louise 
Stebbins. 

1904 — Amy Acton, W. T. AUiger, Lavina Bryant, Virginia Chap- 
man, Beulah Connine, Winifred Fiero, Genevieve Hopkins, W. H. Lake, 
Anna Lewis, Edna Mann, Teresa O'Brien, Irene Sprague, Anita \Valker, 
Charles Wilber, Marion Wilson, Lyell J. Wooster, Fred D. Wooster. 

1905 — Walter Andrews. Vivian Blackmore, Ethel Conklin, LaVina 
Defendorf, Grace East, Minnie Egmer. Mable E. Engle, Carrel Flewell- 
ing, Olive Kinsey, Ray Murphy, Guy Neff, Edith Ryder, Edna Ryder, 
Otis G. Shanafelt, Charles Stahl. 

1906 — Laverne Argabright, Carmeleta Bartun, Lee Benner, Mamie 
Burk, Orris Gardner, Cora Green, Ruth Hendryx, Thomas Hackett, 
William Hamilton, Helen Hoy, Max Ireland, Nita Kibler, Marguerite 
Lewis, Lois Powell. Fanny Springsteen. Elsie Stahl. A'<ilney Wells. 

EDW.VRDSBl'RG SCHOOLS. 

Being the earliest important center in Cass county, it is natural 
that we find in Edwardsburg a scliool record going back to the pioneer 
clays. The prixate subscription schools, such as taught in tlmse days, 
and described on previous pages, were instituted here in the winter 
of 1829-30. in a ]3art of a doulile log house, Ann Wood being the 
first teacher. J. C. Olmsted, who, in the spring of 1836, when eleven 
years old, reached his present home east of Edwardsburg, says that his 
first teacher during the summer of 1836 was Angeline Bird, who taught 
in a private house. Then, in the summer of 1S37, the villagers built a 



238 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

frame sclioulhouse on lot 112, west of the present school building, the 
lot being" donated by Abiel Siher. This structure served until the "(ild 
brick" schoolhouse was erected on lot 132, adjoining the J\I. E. church 
lot on the east, in 1847, '^"'^1 which many years afterward served as 
a prixate residence. Its dimensions were 24 by 30 feet, with a parti- 
tion across the north end, leaving the room 24 by 24, and as many as 
115 scholars attended the school each day during the winter of 1856-57, 
an assistant teacher being emploxed. The next building was constructed 
in 1 86 1 at a cost of $3,000. 

In 1886 District No. 3, comprising Edwardsburg, was matle a 
graded school by Prof. G. W. Loomis, who was the first princiijal. 
Since that time the school has had the following principals ; 

1887-8— William Jessup. 

1889-90 — John B. Boyd and Michael Pemberton. 

1890-1- — Edmund Schoetzow. 

1891-2 — Miss Clare Pemberton. 

1892-4— H. R. Foster. 

1894-5 — F. A. Preston. 

1895-9 — Lemuel L. Coates. 

1899-1901 — V. D. Hawkins. 

1901-2 — Luther Ettinger and J. G. McMacken. 

1902-4 — J. G. McMacken. 

1904-6 — Clifford N. Brady. 

1906-7 — Claude L. Pemberton. 

The coiu'se of study through the regular twelve grades compares 
favorably with village schools of similar size and from time to time has 
1>een revised and adjusted to local needs and educational progress 
throughout the county and state. 

The board of education at this writing is: Henry Andrus, director; 
William K. Hopkins, moderator; J. D. Bean, treasurer; Marcus S. Olm- 
sted, trustee; Edwin Harris, trustee. 

The faculty for 1906-07: Claude L. Pemberton, principal; Miss 
Charlotte Preble, grammar; Miss Anna Hafelt, intermediate; Miss 
Nellie \\'illiams, jirimary. 

Informal commencement exercises were held in 1887, the year the 
school was fully graded, and Lillian Krome was then graduated. 

Following is the list of graduates, dating from 1888. 

1888 — Laura Snyder, Merta Miller, Ida Harvvood, Genevieve 
Hanson, Bertha Thompson. 

1893 — Henrietta Hadden, Dora Silver. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY :i31» 

1894 — Lisle Shanahan, Hugh Beauchamp, Blanche Williams. Flnr- 
ence Holdenian, Letta Lukenbach. 

1896 — Clifford Brady, Jessie Thornton, Alabel Parsons, Carrie 
Hadden, Anna Beauchamp, Alice Brady, Grace Hogmire, JNIatie Cohb, 
Mamie Graham. 

1897 — I"^^ Smith, Andrew Hadden, Fred Harwooil. 

1898 — Claude Reed, Roliert Hadden. Verna Paul, d instance 
Brady, Jessie Rickert. 

1899' — Walter Thompson, 3iJaxa Cook, William Parish. 

1900 — Harley J. Carlisle, Ida Perkins, Florence Parsons, Harry 
Kitchen, Warren Ouiniby, Margaret Hadden. ]\[arion Bradv. Ida Runkle. 
Lizzie Runkle. 

1901 — Winnifred Smith. Arthur Runkle. John Kitchen. 

1902 — George Andrus, Arthur Brady, Carl Manchow, Lloyil Dun- 
ning, Harry Meredith, Eleanor Bacon. Martha Hadden. Ella Truitt. 
Minnie Rogers. 

1903 — Maude E. Kelsey, Lewis H. Runkle. Adah B. Curtis. Gene- 
vie\e Light. George L. Hadden, Winifred Hanson. 

1904 — Zendella Truitt, Lottie M. Rose, David Bacon, Charles A. 
Bement, Flora E. Martin. 

1905 — Leona Bean, Mary Snyder. Bessie 01i\'er. Lvdia Thornton. 
Belle Harwood, Blenn Van Antwerp. 

1906 — Elizabeth Hadden. Thomas Head. Leidv Olmsted. Harry 
George. 

MARCELLUS SCHOOLS. 

The founding of a village at ^Nlarcellus Center soon made necessary 
the fonnation of a school of higher grade than the ordinary district 
school, the children of the villagers at first attending the school east of 
town. In 1874 district No. 9 was organized within the village, the first 
meeting being in xA^ugust. The first school board were : Levi Bridge. 
W. O. Matthews. David Snyder. Under the supervision of George W. 
Jones. Leander Bridge and David Hain, as building committee, $1,000 
was expended in the erection of a one-story brick schoolhouse. 24 by 36 
feet in dimensions. Joel Booth was the first teacher. In 1S76 a second 
story was added at a cost of .$844. and thereafter two teachers empl(ived. 
Miss Kellogg being the extra teacher. The number of scholars in- 
creased so that rooms had to be rented in Centennial hall. The last 
teacher in the old building was Eugene Bradt. assisted by Estella Hois- 
ington and Mrs. John Baent. 

It was not until 1881 that the Marcellus schools attained to the full 
possibilities of usefulness and classified efficiency. At the regular school 
meeting in 1880 it was voted to raise $7,000 by issue of bonds for new 



240 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

buiklings. Twehe lots were purchased of G. W. Jones, located in the 
east part of the block lx)unded b_\' Arbor, Center, Woodland and Burney 
streets. 

In the fall of that year was completed the two-story, four-room 
brick building on the south side of the village, at an expense of $8,000, 
and in the bellowing spring was occupied. The building committee 
who hai-l charge of this con.struction were George W. Jones, David 
Snyder. John JManning. .\lex. Taylor, Manning Taylor, Dr. A. Carbine. 

At the regular school meeting of 1882 it was voted to grade the 
school. The board of trustees at that date were : Dr. Horace Carbine, 
H. M. Xottingham, Levi Burney. ^^■. O. George. Dr. C. E. Davis. L. B. 
Des \'oignes. 

The principals, or superintendents, of the Marcellus graded school 
ha\-e been, R. T. Edwards, who published the first catalogue in 1882: 
George DeLong. ]\Ir. Abjntgomery. J. W. Hazard. C. H. Knapp. Ed- 
mimd Schoetzow. \V. L. Ta}lor. Edmund Schoetzow. who. with the 
excei)tion of two years, has served since the fall of 1891. C. H. Knapp, 
in 1887, got out a catalogue for a ten-grade course of study. When 
Mr. Schoetzow took charge, in 1891, he organized the full twelve grades 
and completed the regular high school curriculum. 

The school was so crowded that in June, 1892, it was voted to bond 
the district for $2,500 to build a two-stoiy addition, which was com- 
pleted about January. 1893. 

For 1906-7 the Board of Education are: Dr. C. E. Davis, presi- 
dent; E. M. Ketcham, treasurer; F. S. Flail, secretary; I. S. Smith. G. 
^^ . Kroll. trustees. Faculty; Edmund Schoetzow. superintendent; 
Grace Templeton. principal ; Leone B. Dennis, assistant principal ; Eva 
C. Ditzell, second grammar; Frances \'olkmer. first grammar; Katherine 
Brennan. second primaiy ; Inez Willard, first primary. Inez Willard is 
teaching her seventeenth year in the first primary room, having taught 
nine years the first time. The total number of graduates is 119. Of 
these 100 were under Edmund Schoetzow's administration. 

jr.XRCELLrS GRADUATES. 

1889 — Edwin Drury. ]\Iaude Bogert, Guy Keene. 

1890 — Julius Stern, Charles Giddings, Homer Kidney. Pearle An- 
derson. 

1891 — Grace Arnold. Bertha M. Hartman. Margaret R. Hutchin- 
son. 

1893 — Guy Snyder. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 241 

1894 — Earle R. Clemens, Mae Manning, Belle Taylor, Enoch G. 
Bogert, John M. Alexander. 

1895- — Harriet L. Vincent, BeDee M. t\.iurman, Helen B. iNlunger, 
Grace E. Taylor, Jessie I. Mayhard. 

1896 — William C. Hartman, Edith L. Hall, Mabel A. Vincent, 
Parthenia M. Stillwell, Ola AT Nicholson, Charles R. Welcher, Maude 
M. Palmer, Mabel C. Easterbrook, Pearle E. Swift, *Barton C. Notting- 
ham, Bert J. Vought. 

1897 — Roy E. Goodspeed, Mamie \'. Sherman, W'illard J. Gunter, 
Annis M. Mikel, Willard C. Davis, Eliza A. Reynolds. 

189S— A. Florence Taylor, Tacie R. Udell, V. Maude Marr. 

1899 — Clyde Clemens, \'era M. Jones, Carolyne L. Stern, Margery 
I. Kern, Florence McManigal, Burt L. Loveridge. 

1900 — Bertha Harris, Elma Alohney, Mary Remington. Susie 
Lutes, Georgia H. Hartman. L. Clare Poorman, Leroy S. Long, Nellie 
Batchelor, Earle J. Gould. 

1901 — Carl G. Fulton, Leona Kent, Irene Cropsey, Harry A. Brad- 
ford, Louella Apted, Clella E. Davis, Genevieve Mumford, Gav A. 
Webb, Merle Mack, Edna R. DeCou. 

1902 — Clair Smith. Sarah M. Hall, Frances C. Streeter. Mal>el S. 
Long, Sarah E. Lutes. Lura Rosewarne, Jennie Lowry, Anna Bachelor, 
Mabel S. Fletcher, Lulu 'SI. Franklin, Jennie Cleckner, Abby R. ]\Iunger. 
John H. Ma.xam. 

1903 — Neva F. Kent, Birdie Walker. Hattie R. Potter, Harry P. 
Jones, Albert J. Carpenter, Helen H. Stern, Ethel Apted, Hollister H. 
Savage, Deane E. Herbert, Daisy E. Lewis, Jennie i\I. Thompson. 

1904 — Rosa Hartshorn. Esther George. Mary Long, Alice Street- 
er. Beulah Potter, Clark Whitenight, Bessie Thurkow. 

1905 — Henriette George, Mary DeForest, Neva I. Arntild. Ethel 
M. Hnllidav. Fmar Hice. Florence Stern. A'era Thurkow, Jessie M. 
East. 

1906 — \'aughn R. LaBarre, Jennie M. Spitler. Leona Mae Moxley 
(colored). Fanny M. Saulpaugh, Mildred I. Krise, Cleta Beatrice Kern. 
Sarah Orril INIack. Clarence A. Bradford. C. Blanche Waldron. Rena 
Hoisington, Grace M. Lewis, Kathrs'n B. Colburn, V. Kathn.'n Ta\'lnr. 
Verna B. Siegel. 

V.ANDAT.IA PUBLIC SCHOOI,. 

The A'andalia Public School \\-as graded liv Jesse Borton, the prin- 
cipal, in 1873. Mr. Borton had been at the head of the school some 
time before and remained there until 1876. His successors have been : 

1877-8 J. Handschue. 
1879-89 Michael Pemberton. 



' Killed in the Spanish-American war. 



2i2 HISTORY UF CASS COUNTY 

1890 rimniab Chalmers. 

1891-3 Chester K. Cone. 

] 894-5 A. ¥. Trobst. 

1896-8 C. L. Pemberton. 

1899 C. L. Cathennan. 

1900 S. J. Hole. 
1901-3 L. O. UeCanip. 
1905 H. S. East. 

190O *1\. T. Baldwin, John Myron. 

The school has graduated one hundred and nine students notwith- 
stantling there were no graduating classes in 1884, 1886, 1896, 1899 
and 1904, and the first class in 1883. 

GRADUATES. 

1883 — Rose Bonine, Minnetta Thurston, Roljert Coats, Florence 
Thomas, William Shillings, C.eorge D. Smith. Ella Carrier, Elroy 
Alexander. 

1885 — Ida Tinker. Fred Jefferson, Herman S. East, *Alattie Cross, 
Henry Lane, *Uena O'Dell. 

1887 — C. H. Bonine. Erma b'aulkner, Eva O'Dell, William Oxen- 
ford. 

1888 — Samuel Stephens. Clare Pemberton, Leroy E. Deal, G. E. 
Campbell, Bertha Bonine. 

1889' — Edna Fellows. Charles Wetherbee, Frank Lewis, FNet 
O'Dell, John Setzler, *Edith Roys, Lnren Miller. 

1890 — Pearl Bump, J. C. b'aulkner, M, Lena Lynch, Carrie Kirk. 
Minnie Lambert, '"Cora Thomas. 

T091 — Frank E. Faulkener. '''Charity ?^lulrine. Earl Merritt, Rali)li 
Bogue. 

1892 — *E\-a Jefferson, Bertha Arnold, Mary Seager. 

1893 — F'rank Blood, Nellie Royer, Cora Arnold, Blanche Simpson, 
Lola Thurston, Iva Cussans. Clara Whited. 

1894 — Ella Symons, Nellie Kirk, Ada Phillips, Guy Van .\nt- 
werp. Charles Setzler, Bernice A'lcKinne}-, Myrta Shillings, Mary Smith, 
Albert Roys, Ethel Orr. Margaret fVmberton. Cora Royer, Odessa 
.Seager. ^^'illiam Setzler. 

1895 — Belle L\nch. Meda \\'eikle, Etta Train, Mary Skinner, Han- 
nah Bogue. 

1897 — Leona Hollister. Ethel Deal. Blanche McCabe. John Simp- 
son, "Verna Royer. 

1898 — Minnie WMlson. \^esta Lewis. Hattie Mealoy. Clarence 
Faulkner, Edna Barnum. 

* Resigned. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 243 

1900 — Glennie Heslet, Flora Hollister, Ruby M. Johnston, Anna 
Setzler, Vera Lynch, jMarie Denison, Mabel Honeyman. 

1901 — Blanche W'illse, .Arlie Bonine, Blanche Denison, LuW'ida 
Copely. 

1902 — Leon Alexander, Ward A. Bump, hdorence Doan, \\'a)'ne 
Beardsley, Mabel A. Bonine. 

1903 — Clara Seidl, Fancheon Lewis, *P. Jay Freer, Carl Johnson, 
G. Belle Freer. 

1905 — Sadie Bonine, Clara Bonine, Mabel Curtis, Deva Brickell, 
Floyd Keller. 

1896 — Georgiana Longsduff, Onear Fisher, Reta Van Antwerp, 
Burt Pullin. 

The faculty for 1906 and '07: John Myron, principal; Mrs. Mae 
Dunning and Miss Ruby M. Johnston, assistants: ^Nliss Minnie Wilson, 
intermediate: Miss Mabel Bonine, primary. 

* Deceased. 



244 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XVn. 
LIBRARIES. 

ladies' LIERAKY association of CASSOrOLIS. 

In October, 1870, an organization under the name of "Cassopolis 
Reading Room and Librar}- Assdcialion" \vas effected, and the fol- 
lowing February incorporated with the following named incorporators : 
W. W. Peck, W. P. Bennett, C. S. Wheaton, J. T. Stevens, A. Gar- 
wood, A. B. Morley. A. Maginnis, H. Norton, O. Rudd, M. L. Howell, 
John Tietsort, J. M. Shepard, L. H. Glover, J. B. Boyd. The declared 
objects of the organization were, "the establishment and maintenance 
of a library .'uid reading room; the prociu'ing and furnishing of lectures 
on literary and scientific subjects; and tlie affording of such other means 
of literary, scientific and intellectu.al improvement as the assnciation 
b}- its ln--laws ma}- pr(j\-i(le." The juililic reading room feature of the 
organization was kejit u\) less than a year, but the library has Ijeen 
maintained to the ]>resent lime, and contains about fifteen huinlrecl 
volumes of choice fiction, history and travels, sheltered in the Pioneer 
Room of the Court House. 

A few of the ladies of Cassopolis have managed the library since 
the discontinuance of the reading room, and September 5th, 1905, new 
articles of incorporation were executed by the following women, who 
were made directors under ihe new organization — Ladies' Library As- 
sociation of Cassopolis: ]\Iay S. Armstrong, Lucy E. Smith, Allie ^I. 
DesVoignes, Addie S. Tietsort, Hattie J. Holland. Maryette H. Glover, 
Sarah B. Price. 

Its officers are: Sarah B. Price, President; Maryette H. Glover, 
Secretary: Addie S. Tietsort. Treasurer. 

Article VII of the articles of association is as follows : The 
oflicers shall lie women twenty-one years of age and residents of Casso- 
polis, and members of the association. Any person paying the mem- 
bership fee pro\ided for in the bv-laws may become a member. 

The membership fee is one dollar, and the further fee of seventy- 
five cents each year after the first year. This i)a)-ment authorizes the 




^*dtb^' 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY M5 

member to draw books from the library, whicli is open to its members 
Saturda_v afternoons, and in charge of the ladies. 

*THE ladies' library ASSOCIATION. 

riie library movement in Dowagiac was begun by the ladies of 
the city in 1872. April 9th a meeting was called and a constitution 
and by-laws were presented and adopted. The city was then canvassed 
for subscribers to the capital stock, the amount of which was fixed at 
Si, 000, divided into 500 shares at $2.00 each. About 200 shares were 
sold. With this money books were purchased and the enterprise was 
fairl)- started. Books were loaned under proper regulations. The sign- 
ers of the constitution, or charter members, were : Mesdames ]\Iaria 
Palmer, Amanda W. Jones, Mary E. Lyle, ]\Iay E. Bowding, Emma 
E. Van Riper, Jerusha E. Bailey, Lorraine Dickson, Caroline J. Mul- 
vane, Lillie A. Curtis and Miss Gertrude ReShore. A room was rented 
for the library until 1888, when P. D. Beckwith became interested in 
the cause and knowing the need of a permanent home for the library, 
built for it a small frame building and fitted it up with cases for the 
books and all necessary furniture and, with the lot on which the building 
stood, deeded it to the Association. Until his death Mr. Beckwith was 
ever a good and generous friend to the library cause. 

By the will of \\'m. K. Palmer, an old and respected citizen, the 
Association received $1,200, the only gift of money ever received. In 
1902 the charter of the Association was renewed for thirty years. 

To the ladies of the Association who worked so long and earnestly 
the people of Dowagiac are indebted for tlie splendid Public Library 
they now possess. 

Feeling the need of a wider_ influence than a subscriptir)n library 
could have, they interested their friends in an efifort to secure a Carne- 
gie Library for the citv, and on receipt of the offer, went before the 
city council and pledged their books and' income to the support of a 
public library. The money from the Palmer estate furnished the 
foundation of a permanent book fund for the library, and the incinne 
from the rent of the former library building is expended quarterly for 
books for the Public Library. 

The Ladies' Association, while co-operating with the PuIjHc Li- 
brary board and having its only purpose in advancing the interests of 
the librai-y, is still maintained as an independent organization. The 



* Note — This article was contributed to the history by Gr.ice RcShore. 



2i6 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ofikers for the current year are: Mrs. Maljle Lee Junes, President: 
Miss Frances 1\1. Rdss, \'ice President; Airs. J. O. Becraft, Treasurer: 
Mrs. E. \. Rdgers. Secretary-. 

nOWACIAC PUBLIC LIHKARY. 

The Ijuilding- is tlie gift of .\ndrew Carnegie, the grounds the gift 
(if the Beckwith Estate. i'he Puijiic Liijrary and Reading Room were 
estal)lislied hy a resolution adopted March i6th, 1903; at a meeting of 
the coninmn council of the city, and at the same meeting the mayor 
appointed as the first Ijoard of trustees, Mrs. E. N. Rogers. ]\Irs. F. J. 
.Vtwell, :\lrs. A. B. Gardner, Miss N. .\. Atwell, Miss Grace ReShore, 
Messrs. Wm. F. Hoyt, C. \V. Flendryx, Rev. L. M. Cirant, F. L. Be- 
craft. The hoard organized and elected officers, C. W. Hendryx, presi- 
dent; Mrs. \. B. Gardner, \ice president: Miss Grace ReShore, secre- 
tary. Building committee: ^^'. F. Hoyt, Mrs. Gardner, F. L. Becraft. 

The architect selected was Berkeley Brandt of Chicago. The 
material used for the Iniikling is \itrified brick in two colors — with 
columns and trimmings in Bedford stone. The interior finish is in 
weathered oak. walls tinte<I terra cmta with light buff ceilings. At the 
right of the entrance is the children's room, with low shelves on three 
sides of the room fur hooks. The deli\'ery desk is in the center, with 
the steel book-stacks at the back ; the general reading room at the left 
of the entrance. At the right frcmi the stack room is the librarian's 
room, and at the left is the reference and trustees' room. 

The lighting is a combination of electricity and gas. The furniture 
is oak in Mission style. In the basement is an assembly room seating 
about 250, which will be used for the children's league and other small 
gatherings. 

The Library recei\-ed from 'Sir. Elias Pardee, an old resident of 
the city, a valualile museum consisting of stuffed birds and small ani- 
mals and some \-er}' fine deer and elk heads : birds' nests and eggs, shells, 
etc., which add greatly to the attractiveness of the rooms and interest 
and instruct the young people. 

In November, 1903, the cornerstone of the building was laid with 
appro))riate ceremonies by the ^Michigan Grand Lodge of Masons. Xo- 
\-ember roth. 1904, the librarv was opened with an informal reception 
in the evening, and the next day began issuing books. At the time 
of opening the librarv contained 3.533 volumes — 2.752 of which were 
frcm the Ladies' Library Association. 783 from the public school lilirary. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 2i7 

1,026 volumes have been added since. The circulation for the past year 
was 21,198 volumes. Readers' cards have been issued to 1,703 persons. 
The officers of the library board for the current year ( 1906) are : 
Wm. F. Hoyt, President; Frances ]\I. Ross, Vice President: Grace 
ReShore, Secretary and Liljrarian. 

BECKWITH JIEXIORIAL THEATRE. 

The Beckwith Memorial Theatre, dedicated by Colonel Robert G. 
Tngersoll in January, 1893, is constructed of Lake Superior red sand- 
stone with backwalls of firick. The building is 85x115 feet in dimen- 
sions, and is three stories in height. The front has a genuinely monu- 
mental effect, the first story being a magnificent arcade of fi_iur great 
arches, with twenty feet to each span, and showing the depth of the 
walls. On each pier is the portrait of a noted woman in In ild relief, 
such famous women as George Eliot, George Sands, Mary Anderson, 
Sarah Bernhardt, Rachael and Susan B. Anthony being represented. 
Above this space smoothly chiseled stone reduces the effect again, and 
the top story front consists of semi-circular headed arches which form 
another arcade. Upon the bay directly over the main entrance is a 
large medalion portrait of Philo D. Beckwith, beneath which a mag- 
nificently car\-ed panel liears the name "Beckwith." In the other front 
bays are portraits in medalirm of Beethoven. Cliopin. Rossini. Wagner. 
Verdi, Liszt, Voltaire, Ingersoll, Payne, Hugo, Emerson. Whitman, 
Goethe and the immijrtal Shakespeare. 

The main entrance to the Ijuilding is in the middle di\'ision of 
the ground floor front and is eighteen feet in width. This also furnishes 
the entrance to the corner ground floor room, which is occupied by Lee 
Brothers & Company's bank, than which there is no finer banking room 
in the country. On the opposite side is the entrance to the postoffice, 
which is fitted up with the latest appliances for the expeditious handling 
of the mails. From off the arcade a magnificent flight of stairs leads 
to the second floor, the front ]iortion of which is occupied by the offices 
of the Beckwith estate. 

The stage is fiftv feet wide and thirty-eight feet deep, with Iieauti- 
fully ornamented boxes on either side. Everything has been done with 
a lavish hand. There are fifteen elegantly furnished dressing rooms, in 
which are all the conveniences for the comfort of the disciples of Thespis 
who visit this house. The drop curtain is a composite work of art. 
The general rlesign is an original figure composition in classic Greek, 



2iS HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

and is nionunienlal and decorative in contradistinction to the realistic 
schudi and apparently inspired by the artist's study of the theatre itself. 
The figures are superbly drawn and ixiinted, and the landscape portion 
is magnificent. Tlie whole presents a fitting picture by the greatest 
artists of the time. Each has dune well his pari. Xo one mintl could 
ha\'e conceixed it: nor could an\- one hand lia\'e executed it. It will live 
as a classic work oi art when its makers shall have passed away. 

Tlie scenery is designed fur the c}clorama efi^ect which has been 
found so effectix'e, and which was first used in the ,\uditorimu in Chi- 
cago. By this arrangement a scene can be set as a street or a garden 
by simijly moving the scenes, which are profiled on both sides and top, 
anywhere desired. Every set of machineiy is a finished piece of art. 
It is, after the latest fashion, lashed together with ropes, and is cai}able 
of being made into seventv-fi\'e distinct stage dressings. 

.All the ornamental work in the house is after the fashion of the 
(irecian school, and e\'erything possible has been done to make this, the 
first memorial theatre erected in the countr)-, the most beautiful play- 
hoirse in the land. There are 499 o\-er-stufFed mohair plush, chairs, dyed 
in a light fawn and flesh colors, 329 of which are in the parquette and 
170 gracing the balcony. The gallery seats 200 comfortably. 

The problem of electric lighting of theatres has been solved in this 
house by the use of a large switchboard, in which there are twenty- 
five levers and nine ])o\verful resistance coils. The lighting of the stage 
itself is exceptionally coiuplete, four hundred electric lamps in three 
colors being utilized for this purpose. The heating and the ventilation 
have been well looked to, and there never was a theatre whose air was 
more ])m-e and whose warmth was more regular and comfortable. 

'idicre i^ ;i rooun- fo\er and ;in abundance of fire escapes: in fact 
nothing has been left undone which could add to the attractiveness and 
completeness of this house. It is a new and splendid model which time 
will demonstrate tO' be almost, if not quite, the acme of human skill in 
architecture, design and decoration. 



HISTORY Oi' CASS COUNTY 2iu 



CHAPTER XVHL 
THE CASS COUNTY' PRESS. 

In the year of this writing there are eight newspapers puhhshed 
regularly in Cass county. Of these there is one daily, and one pub- 
lished twice a week. Outside of the two large centers Edwardsburg and 
Marcellus support each a paper. 

In one respect, at least, the newspaper history of Cass county is 
noteworthy. All hut one of the eight papers have had a continuous 
existence — though nut all under continuous proprietorship — for at least 
a quarter of a century. The newspaper graveyard of Cass county is 
surprisingly small. Tlie li\e ones are not so much troubled by the 
ghosts of defunct enterprises as in many other counties that might be 
named. Not that jnurnalism has been without the usual reefs and 
shallows in this county. Not that there are no wrecks to record. Here, 
as elsewdiere, some newspapers, delivered in hope, have died in blameless 
infancy ; one or two, having served their ephemeral purpose, passed out 
without the sting of failure ; the existence of one or two others was 
fitful and stressful from the first, and the end was the happiest part of 
their career. 

The early settlers of the county had no newspaper. Perhaps the 
most familiar paper that could lie considered a "home paper" was the 
Niles Herald, which was published by A. E. Draper from 1833 to 1838, 
being suspended at the latter date. In its columns, no doubt, were pub- 
lished the legal notices from Cass county. The only other paper in 
southwestern Michigan that v.as regularly published at that time, so 
far as is known to the writer, was the Kalamazoo Gaccttc. which was 
established in 1834, and is now in its 73rd volume. 

More than fifteen years elapsed after the organization of Cass 
county before the first newspaper enterprise ventured a permanent abode 
in the county. The Cass County Advocate issued its first number March 
II, 1845. '^'''^ publishers got their equipment from the old Niles Ex- 
press. It announced a regular weekly appearance, but, as is well known, 
the intentions of early editor.s — often, too. of those still with us — did 
not possess the lireadth and height and irresistible force needed to over- 



250 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

come the insuperable obstacles that beset pioneer publishing. Very 
often tlie person whose name conspicuously appeared as "editor and 
prnprietiir," also was incumlient of the long list of positions that rank 
licli'W the supreme office dnwn U< the despised "devil." As business 
manager, as news gatherer, as tyi>esetter, as foreman i.if the press room, 
and p<jwer man for the hand press, the iild-tinie pulilisher had no sine- 
cru'e. Tfjo often his supjily nf juiper ran out before the means of trans- 
portation by wagon could firing him his next invoice. These condi- 
tions, and many otb.ers that we cannot here describe in detail, might 
ha\e interfered with the regular editing of the first Cass county news- 
paper. Certain it is, that its career was fitful. 

IMr. E. A. Gra\'es was the editor and proprietor: a Democrat in 
politics and conducting his paper accordinglv. Abram Townsend bought 
the enterjirise in iSq/i, but he, too, failed t(T make it prosperous. In 
1S50 it fell into the hands of another well known citizen, Ezekiel S. 
Smith. He evidently belie\-ed that Cassopolis was not a good field for 
a newspaper, and that the new railniad-Iiorn village of Dowagiac offered 
a Ijetter location. 

The remo\-al of the Cass County Adi'ocaic to Dowagiac in 1850 
ga\e that \-illage its first newspai>er. IMr. L. P. Williams soon bought 
the plant of I\fr. Smith, and by him the name was changed to the 
Dowagiac Times and Cass Coiiiit\ I'icl^ublicaii. In 1854, while the 
proprietor was a\va\- on :i business trip, the ciflice and the entire plant 
was destroyed by fire. Thus perished the first newspaper, after having 
lived nearly ten years. Its history was closed, for no successor, phoenix- 
like, ever rose from its ashes. 

The contents of the early newspaper call for brief comment. 
Apropos of this point, Mr. C. C. Allison says: "If you turn o\-er the 
pages of the early ]iaper expecting to find local news you will be dis- 
appointed. Now our papers exist and arc patronized for the local in- 
formation they contain : at that time this idea of journalism had not 
arrived, at least not in this part of the country. A letter from a foreign 
country, describing alien people anrl customs, was eagerly seized upon 
bv the editor, and its none too interesting facts spread over several col- 
umns of type. At the same time local imiiro\ements, county news, and 
the personal items which now form the live features of the simll news- 
paper, were usually omitted entirely or passed over with scant attention. 
Marriages and death.s and liirths formed the bulk of the local news in the 
newspaper of fifty years ago." 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 251 

After the departure of the Cass County Ailz'ucatc the citizens of 
Cassopohs evidentl}- feh the void caused liy no local newspaper. A 
stock company was organized, George B. Turner was selected as editor, 
and on March 17, 1850, the first nuniher of the National Dcmocntt 
was gi\'en to the public. I'ifty-six years ha\e passed since that date, 
and the National Democrat still flourishes. H. C. Shurter was the 
publisher for the original company. 

The first few years of this paper's existence were not unmarked 
by vicissitudes, at least in ownership. In 1854, Air. G. S. Boughton 
bought the paper, antl within a few months sold it to W. \\'. \'an Ant- 
werp. During the latter's proprietorship the late Daniel Blackman was 
editor. When the original stock company resumed control of the en- 
terprise in 1858, Mr. Blackman continued as editor, with Air. H. B. 
Shurter as puljlisher. But, however well the paper may have served its 
ostensible ends, its financial condition remained discouraging. In 186 1 
the plant was sold at sheriff's sale. The purchasers were Pleasant Nor- 
ton, D. AI. Howell and Maj. Joseph Smith. It was transferred by them 
to L. D. Smith, who managed it tw'o years — the first two' years of the 
war, when news was at a premium e\-ery where. In March, 1863, the 
paper re\"erted to Messrs. Norton, Howell and Smith. Major Smith 
taking the editurial end of the business. 

In i8h2 the proprietors had emploved as their publisher a young 
man, then twenty-tv>-o years old, named C. C. Allison. Born in Illinois 
in 1840 and coming tOi Cassopolis when eight years old, the dean, as 
he now is, of the newspaper profession in Cass county began his career, 
and is likely to end it in the National Democrat ofhce. He entered the 
office as an apprentice in 1855. He set type, wmte news items, and in 
a few years was master of the business. On May 5, 1863, he b()nght 
the paper, and from that date to this he has owned, managed and edited 
the oldest paper in (Jass county. 

The National Democrat is published weekly, is Democratic in poli- 
tics, and it has Ijeen the steadfast policy nf its proprietor to keep it in 
the first rank, an impartial and comprehensive disseminator of news, and 
at the same time an advocate of progress and public spirit in the affairs 
to which newspaper influence may be legitimately directed. 

The Repuljlican interests of the county are represented at Cassopolis 
by the Vigilant, which is alsn far more than a partisan journal; it is 
well edited, has live, clean news, and its standard of newspaper enter- 
prise is the very liighest. The / 'igilant has witnessed an entire genera- 



252 HISTORY Oi<" CASS COUNTY 

tion uf human progress, anJ its columns have contained the history in 
epitome of Cass county since tlie lOth of Ma}-, 1872, when its first cop_\' 
was issueiJ. IJ. B. IJarrinyton and Al. H. Barher were the founders 
of the paper. It went through se\-eral changes of ownership during the 
first years. C. L. Morton and W. H. Mansfield purchased it in Febru- 
ar}-, 1873, and in the following July Mr. ]\Iansfield became sole ])ro- 
prietor. 

In 187'! Air. Alanslield associated with himself Mr. James M. 
Shepard, a dentist b}- profession, and lia\ ing followed from 1868 to that 
date the practice of dentistry in Cassopolis. Air. She])ard. whose subse- 
quent career in public affairs is so well known, became the sole owner 
of the J'igiliint in 1878, and has conducted the paper under his per- 
sonal supervision except while engaged in his public duties. For se\'en- 
teen years Afr. ^\^ H. Berkey has been connected with the office, and 
for about ten years has been managing editor (if the J'igilaut. He is 
a thorough and alert newsiiaper man and shares in the credit for the 
success of the J'igHaiit. 

.Althnugh the jilant nf the Times and Cuss Coiiiily Republican was 
destroyed by fire in 1854, Dowagiac did not long remain an unoccupied 
field for newspaper endeavor. In the same year Air. James L. Hantt 
established the Dowagiac Tribune. The Tribune held undis]nite(l pos- 
session of the field until 1858. In the meantime the policy of its editor 
was bringing upon him a storm of disapproval that ended in a small 
newspaper war. 

It should be rememliered that the newspapers of that time were 
more of political "organs" than e\-en the strougest of modern ]iartisan 
journals. To advocate the success of its party and to give much the 
greater part of its news and editorial space to that cause was often the 
sole cause of a colmtr^• newspaper's existence. And the change from 
that custom to the later "news" paper is recent enough to be rememliered 
by all. 

Hence it came about that when the course of the Tribune had be- 
come distasteful beyond endurance to the Republicans of the county, the 
officials and leaders of Cass county Reptiblicanism met to consider and 
take action concerning their newspaper "organ." As a result of this 
meeting, which was held in January, 1858. o^•ertures were made to Air. 
Gantt either to dispose of the paper or to allow a committee to select 
an editrir. in which case the expense would be borne by the ]iart}- organ;- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 253 

zation. Mr. Gantt had no mind to surrender his prerogatives or pohcies, 
and his paper was issued as before. 

But there remained another method. Tlie party leaders induced 
W. H. Campbell and N. B. Jones to establish another paper in Dowagiac. 
This rival was called the Republican. Mr. Jones retired at the end of 
three months, but i\Ir. Campbell conducted the paper with such energy 
and was so well supported by his constituents that in 1859 ^^i'- Gantt 
sold him the good will of the Tribune, and moved tlie plant of the latter 
away. Thus the Republican was left master of the situation, and con- 
tinued for many years as the only Dowagiac paper. The names of the 
committee who were responsible for the establishment of the Republican 
were Justus Gage, Jesse G. Beeson, W. G. Beckwith, Joshua Lofland 
and ^Villiam .Sprague. 

The Republican, like other Cass county papers, has passed through 
a series of ownerships. Mr. Campbell continued its publication until 
January, 1865. At that date Mr. Charles A. Smith, a young man of 
only twenty-one years, but a practical printer and energetic newspaper 
man, took control and conducted the business successfully for two years. 
Mr. Jesse G. Roe was the next purchaser, but being unaccjuainted with 
the practical side of newspaper business, after three weeks he sold the 
plant to its founder, Mr. Campbell. In 1868 Mr. H. C. Buffington was 
installed as proprietor and editor, and continued the publication until 
September, 1875, when the business passed to Richard Holmes and C. J. 
Greenleaf. These ]>artners gave much space to purely local matters, 
and their management throughout was quite successful. In September. 
1880, another transfer was made, when Mr. R. X. Kellogg bought the 
Republican plant. Under I\Ir. Kellogg's ownership the name was 
changed from the Cass County Republican to the Dowagiac Republican. 

Successive owners of the Republican were E. H. Spoor, Becraft & 
Amsden, Becraft alone, then a Mr. Rose, Becraft & Son, and J. O. 
Becraft. Mr. Becraft was pubhsher of the Republican until 1904, when 
he sold it to Mr. H. E. Agnew, the present proprietor. 

In i88c Mr. W^ M. Wooster entered the lists of Cass county 
journalism. He had been proprietor of the Van Buren County Repub- 
lican, which he sold to Mr. Buflrngton, the former Republican editor. 
Buying the equipment of the Lawrence Advertiser, he removed it to 
Dowagiac, and on September i, 1880, he issued the first nuinber of 
the Dowagiac Time.-;, as an indejiendent in politics — an unusual course 
for a paper to take at that time. In 188 1 the Times was sold to Mr. 



254 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

A. .M. All 1(111, whu has lieeii identitied with Cass county journalism 
nearly thirty years, and who came to Dowagiac from Marcellus. Mr. 
Moon conducted the Times until 1885, when he sold it to its present 
proprietor, James Heddon. in 1897 Charles Heddon established the 
Daily Nctcs, which was issued from the same office as the I'inics. and 
the two papers are practically under one management. In this con- 
nection it is of interest that Ward Bros, established a paper called the 
Daily Xcz^s in Dowagiac about 1S80, although its existence was short. 

The third paper of Dowagiac is the Herald, which was estalilished 
in 1892 by Mr. N. Klock as the Standard. R. E. Curtis bcjuyht this 
paper in 1897, and it later became the property of J. A. Weljster, who 
changed the name to the Herald. In April, 1903, A. M. Moon became 
the proprietor of the Herald and has since issued it every week. 

Alarcellus has a somewhat disconnected newspaper rec<.ird. but the 
Neies lias a record of nearly thirty jears, and has been a good pai>er, 
ai:ly edited and well patronized, since its start. The Messenger was the 
first paper in the village, established by S. D. Perry in 1874. The Good- 
speed brothers, Volinia farmers, soon came into possession of the plant 
and issued a paper known as the Standard under the management of 
Rufus Nash. The last issue appeared in August, 1876, and in 1877 
Mr. A. M. Moon bought the plant and brought out the first number of 
the Marcellus Nezos. When Mr. Moon moved to Dowagiac he took 
part of the equipment of the Nci.<'s. but left the intangible interests and 
subscription lists of the News to his successors, C. C. Allison and J. J. 
A. Parker, who issued the first number under their management on 
December 24. 1881. Mr. Parker soon bought the interest of Mr. .Mli- 
son, who had entered the newspaper field at Marcellus as a branch 
enterprise to his Cassopolis paper. Following Mr. Parker, the pro- 
prietor of the Nexvs was Mr. Wliite, then Dr. C. E. Davis, who sold to 
tlie present proprietor, A. E. Bailey. 

"^ilie Vandalia Journal was established by William A. DeGroot, and 
the first number was dated June 14. 1881. The pa]>er later passed to 
Jos. L. Sturr. wh(i, after a short time, discontinued its publication and 
moved the t\'pe and presses to Chicago. 

Se\'eral \-ears ago Mr. F. M. Viall established a small news sheet at 
Vandalia, Init after about si.x months gave up the enterprise without 
having won fame fi>r himself and brought the jiaper to any dignity in 
newspaperdom. 

The Edwardsburg Argus, whose present projirietor is Henry Andrus 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 255 

(see sketch), was established in 1875, its first issue appearing October 
5th. WiUiam A. Shaw, H. B. Davis, F. 'M. Jerome and G. F. Bugijee 
were connected witli the paper until 1879. l" February of this year Dr. 
John B. Sweetland took charge of the paper, which he thereafter con- 
ducted in his vigorous and virile way, "neutral in nothing, independent 
in evenihing," and was the proprietor for twenty years, until his death 
in 1899. Dr. Sweetland, in conformity with his principles, kqjt his paper 
independent in politics, and if he favored any movement especially it 
was the Prohibition. Mr. Henry Andrus was local editor of the Argus 
a long time under Dr. Sweetland, and since the latter's death has con- 
ducted the paper, maintaining it at the high standard of former years. 
The Argus is issued regularly e\'ery Thursday. 

Illustrative of newspaper politics of half a century ago, is an inci- 
dent related by C. C. Allison, the veteran editor of the Democrat. In 
1840 Ezekiel S. Smith had been appointed by Gov. Woodbridge to the 
position of attorne\- in Cass county. Smith was a Whig, of the same 
brand and stripe as his political chief. He made it a point to emphasize 
his beliefs and aggrandize his party whenever possible while in Cass 
county. At that time the Democratic party was dominant in this sec- 
tion, its official organ at tlie county seat being the Cass County Adz'o- 
cate, with its pioneer editor, Abram Townsend. 

Townsend was not succeeding in making his paper pay dividends, 
however successful it may ha\-e been as a political and news organ. 
One day, in this financial stress, he applied to Attorney Smith for a 
cash loan. "No more loans on that paper," replied Smith, who was 
already Townsend's creditor; "why don't you go to Asa Kingsbury?" 
Kingsbury was a leader in Democratic afifairs at that time, and his 
financial support to the Advocate had also been drawn upon to the limit. 
On being informed of Kingsbury's unwillingness to extend further 
credit. Attorney Smith, acting upon a sudden idea, asked, "What will 
}'ou take for that newspaper over there?" "Do you realh- want to 
buy it. Mr. .Smith?" "Y'es, I will buy the equipment and you can con- 
tinue as my editor," was the decisive manner in which the transaction 
was closed. "Now, " continued Smith, after counting (Uit the stipulated 
amount less what Townsend owed him, "let us go over and get out 
this week's paper." The make-up was about ready to go to press, and 
after looking it over the only change that the new proprietor requested 
was that the leading editorial be withdrawn and one written by himself 
substituted. This was done, and the Advocate appeared on the regular 



256 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ilay of issue witliout any delay consequent upon the change of owner- 
ship, which took place quite unheralded to the citizens of the county 
seat. But for that reason the consternation was all the greater among 
the stanch Democracy when, on the first page of their loyal paper, they 
read a pungent editorial lauding the principles of Whiggism to the skies 
and holding up the sacred tenets and leaders of the Van Buren party 
to scorn and ridicule. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY iio7 



CHAPTER XIX. 
MEDICINE AND SURGERY. 

Tlie early followers of Aesculapius, in Cass county as elsewhere, 
were in the main honest, practical and sympathetic men. Such is the 
testimony of those whose personal knowledge connects the present with 
the past. Without the advantages of hroad technical training, such as 
are within reach of the medical student now, without the vast heritage 
of accumulated experience, analyzed and classified for apnlication ti. 
every morbid condition of mankind, the pioneer physician had to com- 
pensate for his narrowness of professional vision and skill by a perva- 
sive sympathy and inspiring" cheerfulness. 

JNIuch of the practice was done by doctors who followed their pro- 
fession as an adjunct tt) the more necessary — to their own welfare — 
occupation of tilling the new soil or merchandising, or any dther of the 
trades or activities by which the early settlers gained a li\'ing. There 
were, proportionately, fewer "town doctors." Some of the "farmer 
doctors" were college graduates and men of considerable attainments, 
though necessarily rough in exterior, and, although handicapped for 
want of appliances, were perhaps as fully competent to combat the dis- 
eases incident to those conditions as our more modern physicians are 
to combat our more modern diseases. For it is a well known scientific 
truth that many of the refinements and advantages of modern civiliza- 
tion are really violations of the natural laws, which bring about their 
own diseases as punishment. 

:\ verv brief record is left of those physicians who came to Cass 
county during the pioneer period. There was Dr. Henry H. Fowler, 
who seemed possessed of the pioneer spirit, for several new settlements 
in this part of the country knew him as a citizen as much as a profes- 
sional man. He was interested in the formation of the village of Geneva, 
on Diamond lake, and was a factor in having that place designated as the 
seat of justice. He had first located at Edwardsburg about 1830. 

There seems to have been no physician during the thirties who left 
a permanent impress on the life and affairs of the county. During that 
decade Cassopolis and vicinity had, for varying lengths of time, doctors 



258 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

named Isaac Bruwn. Charles L. Cluws, David E. Brown, Benjamin i'. 
Gould, wiio was a college graduate and practiced in Cassopolis till his 
death, in 1844; Da\'id .\. Clows, and James Bloodgood. The first physi- 
cians in the county seem U> have located at Edwardsburg. Of those 
early practitioners the most prominent was Henry Ltjckwood. Bom 
in New York in 1803, '^ graduate of a medical college of that state, he 
located at Edwardsburg about 1837, and was in active and prosperous 
practice there till 18O2. He died in December of the following year. 

The old tnwn of Adamsville, in the southern part of the county, 
had a notable doctor in the ear]\- days in the jjerson of Henry Follett. 
Born in New York in 1789, he studied medicine under pri\'ate direc- 
tiim, ser\e(l in the war of 1812 as assistant surge(3n, and in 1836, with 
his famil}-, made the journey in pioneer fashion fmrn the east to his 
new home at Adams\ille. Two years later he moved to a farm near the 
\-illage, and in a combination of the two pursuits passed the remainder 
of liis life, his death occurring in 1849. 

There were <jtber physicians in the county during this period, ixit 
little record other than their names is preserved. Those earliest physi- 
cians — as well as tlieir successors for many years — traveled about on 
horseback. There were no telephones by which medical assistance could 
lie summoned to reni<ite parts of the rural districts, and hence, up to 
recent years, the sight of a flying horseman hastening to town was a 
signal to the neighbors that some one was ill. An hour or so later 
back would ctmie the physician, muffled up beyiind recognition during 
the severe winter season, or bespattered with mud from hard riding over 
the mirv roads. There were no carriages. If there had been they would 
ha\e been useless because of the rough and muddy roads, which were 
scarceK- more than trails cut through the woods. The distances traveled 
in reaching the sufferers were long, because the roads wound around so 
much, and often the patient was dead before the doctor could arrive. 
Sometimes after he:\v\ rains the streams would be swollen so as to 
render the fords impassable, or the bridges would be carried aw^ay, 
necessitating a long detour in order to reach the destination. But num- 
1:)erless and arduous as were the difficulties which beset the pioneer 
practitioner — and <inly a few have been alluded to, so that the picture 
is quite inadequate to reveal the hard life of our lirst doctors — it is to 
the lasting honor of the rugged character and faithful devotion to duty 
(jf those men that no call for help, matter not where it was or what its 
answering meant in the way of personal hardship, was refused. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 25» 

But tlie times and conditions of practice changed rapidly. Dr. 
H. H. Phillips, of Cassoixjlis, whose professional recollections in this 
county go hack nearly forty years, states that when he began to practice 
the physicians no longer were traveling about the country on horse- 
back, with their medicine, surgical instruments, etc., in a saddle-bag. 
Buggies had already come into general use among the country practi- 
tioners, and the hard lot of the early thjctur was in many other respects 
relieved. 

The diseases of those times were principallv malaria, caused Ijy 
lack of drainage in the county ; Ijronchitis and pneumonia, due to e.K- 
posure incident to their mode of life, and diarrhoea and dysentery in- 
duced by their coarse fare. Contagious diseases, on account of the iso- 
lation of the settlers, had little opportunity to spread. Heroic treat- 
ment was accorded their patients by old-time doctors. The tale is tuld 
of (jne such physician — not of Cass county, however — who gave a pa- 
tient suffering from a "blocked liowel" one hundred grains of calomel 
at a single dose, and, strangest of all, there was complete reco\-ery from 
both the ailment and the dosage. 

But malaria is no longer to be contended with. The marshes have 
been drained. Whereas the earh- settlers fought mosquitoes — now 
known as most active agents in the spreading of contagious diseases — 
b_\- means of smudges, screen doors now shut out the pests from our 
homes. This use of wire screening is one of many improvements that 
provided wholesome sanitary conditions and guarded against disease. 
The decrease of malaria is graphically illustrated in the statement of 
Dr. Phillips that not one bottle of Cjuinine is used now to thirty required 
when he Ijegan practice. Malaria was e\'erywhere then, and quinine 
was the sovereign remedy in its treatment. 

Passing from the pioneer period of medical practice, we find a 
number of men of uKjre than ordinary ability who adorned the pro- 
fession during the last half of the century. Dr. E. J. Bonine. who 
practiced in Cassopolis from 1844 to the outbreak of the Civil war. 
was a soldier and politician as well as doctor. Born in Indiana in 1821, 
he prepared for his profession, as was then the custom more than now, 
under a private preceptor instead of within college walls. He was 
elected to represent the county in the legislature in 1832. He was. in 
turn, a Whig, a Free-soiler. and then helped to organize the Repul>lican 
party. He enlisted for service in the rebellion, and was advanced from 
the ranks to surgeon in chief of the Third Division of the Ninth Armv 



2(30 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Corps. He located at Niles after returning from the war, and was 
prominent professionally and 'in public life until his death. 

In the death of Dr. L. D. Tompkins on October i, 1902, there 
passed away the oldest medical practitioner in the county. Arriving in 
the county in 1848, he saw and experienced the conditions of pioneer 
practice. Still alive a half century later, his retrospect covered the most 
important period in the develnpment of medical and surgical practice, 
and he could appreciate as none ijthers could the changes that a life- 
time had wrought. 

"But perhaps it still is better that his busy life is done: 

He has seen old \iews and patients disappearing one by one-." 

A fnrmer account of his life says: "During the first eight (ir ten 
years of his residence in the count\' he almost in\-arial:)lv tra\'elecl on 
horseback. The mads were not then as numerous as now, and most 
of those which had been cleared and improved were in a condition in- 
ferior to those of the present. Large bodies of land were unfenced, and 
it was the uni\ersal custom among those persons familiar with the 
country when traveling in the saddle to save time by 'going cross lots' 
by way of the numerous paths leading through the 'openings' and heavy 
timber. Dr. Tompkins rode ver)' frequently upon these paths and often 
in the darkness of night was oljliged to lean forward upon his horse's 
neck to avoid being brushed from the saddle by overhanging linilis of 
the trees. Sometimes, \\earied with tra\el and loss of rest, he would 
fall asleep in the saddle, but the trust\- horse, plodding" on through the 
darkness along the winding narrow path, would firing him safely home." 
At the time of his death llr. Tompkins was more than eighty-fi\-e years 
old. a remarkable age for one whose earlier experiences had been so 
rugged. Born in Oneida count}-. New York, in 18 17, he moved to Ohio 
at the age of fifteen, and there prepared for his profession and practiced 
until he came to Cassopolis in May, 1848. In 1852 he graduated fron> 
the well known Tvusli Medical College of Chicago. More than one 
physician now or f()rmerlv of Cass countv ascriljes the inspiration of 
his work to this aged doctor. In the histor\' of Cass county medicine 
be will always be a venerable figure. 

Onlv five years ^■ounger in vears at the time of his death was the 
late Dr. .\lonzo Garwood, whose professional connection with Cass 
county was finly a little less than that of Dr. Tompkins. Coming to 
Cass count\' in 1S50, the close of a long life came July i, 1903. He 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 261 

was born October 15, 1824, in Logan county, Oliio, pursued his studies 
under the direction of a physician in his native county, later attended, 
under the preceptor system, the well known Starling Medical College, 
and on his graduation came directly to Cassopolis. Dr. Garwood gave 
considerable attention to public affairs, especially local school interests, 
and was of such political prominence that he was sent to the state senate 
in 1857. He was surgeon oi the 28th regiment, Michigan infantry, 
during the Civil war. 

The list of Cassopolis physicians, past and present, is a long one. 
There was Richard ]\,1. Wilson, an early representative of the Eclectic 
school, who was here in the fifties. Alonzo B. Treadwell, well remeni- 
bered by many in the county, began practice in the year that Dr. Wilson 
left, and continued for ten years, until his death in 1874. He had a 
varied career, was largely self-educated, served in the army, and died 
in the prime of years. For awhile he was partner with Drs. Tompkins 
and Kelsey. The latter, William J. Kelsey, father of the present Dr. 
J. H. Kelse}-. had high professional connectif.m in this county, and was 
a man of acknowledged ability. He was born in this county in 1839, 
and was a graduate of Rush Medical College in 1865. 

Other names that occur are those of Drs. Robert Patterson, Fred- 
erick F. Sovereign, F. P. Hoy, J. D. Mater, each of whom remamed but 
a short time. 

Dr. James S. Stapleton, born in Cassopolis in 1867, graduated from 
Hahnemann Medical College, in Chicago, and located in bis native 
town, where he remained until his removal to Jones, \\bere he died 
August 13, 1898. 

Oliver W. Hatch, born in ]\Iedina county, Ohio, July 2S. 1823. 
came to Mason township, Cass county, with bis parents, in 1837. attended 
the early district schools and also a select school taught by tlie late 
Judge H. H. Coo'lidge at Edwardsburg, and received bis medical edu- 
cation by private study, at the L.a Porte Medical College and at Rush 
Medical College in Chicago, where he spent his last term in 1848. He 
practiced at Georgetown, 111., three years, then at Mishawaka, Ind., si.x 
months, after which he located in Mason township and was a practicing 
physician there until 1903, when he retired and moved to Cassopolis, 
where be still resides, being the oldest physician in the county. 

Dr. Bulhand, who died at Union Septemlier 11. 1905, was noted 
for his svmpathv and strength of character, as well as his ahilitv as 
a practitioner. He was absolutelv frank, and never used bis profession 



202 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

cxcejit according- tu its own ethics and the standards of personal integ- 
rity. He retired before his death, ha\ing practiced alj(jut twenty years, 
and hxed <.>n his farm in Cahin. 

Down at Edwardslxirg Dr. Israel G. Bughee for many years com- 
hined his professional duties .with business and official affairs. He was 
born in Xernmnt in )8[4, studied medicine in Cass county and in a 
Xew \'ork niedical college, and jiracticed in I'.dwardsburg fr(jm 1840 
to i8()y. He died in 1S78. 

.\moug' the contemporaries of Dr. Bugbee were Dr. Alvord, Dr. 
John Tieal. Dr. Enos Penwell. and se\'eral others. Within the last f(jur 
}-ears there died in Edwardsburg Dr. John B. Sweetland, whose con- 
nection w ith that \'illage lasted forty }ears. A graduate of the Uni- 
\'ersity of Buffalo and a first-class physician, he was just as much a 
man of affairs. He served as a private and a surgeon during the war, 
was politicalK- acti\c and represented this countv in the legislature, and 
bis versatile cliaracter also lei! him into journalism, becoming editor 
and ijublisher of the Edwardsburg Argus. Dr. Sweetland was b<irn in 
Xew ^'ork in 1834. 

Another Edwardsburg plnsician. now deceased, was Le\i Aldrich. 
He was born in Erie county, Xew York. January 27. 1820, and gradu- 
ated in medicine in 1849. He located in Edwardsliurg in the early 
sixties, and remained there till his death. 

Dr. Robert S. Critfin, born in Erie county. New York. September 
25, 1828, came to the \-illage. and at the age of nineteen years began 
the study of medicine with Dr. Lockwood, and afterwards attended 
the Medical college at Lal'orte. Ind., and at different times practiced 
a number of years in b^dwardsburg. He died there December 27, 1905. 

The Cass County History of 1882 states that fifty physicians had 
]iracticed in Dowagiac fnmi the time of its estal>lishment as a village. 
Many have located there since that date. Manifestly no com]ilete record 
of these could be here com])iled. The majority remained a more or less 
brief time, and of these only the names are preserved. 

The first Dowagiac doct(ir seems to have been somewhat of an 
original character. It is related that, in a case of fever where the 
patient was not exjjected to li\e, be summoned Fred \\^erz, the \-illage 
fiddler, to the liedside and commanded him to remain tlierc day and 
night and fiddle bis most inspiriting tunes when the patient had sink- 
ing S])ells. The doublv afflicted one recovered. This stoiw notwithstand- 
ing. Dr. Thomas Brayton was a much loved physician. He began 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 263 

practice in the village al'.out the middle nf the last centur\' and con- 
tinued until his death in a railroad accident during the sixties. 

Another eccentric practitioner was a Dr. Jarvis, whose ability as 
a drayman was as conspicuous as his skill in setting bones. It is said 
that for some time he drove a bull ('r steer to his vehicle instead of a 
horse. 

Dr. C. \y. ■\[nrse. now deceased, was for a number of vears in 
practice at Dowagiac, and part of the time was in the drug business. 

Few of the old-time doctors were Iietter known than Dr. C. P. 
Prindle, who died at Dowagiac August 2, 1876, at the age of fifty-one 
years. He olitained his education and professional training in his nati\e 
state of New ^'ork. and came to Michigan to find his field of labor about 
1850. Finall}-, in 1835, he located at Dowagiac and practiced there 
until his death. He was a rugged and forceful character, both in his 
profession and as a citizen. Like Dr. Tompkins, he spent much of his 
time in the saddle, and wherever and whenever duty called him he went 
without tbouglit of In's personal convenience. He had a deep dislike 
for ostentation and superficial learning, and in practice, as in his per- 
sonal relations, was direct, earnest, and withal sympathetic. The esteem 
in which he was held is shown by the fact that during his funeral the 
stores and Imsiness houses of Dowagiac were closed. 

A physician who attained high rank in his profession was William 
E. Clarke, now deceased, -who spent some of the younger years of his 
career in Dowagiac. He went to the armv from this town, had an 
eventful record as a surgeon, and after the war moved to Chicago. 

The first representative of the eclectic school of medicine in Dowa- 
giac and Cass county was Cyrus J. Curtis. Born in New York state in 
1819. he died at Dowagiac .\pril 21. 1875. He studied medicine and 
was a graduate of the Worthington Medical College of Ohio, and prac- 
ticed in \-arious parts of the C(iuntry until December. 1864. when he 
located at Dowagiac. Here he restricted his practice to the treatment 
of chronic diseases. The names of those who were associated with him 
in practice for varying lengths of time indicate several other well known 
Dowagiac physicians; these were S. T. McCandless. D. B. Stnrgis. 
William Flora. Linus Daniels. H. S. Mc^Master. and his son, E. A. Cur- 
tis. 

The medical profession of the early davs had few regulations, 
either imposed bv the state or inherent in the fraternity. The strict 
code of professional ethics which now go\-erns with greater power than 



264 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

any system of law had Ijeen scarcely formulated at that time. There 
were im recjuirements as to len.^th and extent of preparation. Anyone 
who had en(jugh faith in his own knowledge and skill could set himself 
up in practice. Herhs and roots supplied the materia medica which, 
according to certain formulas, were decocted by certain persons for 
the healing of man or beast, and se\eral of these so-called "herb doctors" 
achie\'ed some distinction in the C(nint\-. One of these was Dr. A: J. 
Boughton, whose practice extended o\-er a large territory. "Dr." 
Whitehead, an Indian "medicine man," who located at Dowagiac in the 
sixties, practiced the "herlj art" among such persons as relied on that 
form of healing. 

James D. Taylor was a homeopathic practitioner in Dowagiac from 
185S until his death in 1871. Dr. J. H. Wheeler, who practiced in 
Dowagiac from 1867 to 1877, the year of his death, was an early settler 
of the county, having come here in 1835. He was a surveyor, and 
began the study of medicine during his leisure hours. Other Dowagiac 
physicians whose work here has been closed liy death or remo\-al, were 
L. V. Rouse, deceased : E. C. Prindle, son of Dr. C. P. Prindle, who 
has located elsewhere; P.. A. Curtis, now of Chicago, besides those whose 
connection with the citv was transient. Dr. b'dward S. Stebbins, now 
deceased, located liere in iSfi8, and devoted much of bis time to special- 
ties, particularly the then new science of electro-therapeutics. 

Each of the smaller \illages has had its medical representati\'es. 
In Vandalia the first pbysician was Dr. A. L. Thorp, who settled there 
in 184Q, and whose death occurred in Mishawaka, Indiana, only a few 
years ago. The doctor who was longest in practice in A^andalia was 
Leaujler Osborn. who was born in 1825 and who died in June. igoi. 
He taught school in earlv life, recei\ed bis impulse to study medicine 
from Dr. E. J. Bonine. and com])leting his studies in Rush Medical 
College, he began ]iractice in the \'illage in 1853. He was also interested 
in politics, being in several local offices, and in 1866 was elected to the 
legislature. 

In Pbkagon the principal former representatives were John Robert- 
son and Charles P. Wells. The former was born in New York in 1825, 
and, coming to the county in 184S, practiced at Snmnerville and Pbkagon 
until failing health compelled him to abandon active work. Dr. Wells 
was born in New York in 1834, and his father was one of the first set- 
tlers of Howard township in this county. He was a graduate of a Cin- 
cinnati medical college, an<l in 186^ located at Pokagon, where he bad 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 265 

the first drug store in tlie village and carried on his practice for niany 
years. 

At Jones there was Dr. Thomas L. Blakeley, who, after three rears' 
service in the war of the rehellion, took up the study of medicine, and 
in 1872 located at Jones, heing the first physician of that place. He 
also conducted a drug store. Otis Moor, deceased, a graduate of the 
Rush Medical College in 1872, was for some years located at Williams- 
ville. 

The personnel of the medical ]irofession of Cass county at this 
writing is as follows : 

Cassopolis — T. W. Anderson, M. H. Criswell, Fairfield Goodwin, 
Marion Holland, G. A. Hughes, J. H. Kelsey, W. C. McCutcheon, H. 
H. Phillips, and Dr. R. Fl. von Kotsch. 

Dowagiac — William W. Easton, George W. Green, George R. 
Herkimer, J. H. Jones, \\'. J. Ketcham, S. H. McMaster, C. M. Myers, 
^^'illiam E. Parker, Clarence S. Robinson, M. P. White. 

Marcellus — C. E. Davis and Ernest Shellito. 

Vandalia — S. L. Loupee, E. C. Dunning, Otis E. Newsom. 

Edwardsburg — E. W. Tonkin and E. B. Criswell. 

Pokagon — Charles A. Morgan and William A. Skeler. 

Jones — C. C. Fenstermacher, J. V. Blood. 

Union — Edgar A. Planck. 

Penn^ — J. C. Huntsinger. 

Wakelee — Edward Wilson. 

Calvin — John Harris, U. S. Kirk. 

Adamsville — WMlliam F. Lockwood. 

In Cassopolis Dr. .Anderson is probably the ranking physician in 
point of seniority. Dr. Criswell (see sketch) has been located here since 
1900, although he has practiced in the county much longer. Dr. Good- 
win, now retired from acti\e practice, was captain of a company of 
Michigan cavalry in the rebellion and did not complete his medical edu- 
cation until after the war. He liegan his practice in Cassopolis in 1874, 
and has been active in business, especially in real estate, as well as in 
his profession. Fie built Hotel Goodwin and is its landlord. 

Dr. Holland, who came to Cassopolis from Edwardsburg in 1895, 
was a graduate of the medical department of the State University in 
1875, and from the dental department in 1877. He located in Edwards- 
burg in 1880 and conducted a drug store in connection with a general 
practice. 



^66 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Dr. (I. A. Hughes, wlni h.ns practiced here for the past thirty years, 
was reared in St. Josepli cnuntw this state. He is a specialist in eve, 
nose and throat diseases, hesides a general practice. 

J. H. Kelsey. the successor in ])ractice of liis father. Dr. W. J., was 
horn in CassopoHs October 3, 1878, graduated from tlie niechcal depart- 
ment of the State University and lias since practiced in Cassopolis. 

\y. C. ^McCutcJTenn, whose sketch will be found elsewhere, has l>een 
practicing in Cassopolis since 1894. He was prepared at the Royal 
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Kingston, Ontario, and gradu- 
ated from Queen's University. On coming to Cassopolis he was a |)art- 
ner of Dr. Goodwin for a time, and has also served two years as county 
physician. 

Dr. H. H. PhilliiJS, wlio is one of the oldest practicing iihvsicians 
in the county, was born and reared in Xew York, served in the Ci\il 
war from Minnesota, and fmm that state came to Cass county in March, 
1866. He has been engaged in general practice since the S])ring nf 1868, 
and until ten years ago was located at X^andalia. 

Dr. P. H. von Kotscli is a recent addition to the ranks of the pro- 
fession in Cass county. 

Dr. \y. W. East(in. who has been a resident of Cass countv nearlv 
all his life, and in Dowagiac since 1880, was born in Siber Creek 
t(T\vnship in 1853, attended Notre Dame University and graduated from 
Bennett Medical College in 1877. 

Dr. George R. Herkimer, homeopath at Dowagiac, was born at 
Niles in 1866. attended \lliion College and the University of ]\[ichigau, 
and since graduation from the Hahnemann College at Chicago in 1890 
has been located in Dowagiac. 

Dr. J- PI- Jones, who was born in New York in 1861 and came 
to this state at twenty-one, taught school and graduated from the I'ni- 
versity of ]\Iichigan in 1803, and since 1804 has been practicing in 
Dowagiac. 

Dr. \X. J. Ketcham, Imrn in New York Cit>- in 1850, came to this 
county in i860, read medicine with C. P. Prindle, graduated from the 
medical department of the Uni\-crsity of Michigan in 1875, and after 
several vears" practice in \^olinia located permanenth^ at Dowagiac. 

Dr. H. S. McMaster was born in New York in 1842. Ser\ed in 
the war, studied at Albion College, prepared for his profession in several 
schools, finally graduating from Bennett Medical College of Chicago, 
and located at Dowagiac in 1871. being the first city physician there. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ^67 

Dr. C. ]\[. ]\lyers, who was born in Pokagon township in 1864, 
stndied at Valparaiso, tanght scliool in country and town, and followed 
a year's private study with three years in the Chicago Hahnemann Med- 
ical College. 

Dr. Clarence S. Robin.son is another Cass county alumnus of the 
Bennett Medical College, from which he was graduated in 1880. He 
then located at Volinia and in 1894 in Dowagiac. Dr. Rohinsun was 
born in \\'akarusa, Indiana. 

Dr. yi. P. White, wlio has practiced at Dowagiac since 1880, was 
born near \\akelee, this countv, was a student at the \'aIparaiso Xor- 
mal. and graduated at the medical department of Northwestern Univer- 
sity. He began practice at W'akelee. 

Dr. W. E. Parker has Ijeen practicing in Dowagiac for nearly twenty 
years. Born in Jefferson township in this county in 1854, he studied 
with Tompkins and Kelsey, and in 1879 graduated from Rush Medical 
College. He practiced in CassojMlis four years and in Three Rivers five 
years, and since then has been in Dowagiac except one year. In 1891 he 
graduated from the Post-Graduate Medical Sch(X)l of Chicago, where 
he specialized in the diseases of the e\e. ear, nose and throat, ami gives 
attention to this branch besides his general practice. 

At Marcellus Dr. C. E. Davis is the senior physician. He was 
born in Ohio in 1846, came to Cass county in 1861, served in the Civil 
war, and in 1869 began practice, which was interrupted by two years of 
study in the medical department of the Uni\'ersity of Pennsylvania, from 
which he was graduated in 1873. He has 1>een located in Marcellus 
since 1874. 

Dr. Charles .\. Alorgan of P(ikagnn has been established in that 
vicinity since his graduation from the medical department of the State 
Uni\-ersity in 1871. He is a nati\-e of \\'ales, came to Cass comity when 
seven years old. and took part in the war of the rebellion. 

Dr. Donald A. Link, whose death occurred by drowning in On- 
tario August 15, 1906. was born in that ])rovince of Canada October 22, 
1865. studied medicine at McGill University and graduated from Detroit 
College of Medicine in 1895. after which he came to Cassopolis. He 
spent two years in the Klondike, and on his return in 1900. located in 
Volinia. where he practiced till his death. 

The majority of the physicians in the smaller centers are young men 
who have recently located in practice, although this statement in no way 
reflects upon their ability and standing in the profession. As indicated 



268 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

in the list above gi\-eii, all portions of the county are represented by 
medical men. Cah'in township, with its large colored population, is 
served by two colored i)h}-sicians. 

The practice of dentistry is no longer a sulxirdinate branch of a 
regular physician's practice, but has attained the rank of a separate pro- 
fession. Its requirements in the way of natural altility and technical 
preparation are constantl}- lieing raised, so that the dentistry of today 
compares with that of twenty years ago about as the delicate work of 
the watchmaker compares with that of the blacksmith. Cass county's 
representati\-es in this profession are the following named: Cyrus H. 
Funk, Farnum Brothers ( S. A. and S. J.), C. W. Martin, of Cassopolis. 

Physicians of this dav acknowledge and appreciate the value of pro- 
fessional association. The bonds of common interest and mutual help- 
fulness are being drawn more closely in the numerous organizations 
whose membership is drawn exclusively from the ranks of the profession. 
The Cass County Medical Society was estal^lished some years ago as an 
independent body, but has in recent times been affiliated with the State 
Medical Society and. tliereby, also with the American Medical Associa- 
tion. Thus it has the same constitution and bv-laws as all similar so- 
cities in the counties of the state. 

Dr. F. A. Planck of Union is tlie president of the Cass County 
Medical .Society for 1906; the secretary is Dr. McCutcheon of Cassopo- 
lis. The society meets once each three months, their time of meeting 
being technically defined as the last Thursday following the full moon 
in December, March, June and September. It is the general practice 
to have papers on two medical subjects read at each meeting, followed by 
discussions. Important cases are often brought up for clinical discus- 
sion. The membership of the societv includes a majority of the active 
practitioners in the county. 

Though the present system of co-ordination of county medical so- 
cities and their affiliation with the state and national central lx>dics is 
of comparati\e1y recent date, the history of medical organization in 
Cass county goes l^ack more than half a century. The first medical so- 
ciety in the cotinty was organized in August, 1851. Of co^urse, similar 
objects have been proposed as the practical purposes of such societies, 
whatever their date, namely, the advancement of the professional stand- 
ard, social intercourse and the establisliment of a schedule of charges 
for services. 

The officers nf the first Cass Countv Medical Societv were : Pres- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ' 269 

ident, Dr. D. E. Brown ; vice president, Dr. Henry Lockwood ; secre- 
tary, Dr. Alonzo Ganvood ; treasurer, Dr. E. Penwell ; standing commit- 
tee, Drs. I. G. Bugbee, J. Allen and B. XA'ells. 

This first organization in time ceased its functional activity. More 
than twenty-five years from the date of its founding another society was 
fomied. The first officers elected, for the year 1877-7S, were: Presi- 
dent, Dr. \\. C. Morse: vice presidents, Drs. A. Ganvood, L. Osborn, 
R. Patterson; secretary. Dr. \\'. J. Ivelsey; treasurer, J. B. Sweetland. 

The charter members of this society, besides those just named, were: 
Drs. L. D. Tompkins, F. Goodwin, J. Robertson, Edward Prindle, H. 
H. Phillips, Otis Moor, W. J. Ketcham, O. W. Hatch. 



270 - HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE CASS COUNTY BAR. 

'Jlie Ijar of (Jass county lias ne\er lacked men rif distinction bv 
reason of sound ability, depth of learning, forensic skill. an<l acti\e, \irile 
character. Such men have honored the i)rofession, have upheld the dig- 
nity of law and its institutions, and have been the strongest guarantee 
of healthful progress in all the lines of human activity. So broad is the 
field of modern jurisprudence, so peculiar and vital its expression and 
practice, that its ablest representatives are by no- means confined to one 
localitw ncir any one localitv necessarilv without several leaders in coun- 
sel and court practice. It is not our purpose here to state the distincti\e 
merits of the \'arious representati\es of the county bar, both past and 
present, but rather t(_i mention briefly those who have represented their 
professi<jn, if not al\\a_\s in an eminent degree, at least with that share of 
success and honor which has made their names worth}- of record in the 
history of the county. 

While the pioneers of the Cass county bar have, of course, passecl 
away, there are those of the present members to do them honor because 
of personal and professional association during the intermediate genera- 
tion while the first lawyers were going to their decline and the younger 
legal aspirants were attaining seasoned and successful activity. Two 
names are mentioned as the "first lawvers" of Cass county, designating 
men who were not less useful in civic and business life than in the law. 

The first of these, .Mexander H. Redfield, was born in Ontario coun- 
ty. New York, October 24, 1S05. A college-bred man, having spent 
three years in Hamilton College and graduating from Union College in 
1829, he studied la\\- and was admitted to practice in the supreme court 
of New York in July, 1S31. and in the following month arrived in 
Cass county. /\s elsewhere related, he was one of the original propri- 
etors of the site of Cassopolis, helped lay out the village and secure the 
location of the county seat, and was the first jxistmaster. He took part in 
the Black Hawk war as a colonel in the Michigan militia. He was a 
business man as much as a lawver. and his o|->erations in real estate took 
an increasing amount of his time and attention. He was also, drawn 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 271 

into the swirl of politics. In 1847, after sixteen years of residence in Cass 
county, he was elected to represent the fourteenth district in the Michi- 
gan senate, and his subsequent removal to Detroit deprived Cass county 
of its first lawyer and une jf its ablest pioneer men of affairs. There- 
after, until his death in i860, he was almost continuously de\-oted to 
public and political activity. Mr. Redfield was noted fnr his method- 
ical I'usiness and professional haliits, and his ability to pursue a rigid 
routine of details was given as a chief cause of his success. 

.Associated with A. H. Redfield in the formative events of Cassopo- 
lis' early history was another nati\e of New York state, but a somewhat 
earlier settler of Cass county. Born in Oneida county in 1803, E'ias B. 
.Sherman came t<i the tcrriti;ir\- of Michigan in 1825, was admitted to the 
bar in Ann Arbor in 1829, and in September of the same vear made his 
first accpiaintance with Cass county. He and ]\Ir. Redfield were attor- 
neys in the first court of the county. He was the only prosecuting at- 
torney the count)- had during the territurial period of Michigan. He was 
appointed to the ottice in November, 1829, and at the first popular elec- 
tion after the granting of statehood in 1836 was chosen to the office by 
general suffrage. He was the leading county official during the first 
years. He held the office of district surveyor si.x years, from 1830, and, 
dating from his appointment in March, 183 1, was Cass county's probate 
judge until i8.|o. He was more of a tnisted and honored public official 
than a lawyer, and in later }ears directed much of his attention to farm- 
ing. His death occurred November 14, 1890. 

In those years of historical beginnings the judicial circuit of which 
Cass county was a part embraced a varving number of counties, at one 
time practically all of southwestern Michigan. The first court of any 
kind held in Cass county was the two days' session of the circuit court 
held in August, 1831, at the house of Ezra Beardsley in Edwardsburg. 
Those were the days when the lawyers used to ride on horseback from 
one county to another on the circuit, put up at the hotel and attend the 
session of court. They used to tell stories and have jolly times. These 
peregrinations of the court were accompanied by a large force of lawyers, 
and it thus happened that many lawyers from adjoining counties were 
almost as well known professionally in Cass county as the few who had 
their residence in the county. Naturally the Cass county bar was numer- 
ically verj' small during the decade or so following the organization of 
the county and the establishment of the first courts. 

Among the law}-ers resident of outside counties but whose practice 



272 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

made tlieni familiar figures in this county might be mentioned Joseph N. 
Chipman, who spent a short time in Cass county, later going to Niles, 
where he died in 1870. He was known by his confreres as "Wliite 
Chip," to distinguish him from another well known Berrien county law- 
yer of that time, John S. Chipman, whose sobriquet was "Black Chip." 
Charles Dana, also a resident of Berrien, was, to quote the words of one 
who described him from personal knowledge, "a thin, dried-up, little 
man, with a remarkable feminine voice, but by all odds the best special 
pleader at the bar. Everybody liked Dana both for his goodness of heart 
and his unquestioned ability as a lawyer." The Cass county session of 
tlie circuit court was often attended in the early days by two noted Kal- 
amazoii lawyers. Charles E. Stuart and Samuel Clark. The former was 
a successful jury lawyer, but is specially remembered f(ir his later pnmi- 
inence in politics, having represented his district in Congress as a mem- 
ber of the hou.se and afterwards becoming one of the United States sen- 
ators from Michigan. Mr. Clark had also moved in the larger sphere 
of politics, and as a lawyer had the solid ability and the worth of per- 
sonal character which made his position secure among friends and pro- 
fessional associates. 

Although it is hardly proper to class his name among those of the 
legal pioneers, the career of James Sullivan, whose f(jrty years of practice 
in this county begrm in 1838. was of first importance in the history of the 
old-time lawyers. Born in New Hampshire December 0, 181 1, member 
of a distinguished New England family of Irish origin, he graduated 
from Dartmouth College at the age of eighteen, studied law and was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and after a brief period of practice came to Niles in 
1837. He soon moved to Edwardsburg, in this county, and from there 
to Cassopolis, and from 1853 till his death in 1878 lived in Dowagiac. 
For a long time he was prosecuting attornev of the countv, became a 
state senator, and was a member of the constitutional convention in 1850 
which formed the instrument which is \et the basis of Michigan govern- 
ment. It is said that Mr. Sullivan's success as a lawyer depended more 
upon his powers as a logician and close reasoner than as an orator. His 
high legal ability gave him distinction and influence in spite of serious 
defects O'f personal character and manner. He has been described as 
"eccentric, erratic, nervous and intense, and yet no man of gentler nature 
or kinder- heart has been known to the old residents of Cass county." 

Ezekiel S. Smith, ,-inother early practitioner, came to the county in 
1S4P, bearing a con'imission from Gov. Woodbridge as prosecuting 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 273 

attorney. After serving his term he practiced in the county, was also a 
merchant and one of the early editors. In 1852 he moved to Chicago, 
wliere he died in 1880. 

Judge Henry H. Coohdge, well remembered for his connection with 
the profession at Niles, where he died some years ago, was a resident 
lawyer of Cass county for about fifteen years. He settled at Edwards- 
burg in i83('), when t\venty-fi\'e years o](\, was admitted to the liar in 
1844, was elected jirosecutiug attorney in 1850, and moved from the 
county to Niles in 1859. He was at one time circuit ju<lge of the dis- 
trict comprising Cass and Berrien counties. 

The Cass county liar of todav is strcmg and aljle, and no disparag- 
ing word is intended when we sa)", in y\e\\ of an earlier time, "There 
were giants on the earth in those days.' The early lawyers left their 
impress on the jurisprudence of the state, and were largely influential 
for good in different phases of the early growth and development of 
Michigan. 

Another lawyer wh<_) belongs; to the past in life and acti\'e career but 
whose influence is a force with the }et living, was George Brunt Turner, 
who was born in Franklin countv, New York, March i, 1822. He came 
to ]\Iichigan when thirteen years old and already entering upmi serious 
work, and from 1830 till his death was a resident of Cass county. Fie 
was one of those who got his legal knowledge largely under the direc- 
tion of Alexander H. Redfield. He was self-educated, and won promotion 
through the first grades by dint of ambitious and sustained effort. He 
was successful as a lawyer, but is also remembered for his activity in 
other fields. He was for several years editor of the first paper pulilisbed 
in Cass county, the Cass Comity Adz'ocaie, now the Natiiiiial Democrat. 
His [)artv affiliation akjne prevented him from accpiiring distinction in 
state and perhaps natirinnl jiolitical affairs. In 1848 he was elected a 
memlier of the stat« legislature and re-elected in 1849, -^"f' ^^'^s Dem- 
ocratic candidate for other offices. His death occurred .'vpril 15, 1903. 
Clifford Shanahan, who was born in Delaware in 1801 and died in 
Cass county in 1865, after a residence in the county of thirty-one years, 
was admitted to the bar in Cassopolis about 1845. He was best known, 
however, through his retention of the office of probate judge for the 
long period of twenty-four }'ears, from 1840 to 1864, a record that has 
been equaled since that time onlv by William P. Bennett, whose term 
began January i, 1869, and continued to his death, June 16, 1896. 
Dowasfiac's first resident lawver was Noel B. Hollister, who came 



274 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

to the cuuuty in 1850. He remained unly a few yeai"s, and in connec- 
tion with his law practice conducted a drug store. He served as cir- 
cuit court conimissiuner. 

A huvyer of uiuisual. ahilit_\- and experience, at one time circuit 
judge, and a man of atTairs in the Ijest sense, the late Daniel Black- 
man was a member of the Cass county bar twenty-one years and his 
inriuence still remains. He was born in Newtown, Connecticut, De- 
cember 31, 182 1. At the age of twenty-four he was admitted to the 
bar of his native state and after five years' practice in Danbury located 
in Cassopolis in July, 1851. He was elected in 1869, on a non-partisan 
ticket, to the position of cnx'uit judge. Resigning in No\'ember, 1872, 
he mo\-ed to Chicago and liecame a member of the liar of that city. 
He was liehind se\"eral moxements that resulted in material and civic 
improvement in his village, and should be remembered in particular as 
one of the men who did much to make Cassopolis a station on the Pen- 
insular Railroad (now the Grand Trunk). He died in Chicago in 1896. 
'Jlie late Judge Andrew J. Smith became a licensed memljer of the 
Cass county bar in the early fifties, and from that time to his death was 
active not onlv in the law but in official antl political life, the horizon 
of his influence lieing extended hevond the l)Ounds of the countv into 
the state at large. Through youth and early manhood he had to. strug- 
gle to reach the vantage ground on which he would pursue his chosen 
career. Born in Ohio Septemlier 2. 1818, at eight years of age he went 
with the family to the pioneer district of Indiana, where circumstances 
would not permit him to attend the full measures of the meager winter 
terms of the district school. He had to work his way. His election to 
the office of constable of Valparaiso at the age of twenty shows that 
he earlv gained the confidence and esteem^ of his fellow citizens, and 
from that time on he was much in ])ul)lic life. He was a teacher and 
pupil alternately for a numlier of years, and while reading law he sup- 
ported himself l>y teaching or clerking in a store. He located at Ed- 
wardsburg in 1840, seven years later moved to Cassopolis, where in 
1853 he was admitted to the bar and in the following year elected pros- 
ecuting attorney. He served altogether twelve years in this office. In 
1874 he was elected attorney general of the state. In the fall of 1878, 
on the resignation of Judge Henry H. Coolidge from the judgeship of 
the second judicial district, Mr. Smith was elected circuit judge, and 
re-elected for the full term in the spring r>f 188 1. His private life was 
in harmonv with hi^ public career, and there are many testimonies to 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 275 

his public-spirited and wholesome acti\-ity to be found among the rec- 
ords and his personal associates in the county. 

During the twelve years from 1853 to 1865 James .M. Spencer was 
an attorney in the county. He was admitted to the bar in Cassopohs 
in the former year, being at the time only twenty-one years old. He 
held the olTfice of justice of the peace at Dowagiac in Pokagon township, 
was circuit court commissioner two years and was United States 
assessor of internal rexxnue in the district comprising Cass count}-. 
From this county Air. Spencer mo\-ed tn Topeka. Kansas. 

Prominent among the lawyers who may be classed as the inter- 
mediate generation of the Cass county bar was the late Charles W. 
Clisbee. His connection with the Cass county bar began in the late 
fifties, and he was a contemiMrary of a group some of whom are still 
acti\-e in their profession. Mr. Clisbee was born in Clexeland, Ohio, 
July 24. 1833, and came to Cassopolis with the family five years later. 
He prepared for college at Oberlin, Ohio, entered Oberlin College, but 
spent the greater part of his collegiate career in Williams College, 
Massachusetts. He graduated from Hamilton College (New York), 
where he studied in the law school, in 1856, and two )ears later was 
admitted to the bar. B}- election in i86j he liecame pr(jsecuting attor- 
ney of Cass county. He was a delegate to the con\'ention which re- 
nominated Lincoln in 1864. In 1866 Cass county sent him to the state 
senate. INIr. Clisliee had a remarkably powerful \-oice. and much of 
his public career pivoted on this God-given talent. In 1869 he was 
appointed reading clerk of the national house of representatives, held 
, the office without interruption until 1875, ^"^1 '" December, 1881, was 
again appointed to that jxisition. He was also reading secretary of the 
Republican national convention in Chicago in 1880. Upon the resig- 
nation of Judge Coolidge he was appointed to the vacancy and served 
until Judge Smith, his successor, was elected. During the interims of 
his service at W'ashington he practiced his profession in Cassopolis. 
giving special attention to the pnisecution of pension claims, until his 
death, August 18, 1889. 

One of the versatile and scholarly men who have represented the 
Cass county bar in the past was Joseph B. Clarke, now deceased. He 
was born in Connecticut. Graduating from the Rensselaer Scientific 
School at Troy, New York, he prepared for his legal career at Roches- 
ter, N. Y. The capacity of his intellectual powers may te judged 
■^rom the fact that he was at various times editor of daily newspapers 



276 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

in Rnchester and Buffalo, was professor of chemistry and other sciences 
in the Vernnmt IVIechcal CoUege and elsewhere, as well as incumbent 
of \arious cix'il positions under the general government. From Cold- 
water, Michigan, he moved to Dowagiac in. 1859. He was a circuit 
court commissioner in this county, as well as in Branch C(mnty, was 
prosecuting attorney, ruid for many years United States commissioner 
for the western district of I\lichig;in. 

hV)r a number of years between 1859 and 1881 George Miller was 
a member of the county bar. with residence at Dowagiac. He ser\-ed 
as circuit court commissioner, and in 1868 was elected ])rosecuting .at- 
torney. He mo\ed from the count\' in 187 1. returned in 1875, and in 
]88i again left. His death occurred in Benton Harbor. 

During the sixties the county bar was honored by the membersbi]) 
of Jacol.) J. Van Riper. \vho afterward became attorne_\- general of tlic 
state. He was admitted to the Cass county bar in January. i8fl3. and 
remained in acti\e practice, with residence at Dowagiac, until 1872, 
when he mo\ed to Buchanan in Berrien county, where he was elected 
judge of profiate and served for eight years. He is now practicing 
law at Niles in that county. 

Freeman J. .\twell, deceaserl, who wris born in Orleans county. 
New York, in 1831, read law there, and during the course of the Ci\il 
war, in which he took a soldier's jiart, admitted to the bar, located iti 
Dowagiac in 1869, and ])y a successful practice made his career a jiart of 
the legal history of the county. 1m >r four years he was the county's 
prcseaiting attorney, and died INlarch 18, 1904. He is well remembei^ed 
among the former lawyers rif the county. 

Among Cass county's native sons whu aspired to legal prominence 
was John A. Talliot, who was horn in Penn township in 1847. He had 
an armv career, antl was a graduate of the law department of the Uni- 
versitv of Michigan. His career was one of promise, but was ended, 
after ten vears' practice, Jiv death in December, 1878. A noteworthy 
effort was the compilation of "Talbot's Tables of Cages." 

Another former member of the county Iwr and a native of Cass 
county was William G. Howard, who was born in Milton township in 
1840. He was a college graduate, and was admitted to the bar at 
Kalamazoo in 1869. In the following year he began practice at Dowa- 
giac in partnership with James Sullivan. In the same year he was 
elected prosecuting attorney. He transferred his professional connec- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 277 

tions to Kalamazoo in 1873, where he continued the practice until his 
death, August 8, 1906. 

George Ketcham, whose death occurred in Minnesota, was horn 
in Mason township in 1850, graduated from Hillsdale College in 1873, 
studied law at Niles with the late Judge Coolidge, and was admitted at 
Cassopolis in 1874. He held the office of circuit court commissioner. 

Merritt A. Thompson, who practiced here during the eighties, was 
a product of Cass county, horn in Penn township in 1847. He gradu- 
ated from the law department of the State University in 1872, and had 
his office at Vandalia from 1874 to 1881, when he removed from the 
county, but later returned and died at the infirmary from mental afflic- 
tion November 21, 1901. 

Warner J. Sampson, who died at Cokhvater a few years ago, was 
admitted to practice in Cass county in 1880 and for some time was 
located at Marcellus, w'hen he went to Hillsdale, where he died. 

Jason Newton was admitted to the bar at Cassopolis and practicetl 
tliere fur a time. 

So much for those whose active connection with the bar of Cas.-- 
county has ceased. Tt is an impressive list. They were men of widely 
divergent characters and intellectual powers, but together they were 
worthy representati\'es of a noble profession. Comparisons between 
the past and the present personnel of the profession cannot be drawn 
here. Methods have doulitless changed in seventy years, the old-time 
lawyer might feel much nut of place among the present niemliers of tlie 
profession. The lawver nowadavs is often a jjusiness man and does not 
feel the professional cleavage which w-as cpiite pronounced forty or 
fifty years ago, when he was perhaps a member of a rather distinct 
professional class. But now. as then, the lawyers "comprise a large 
part of the finest intellect of the nation," an assertion made by a high 
authority which is, of course, as applicable to the smaller political 
divisions as to the nation at large. 

The present bar of Cass count\' is to be described separate! v from 
those already mentioned only liecause they are still living; not that 
there is a special set of characteristics to be assigned to each of the two 
groups thus made. As alreadv stated, some of those vet in acti\'e prac- 
tice were contemporaries or, at anv rate, juniors in service along with 
those who' have passed away. The associations and traditions, as well 
as the power of professional and personal influence, of the past, are 
still potent with the li\'ing members of the Cass countv bar. 



278 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

In tlic spring of igo'S tliere was elected to the office of circuit 
jmlgf (if the thirty-sixth judicial district a Cass county lawyer of over 
t\venty-rt\e years' experience in the courts and legal affairs of tb.e 
county. L. Burget Des Voignes (see sketch elsewhere), a native of 
Ohio and now in the prime of life, was admitted to the bar in St. 
Joseph county, this state, so<.)n after he had arrived at his majority, and 
a short time after graduated from the law department of the University 
of Alichigan, He practiced in ^larcellus from October. 1878. until 
the death of the Cass county probate judge, William B. Bennett, when 
lie was ap]niinted by the governor to the place and at the same time 
took up his residence in Cassopolis, He was re-elected to that office 
three times, and passed from that position to the circuit judgeship. He 
has also served as circuit court commissioner and as county prosecuting 
attorne}'. 

llie oflice of judge' of pnibate is filled by one of the younger mem- 
bers of the Cass county bar. Chester E. Cone came here from Indiana 
about ten years ago. became principal of the Vandalia high school, was 
then elected commissioner .jf schools, serving until succeeded bv Mr. 
Hale, the present commissioner. While in the office of commissioner 
he was industrious!}- reading law, and after a successful examination 
before the state examining board opened his oflice in Cassopolis, where 
he practiced until the resignation of Judge Des Voignes from the office 
of probate judge. He has also served as circuit court commissioner and 
is a member of the school board and the board of village trustees. 

The composition of the circuit court for the September term, 
1906, was as follows : 

L. Burget Des Voignes. circuit judge: George M. Fields, prose- 
cuting attorne\' : Carlton W. Rineharl, clerk; Edwartl J. Russey, sher- 
iff: Jacob Mcintosh, undersheriff: H. A. Sherman, reporter; Chester 
F. Cone, commissioner; Joseph R. Edwards, commissioner; William 
H. Hannon. deputy sheriff; Marcus S. Olmstead, deputy sheriff; George 
I. Nash, deputy sheriff'. 

An active attorne}' for twenty-eight years and from 1899 until re- 
centh' judge of the Cass-\'an Buren circuit court, John R. Carr is in 
many wavs prominent in the aft'airs of his county. Born on Prince Ed- 
ward's Island, British North America, May 18, 1841. alxnit the close 
of our Ci\il war he came to relati\-es in Van Buren county, Michigan, 
where lie made bis start by teaching district schools. In 1868 he en- 
tered the l:iw department of the University of Michigan, where two 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 279 

years later he was graduateil and admitted to the liar. ]\Ir. Carr tlien 
formed a partnership, which was to continue with success and profit 
for twenty-eight years, with Mr. M. L. HoweU. In 1899, as is well 
known, the judicial districts of southwestern Ivlichigan were recon- 
structed, anil whereas theretofore Cass had been linked with Berrien, 
and Van Buren with Kalamazoo, at the date mentioned each of the more 
populous counties was made into a separate district, and Cass and \'an 
Buren were made to form the thirty-sixth judicial district. .Vn electirm 
for circuit judge was then in order, and, contrary to the general trend 
of political matters in this section of the state and t(T the surprise, jier- 
haps, of both parties, a Democrat was the successful candidate in the 
new thirty-sixth. Mr. Carr was the fortunate gentleman to bring suc- 
cess to his party, and his ser\'ice on the circuit bench showed that the 
confidence of the electors was not misplaced. On his election he dis- 
solved his partnership with ]\Ir. Howell, and since retiring from office 
he has re-engaged in active practice. Air. Carr served as prosecuting 
attorney of the county four years, also two years as circuit co-urt com- 
missioner. He is a ruling elder and trustee and acti\'e worker in the 
Presbyterian church of Cassopolis, his home town. 

Joseph R. Edwards, circuit court commissioner, anil wIkj ser\-ed 
as county clerk two years, is one of Dowagiac's young lawyers and a 
justice of the peace in that city. 

A Cassopolis attornev who has also Ijeen in the official life nf the 
county is Ulysses S. Eby. He was born in Porter township of this 
county August 7. i<%4. An alumnus of the famous Valparaiso Nor- 
mal, after finishing his studies there he began teaching school in Cass 
county and continued that until elected county clerk in 1896. He held 
the ofifice two years. Returning to Valparaiso, he graduated from the 
law school and was admitted Iiefore the Michigan supreme court. He 
was elected prosecuting atti^rney of the count}-, and was associated in 
practice with Clarence M. Lyle. At present he practices alone. He is 
a member of the Cassopolis scliool board. 

George M. Fields, prosecuting attorney of Cass county, who is a 
resident lawyer of Dowagiac. has been an active member of the county 
bar for over ten years, and has held his present office since 1902. A 
more complete sketch of Mr. Fields will be found on other pages. 

The oldest practicing lawyer, both in point of age and of years 
since admission to the bar. is Lowell H. Glover of Cassopolis. He 
began his stuilies pri\ately at Edwardsburg, later with Daniel Black- 



280 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

man in Cassopolis, and since achnissiun to the bar in October, 1862, lias 
been in continuous practice. He bas beld the office of circuit court com- 
missioner; was ten years deputy comity clerk; elected justice of the peace 
in April, ]iS(j_', he has held the ot'l'ice to the present date, less one year; 
has held various village offices, and was postmaster during Cleveland's 
first term. Under the only Democratic administration that Michigan 
has had in the last forty years he was deputy commissioner of the state 
land oftice. 

Coy W. Hendryx of Dowagiac (see sketch elsewhere) studied 
law with his uncle, the late Spafford Tryon, one of the able men of the 
past, and was admitted to the bar in 1882. Appointed in i886', for 
twelve years he held the <iftice of United States commissioner of the 
western district of Michigan. He has also Ijeen a circuit court com- 
missiiiner and city attorney of Dowagiac. 

Marshall L. Howell of Cassopolis is an example of "the success- 
ful la\\}er in business." a combination which has been noted as one of 
the tendencies of the nrndern American bar. Besides caring for a large 
practice in the hical. state and United States courts, he is president of 
the First National ISank of Cassopolis. He was born in Cassopolis 
January 25, 1847, 'i-''' ^'1^ best educational opportunities, graduating 
from Kalania^'dn College at the age of twenty anil from the law de- 
partment cif the L'nixersily of ?i1ichigan in 1870-, and since that date has 
been in cnntinumis practice. He served as prosecuting -attorney one 
term, lieginning in 1874, and in 1876 was candidate for presidential 
electiir on the Democratic ticket. 

Charles O. Harmon is one of the younger Cassopolis lawyers. 
Horn in Porter townshi]). he has a long record of public ser^'ice. After 
ser\-ing four \ears in the office of register of deeds, he took a place 
in the office of the secretary of state at Lansing. During his three 
}ears in the state capital he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and 
on returning to this county opened his office in Dowagiac and sorm after 
at Marcellus. He then Imuglit a set of abstract books and l(x;ated at 
Cassopolis. Id is father, the late John B. Harmon, bax'ing died a few 
days after entering u])on his second term as couiit\- clerk, the son, 
Charles O., was elected to the vacanc_\- and cnmiileted his father's term 
with credit. 

;\nother new member of the Cass county bar is Clyde W. Ketcham 
of Dowagiac, who is rapidly coming into prominence in his practice. 
Born in this count\- tliirt\- vears ago, he attended the local schools. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 281 

was in newspaper work awhile, and Ijegan studying law with Mr. C. E. 
Sweet. In i<S97 he was elected justice of the peace in Dowagiac, serv- 
ing one term. He completed his law studies in the University of Mich- 
igan, and after admission formed a partnership with Charles E. Sweet, 
but is now practicing alone. 

James H. Kinnane, the only president the Cass County Bar Asso- 
ciation has ever had, was born in Kalamazoo county in 1859, was ad- 
mitted to the bar some twenty years ago, and has practicetl in Dowa- 
giac since 1898. He has held several positions under the federal and 
state as well as local authority, and is at present city attorney of Dowa- 
giac. (See more extended sketch elsewhere. J 

Asa Kingsbun- Hayden, son of the postmaster of Cassopolis, a 
native of the county and a graduate of the Cassopolis high school, is 
an active member of the bar and representative of various insurance 
companies. An interesting fact about Mr. Hayden's career is that he 
graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan be- 
fore attaining his majority. Consequently he was unable to obtain bis 
diploma — equivalent to admission to the bar — and had to wait till 
time could confer upon him the full prerogatives for legal practice in 
the state of Michigan. 

Clarence M. Lyie, in ])ractice at Cassopolis since 1900, first in 
partnership with U. S. Eby and since December, 1905, with H. D. 
Smith, was born in Van Buren county in 1874, was educated in this 
state and in South Dakota, where he lived from the age of eight years, 
being a student at Dakota University. Returning east, he studied in 
the literary and law departments at Valparaiso, about 1898 was ad- 
mitted to the South Dakota bar, but in the same year came to Cassopo- 
lis. where he studied in the office of Howell & Carr and in 1900 was 
graduated from the law dejiartment at Ann Arbor. 

Frank Reshore, at one time connected with the legal i)rofessiun in 
this county, gave up the law for other vocations, which he still ])ursues 
in Dowagiac. Born in Ohifj in 1853 and brought to this county a year 
later, he graduated from the Dowagiac schools in 1870, and while clerk- 
ing in his father's store, read law, completing his studies by gradua- 
tion from the law department of the State University in 1875. 

It is a fact worthy of mention that a group of half a dozen law- 
yers whose professional careers identified them with Cass county were 
all born in Orleans' county, New ^'ork. From that portion of the 
Empire state, bv various mutes anrl influenced b}- different causes 



282 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

and circumstance^, they fDregjithered in Cass county. One of these 
is Harsen D. Smith, the well known attorney of Cassopolis. Born in 
the county mentioned March 17, 1842, he was a teacher in earlv life, 
and in 1867 was admitted to the har in Coldwater, this state. After 
se\-eral years' [iracticc in Jackson he came to Cassopolis in 1870 and 
formed a partnershi]! with the late Charles W. Clisbee; was with the 
late A. J. Smith until the election of the latter as circuit judge. He is 
now senior meniher of the firm of Smith & Lyle. When the thirtv- 
sixth judicial district was created he was appointed circuit judge to 
ser\e till the regular election, lie was ]irosecuting attorney four years 
and a numljer of years a member of the state board of pardons. (See 
sketch.) 

Charles E. Sweet of Dowagiac, of whom more extended mention 
is made elsewhere, has been engaged in successful practice in the county 
for twenty years. He is another Cass county lawyer who came under 
the influence and tutelage of the late Spafford Tryon. Mr. Sweet 
ser\ed one term as justice of the jieace. twice as circuit court commis- 
sioner and twice as prosecuting attorney. 

John ^^'ooster of Dowagiac was born in Hillsdale count)-, ]\Iich- 
igan, in 1S47, taught school as a means to an end, graduated from 
Hillsdale College in 1873, 'i"*^' after reading law two years in Kalama- 
zoo was admitted to the bar. His first office was at Constantine, but 
the same }-ear he located in Dowagiac. He has ser\'ed as. city attorne\- 
four times. 

Other attrirneys whose names appear as active members of the 
Cass count}' bar are two voung law\ers at Marcellus, \\\alter C. Jones 
and Otis Huff, and Fred Pbilliiison of Dowagiac. 

From the preceding it will be seen that many changes ha\-e taken 
place in the personnel of the count}- liar in these years. Many new 
names have come into prominence, of men fitted to maintain and advance 
yet higher the standard of the past, whose talents, whose industry, w-hose 
devotion to the best ideals of the profession are not less worthy of ad- 
miration and honor than those same qualities ii-i their predecessors. 
Perhaps the most cons]-)icuous fact for comparison is that a larger pro- 
portion of the present niembers seem to have received collegiate train- 
ing, and an increasingly fewer number are being introduced to the jiro- 
fession by the old-time method of rough and tumble experience and 
diligent thunibing the pages of Blackstone under the inspiration of indi- 
vidual an-ibition. No doubt those whose experience covers both the old 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 283 

and tlie new would assert that tlie period of preparation lias been re- 
lievetl of many difficulties that characterized it in tlieir time; Ijut on the 
other hand, the novitiate — while the aspirant waits for his clients — 
would seem to be as trying and as uncertain now as ever. 

A few years ag'o a movement was made to organize the Cass 
Count}- Bar Association. The preliminary meetings were held, consti- 
tution and by-laws were adopted, officers elected, and the first dues 
were paid in by some of the members, but since the first flush of organ- 
ization the association has lapsed from activity, and now exists more 
by grace of its origin than by any manifestations of active energy. Its 
officers, who continue in office because their successors have never been 
elected, are: J. H. Kinnane, president: H. D. Smith, vice president; 
A. K. Havden, secretarv, and L. H. Glover, treasurer. 



264 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XXI. 
CASS COUNTY THE HOME OF THE RACES. 

Cass county presents a peculiar field for the study of American 
ability to assimilate races. Of the salient American stock the popula- 
tion of the county is typical in a high degree. The county is still rural. 
The distracting features of metropolitan life have not been introduced 
and with them the European racial elements which we find in manu- 
facturing centers. Its settlers, as we know, were drawn largely from the 
best stocks of the east, many from the Xew England states. Cass county 
citizens may truly he called re])reseiitati\e .\merican stock, a com- 
mingling of the best social elements and traditions. 

So much as regards the white Americans, and the ethnic varia 
tions presented by the Teuton and Slav, the Gaul and Saxon, who in 
varying proportions constitute the bulk of the population, are not to be 
discriminated in this article. But among this dominant race in Cass 
county are to be found two other races, and to what extent these are 
integrated with the bodies politic, industrial and social of the county 
it is the purpose of this article to inquire, at the same time recording 
the historical connectitjn of these two peoples with Cass county. Cass 
county's history becomes unique because of the presence of these three 
heterogeneous racial groups within its borders, and a chapter may prop- 
erly be devoted to this phase of its history. 

It is a remarkable fact that the epochs of American domestic his- 
tory have turned upon the two races whose representatives are now 
living side by side with the white citizens of this county. The annals 
of settlement and expansion in America from the landing of the May- 
flower immigrants to the final winning of the great west from the 
wilderness were marked with conflict with the red men, who were the 
aboriginal possessors of the land. And the introduction of the black 
race from Africa at about the same time with the landing of the Pil- 
grims sowed the seed which more than two centuries later bore fruit in 
the Civil war, the crisis of the nation's existence. And now, in the 
peace and prosjierity of the twentieth century, the destinies of the three 
raciallv distinct people are l.ieing wrought to the infinite purpose while 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 285 

dwelling side by side in Cass county. It is from this higher historical 
viewpoint that the history of the Indian remnant and the negro colony 
of Cass coiinty should be considered. 

At an earlier point in this narrative w'e have related how Pokagon 
and his followers would not sign the Chicago treaty until they had 
been exempted from the clause providing that they leave their ances- 
tral home. Old Chief Pokagon was an Indian above the average in 
character and intelligence, understood the advantages to his race of 
civilization and was devoted to the Catholic religion, which the mis- 
sionaries had taught him. It was his purpose to settle his people in their 
old home anil as far as necessary conform to the institutions and laws 
of the white people. In effecting this he first directed his efforts to 
securing title to sufficient land for his tribe, and used his influence to 
invest the cash apportionment of his followers in a tract of land in 
Silver Creek township, which, though entered in the name of Pokagon, 
was really owned in severalty. In the original land entries Pokagon's 
entries, \\hich were nearly all made in the winter of 1836-37. con- 
sisted of the following tracts in Silver Creek: Section 11, 296 acres: 
section 14. 258 acres: section 21, 160 acres: section 22. 160 acres — in 
all 874 acres in his name, all located in adjacent sections of the town- 
ship and in the vicinity where the present Indian community lives. 

On this land Pokagon's people lived, maintaining in part their 
tribal organization and in part the relations of American citizens. The 
church which they built and which becahie the center of Catholic in- 
fluence in the county is elsewhere described. While Pokagon lived all 
went well. After his death in 1841 his son Pete became chief and dis- 
sensions arose that did' much to disintegrate the tribe. The last cen- 
sus shows only eight or nine Indian families in Silver Creek. The 
last government annuity was given them in 1865 and with the cessn- 
tion of this allowance all reason for the tribal organization passed. And 
vet the Indians clung to this form of social organization, and when 
Simon Pokagon died about six years ago, being the last of the Pokagon 
line and thus ending the chiefhood in the family inheritance, the remain- 
ing number, following the custom of generations, came together and 
proceeded to elect Lexis, one of their number, as chief, thus tenacious- 
ly holding on to old forms and customs. Further, a petition was' made 
to the Indian commissioner that Tom Topash be appointed interpreter 
between the government and the Indians. But the reply came that an 
interpreter was no longer needed, that the relations between the gov- 



2Sfi HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

cnmu'iit al Washington and this remnant of Pottawottomies had ceased, 
and that with the discliarging of tlie last debt a few years ago tlie de- 
scendants of Pokagon's band were placed upon the same individual 
basis with all other American citizens. For these Indians in northwest 
Cass county are citizens. They attend the town meeting and vote, are 
safeguarded and restrained by the same laws, churches and schools are 
open to them, and the Indian community of Cass county has nothing in 
commiin with the picture that usually rises in the mind at the mention 
of America's aboriginal race, dwelling in wigwams, the men lying at 
indolent ease on the ground and the women scratching the soil with a 
stick, and such other illusions as will always be associated with the In- 
dian race. 

Ln general reputati(jn for thriftiness and substantial character, the 
Boziel family, residing northeast of Siher Creek church, are the lead- 
ers of the settlement. They own about a hundred acres and are well 
liked in the country. Thomas Topash is chairman of the business com- 
mittee of the Catholic church, and his uncle, Ste\'e Topash, near the" 
tiiwn hall, is anrither well known Indian. 

The \eteran of the community is Alexander Bushman, a half- 
breed Shawnee, whose maternal grandfather was a wdiite man, made 
a prisoner 1j_\- the Shawnees in the Revolutionary war, continued to 
li\'e with them and act as interpreter when this tribe was removed to 
the Osage river west of St. Louis, and becaiue a well-to-do farmer and 
frm't grower. The latter's daughter moved with the Shawnees to Kan- 
sas and married a white man naiued Bushman, one of their children be- 
ing .\le.xander, who is now seventy-eight years old and has lived with 
the Pottawottomies since he was ten years old. He is a shrewd and 
intelligent old man, and having been ]ilaced in positions of resijonsibil- 
itv in acting for hi^ people in their relation with the government at 
various times, he has had opportunities tO' oteerve and compare and 
judge his people from a larger point of view. He speaks of his family 
with pride evidently born of his white blood as "working people." He 
hiuTielf was trained in a manual labor school and learned how to work. 
He married in Kansas, and after the war he came to Michigan on ac- 
count of relatives of his wife who li\ed here. Bushman was pleased 
with this country, and, ha\-ing money, be bought land near the town 
hall in Silver Creek and there has lived to the present time. 

"The Indian is spoiled by ,gi\ing him too much money" is one of 
the facts of Indian character that he states from his observation and 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 287 

experience. "The Indians' are good workers, but are withdut steadi- 
ness and continuit}- of purpose: they take httle interest in their homes 
and farms as compared witli the white people, and seem, as it were, 
stranded on the shores of civiHzation, ahke unable to re>.ert to their 
former condition or to possess and become a part of the life in which 
they live. The love of personal display is strong among our penple. 
They will, when money comes to them, buy top buggies and other 
luxuries to the neglect of home comforts and personal necessities. Their 
social diversions are refined from. the old customs. They have dances 
for which the music is often furnished by Indian fiddlers, antl liig din- 
ners follow these routs, which are often the aftemiath to wood-cutting 
bees. But the bane of my people, as it has been for generations, is 
drink, and the Indian character seems powerless against this tempta- 
tion.'" 

Such was his estimate of his own people, and in the main it seems 
just. The judgment of a white citizen who has had close relations with 
these people was much more severe, but it was directed mainly against 
the Indian lack of thrift and inability to perform the duties and re- 
sponsibilities which are the lot of white citizens. To measure the In- 
dian strictly by the commonest standards of white people seems unfair. 
In point of intelligence the comparisons result more favorably. The 
Indian children who attend the district schools are not rated inferior 
in this respect to their white mates, and the teachers who ha\e had such 
children under their direction find little cause of disparagement. 

THE CALVIN NEGRO COLONY. 

In 1836 a fugitive slave named Lawson came tiT Cabin township 
with a Quaker preacher named Way. Lawson was the first negro set- 
tler of Calvin township and Cass county, so far as known, and was the 
pioneer of the movement which in a few years made Cass county a ref- 
uge and secure retreat for the lilack race. But the first comers of this 
race were accidental settlers, and nothing in the nature of a definite 
mo\-ement of the unfoilunate people began until the later forties. 

It was the Quaker settlement, elsewhere described, which undoubt- 
edly was the first cause of Cass county's colored settlement.. Due to 
the uncompromising anti-slavery attitude of the Friends, it was among 
the settlements and following their general line of direction that the 
institution of the "underground railroad" flourished. The "under- 
ground railroad" for the transportation of fugitive slaves from the 



288 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

soutli to free Canada is so closely identified with the slavery period and 
hence so familiar a topic of American history that no description is 
needed here. But it should be stated that Cass county was on the direct 
route of this "railroad," and according to some writers was the junc- 
tion point for the lines from Illinois and froni Indiana, which con- 
\'erged here. As the slaves were hurried along this route it happened 
that some of them stopped in Cass C(junty, finding homes and pn.itec- 
tion among the abolitionists and their own peojile. For already a col- 
ony of freed negroes had located in the county. The majority of these 
were originallv from North Carolina, having first taken up their homes 
in the north in L'jgan county. Ohio, and about ii'^45 or 184O, owing to 
the cheapness of land in this county, as well as to the settlement of their 
white friends and sympathizers from the same part of Ohio, came in 
considerable numbers to Cass county. Many of these freed negroes 
purchased small farms and became, as it were, the backbone of the col- 
ored settlement. Among these early settlers were Hars-ey Wade, Neu- 
som Tann, Nathaniel Boon, Turner and Crawford Byrd, Kitchen Artis 
and Harrison Ash. A little later the colony was augmented through 
the provisions of the will of a Cable county. Virginia, planter named 
Sampson Saunders, who left $15,000 with his administrators for the 
purchase of land and the settlement of his liberated slaves in a free 
state. Cahnn township, with its cheap lands and friendly abolitionists, 
was selected as the site of this colony, and the Saunders colony, con- 
sisting of four brothers and their families and others, was a very inv 
portant addition to the negro population of the county. 

The extent of the migration and the distribution of the colored 
people can lie veiy well understood fronn the census of 185O'. At that 
date there were 10.518 white persons of the county and 389 negroes. 
lujualh- distributed, the colored people would have been a mere 
sprinkling in the county. But two townships contained two-thirds of 
the entire number, so that they were already a very noticeable element 
among the population. Cah'in township had the largest number then 
as today, there being 1,58, negroes to 466 whites. In Porter township 
there were 105 colored to 1,154' whites, and. the, other townships rep- 
resented by this race were Howard with 72 colored persons,, Penn with 
31, Ladrange and Cassopohs with 15, Jefferstm with 5, and Silver 
Creek with 3. 

With such a considerable ctjlored population, among whom was a 
number of fugitive slaves, .it was ine\'ital>le that Cass county should 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 289 

attract considerable attentirm in the snutli, mit only among" the slaves, 
but from the \vhites wliose blacks had escaped them. The planters of 
Bourbon count}-, Kentucky, had suffered especial loss from escajiing 
slaves, many of whom had taken refuge in Cass and Calhoun counties. 
The presence of the slaves in this county led to a concerted mo\-ement 
on the part of Kentuckians for their recapture, an event which has 
come down through history under the familiar name "f the "Kentucky 
Raid." It is nut to be understood that the raid was made against a 
single locality and by (Jiie party of slave hunters. The Kentuckians di- 
rected their efforts to a broatl field and carried on their (iperations fur 
a considerable period of time, involving many separate expeditions, 
each with its own account. Hence the many versions of the raid are not 
contradictory, but describe the movement of different parties. Also, 
these raids extended over a period of several years, beginning with 1847. 

One of the chief parties of raiders from Kentucky came to this 
count v in August, 1847. Although they maintained secrecy in tlieir 
intentions and directed their movements in the same manner that \\ould 
characterize a gang of horse thieves, it is noteworthy that they clearly 
had the laws of the United States to support them in reco\-ering their 
fugitive slaves and were compelled to act co\'ertly only l^ecause of the 
hostility of the citizens to the institution of slavery. It was humane 
anarchy set against legalized oppression. 

The Kentuckians first had their headquarters at Battle Creek, but 
opposition to their plans was so determined that they moved south to 
Bristol. Ind., whence they directed their movements intO' Cass county. 
Setting out at night, in several detached parties, they endeavored tci 
round up all the slaves that belonged to them and of which they had 
been furnished information. In the course of the night they paid visits 
to Josiah Osborn, the East .settlement, in Calvin township, Zachariah 
Shugart near Vandalia and Stephen Bogue, names of the most influen- 
tial Quakers and abolitionists in the countv. At each of these houses 
one or more negroes were captured and carried awav bv their former 
owners. 

But before the southerners could collect the slaves and get away 
from the county the alarm had been spread by Bogue and Shugart, and 
a large party of citizens armed with guns and clubs stopped the progress 
of the Kentuckians and compelled them to go to Cassopolis, where they 
might prove their ovvuership of the blacks before a regular justice 
court. Excitement ran high that morning, and as the crowd of slave- 



200 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

owners, negroes an<I citizens ])ressc(l on from near \'aiulalia to the 
county seat the news si>rca(l to all jiarts of the C(Hint)-, and when the 
strange procession arri\c(l an immense throng had gathered ahout the 
court house. 

riu' legal ]>roceedings turned upon a writ of haheas corpus, rec|uir- 
iug the Kentuckians to show cause why the negroes should not be released 
I'l-oni custody. Ceorge B. Turner was retained as attorney for the 
Kentuckians ;md James Sullixan and I"!7,ekiel S. Siuith acted in he- 
h.alt of the fugitives. The case was tried before Circuit C(jurt Commis- 
sioner MclKain fi-oni I'.errit'u count}', who, illegalh', so it was later 
decided, had come from that connt\' to hear the case in the absence 
of .\. II. Kedlicld, ol (ass couutw The commissioner decided ad- 
versely to the Kentuckians. and at once the nine slaves were liberated 
.ind the same night were lunrieil <uU of the counl\' li\ A\a\ of the 
underground railroad. 

The sl.'ue owners — who.se n.ames, so far as preserved, were Rev. 
.\. Stevens, llubli.ard lUickner. C. P.. Rust, John ].. Craves (sheriff of 
llouibon count} ), James Scott, (1. W. llrazier, Thornton Timlierlake, 
and Messrs. Ilristow and Lemon — were thus deprived of anv recoiu'se 
so far as local courts were concerned, mid in February. iS4cS, brought 
suit to recover the v.ahie of their lost slaves in the United States Cir- 
cuit L'ourt for ilu' 1 )istrict of Michigan. Thornton Timberlake was 
the plaintiff r.;nned. and the defendants were Josiah Oslxjrn, Jefferson 
Osborn, bllison ( )'~liorn. 1 )avid T. Xicholson, Ishmael Lee, William 
Jones and hdicne/er Mcllv.ain — all ]iromincnt men of this county e.Kcejit 
Mr. MclKain, who, acting as circuit court commissioner, had liberated 
the sla\es. The case was not heard until Jann.ary, i<S5i, when the 
jnrv stood ciglit to four in favor of the plaintiff. The case was then 
compromised !)}• the defendants ])a}iug a thousand dollars and costs, 
which amounted to .about $3,000. Thus noniinalh- the Kentuckians 
.got justice, but their slaves were gone and it is said that their attorneys 
took as fees ;i]] the monc}- paid over by the defendants, so that virtually 
the Cass count}- abolitionists b.ad trium])hed in their sturdy opposition 
to sla\erv whether -^.inctioned b}' l;iw or not. 

The history of the Kentucky raid has been briefly sketched since 
the two pre\-ious histories of the county ha\e described the circum- 
st.ances with considerable <letail at a time when some of the ]irin- 
ci])al actors were \ ct living .and nothing cotdd be added to their ac- 
count-'. The incidents are not.'ible in themselves and form a very iiii- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 2'.»1 

portant cliapter in tlic history ol Uie cnunl)' and nalion, while the 
movement ayainst slavery was gaining strength. C)l its elTecls on the 
negro colony in the cmmty. il is pmliahle thai it increased rather than 
retarded the llighl of fngiti\-cs to this \icinity. It advertised the 
county ni<ire hroadly as a safe retreat for slaws and also caused the 
slave owners to hesitate hefore taking forcihlc means of recovering their 
chattels. 

'Jhus tile negro ])opulation of the county continued on the in- 
crease during the fifties. 'i'he free negroes continued to come here 
from Ohio and other northern states, and during that decade some of 
the men settled who hecame the leaders of their race. Isaac P. Slew- 
art came from ()hio in 1X54, and heginning with eight\' acres in CaKin 
township hecame a man of suh'^tance as years passed on until he owned 
between two and three Inmdred acres. Samuel 1 lawks, now one of tiie 
wealthiest and most inlluenlird men u\ CaK'in township, settled here 
before the war and hv indnslr\- and good management found the key 
to success, (ireen .\llen, now deceased, at one time paid the largest 
tax of any man in Calvin. lialon Nevvsom, grandfather of Dr. \ew- 
som, of Calvin Center, and James A. Alitchell, all from ( )hio, were 
good reliable citizens and res]5ected throu,ghoiU the conimuuity. Tur- 
ner Byrd, who came from North Carolina by way of Logan county, 
Ohio, and who was an early settler about Chain lakes and founder and 
pastor of the Baptist church there, was a successful man and tliovigh 
uneducated was thoroughly respected by both while and black. Har- 
rison j\sh was another whose promises were relied upon with the 
surety that indicates strength of character. William Lawson came into 
the county in 1853 and was the first merchant among his race, and also 
a good farmer. Some of the older citizens still Hving, besides Mr. 
Hawks, already mentioned, are William Allen, a son of Josepli Allen 
and nei)hew cjf Green Allen, who is admittedly one of the ablest busi- 
ness farmers in Cass county, and who made his money by hard work 
and economy; Jesse W'. Madrey, of C'assoiwlis, wdio came to the county 
in 1852 as a l^oy, and has won a home and substantial place in the 
regard of his fellow citizens; and C. W. Bunn, who years ago Ijegan 
a sawmill Inisiness in CaKin after the timber had supposedly laeen 
used up, later establishing himself in the lumber business at Cassopolis, 
and owns property both here and at South Bend. 

W^iat estimate shall l>e placed upon this unique colored settle- 
ment, which at the present lime in Cah'in lownshi]) iiossesses the ma- 



292 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

jority (60 per cent) of the population and a large proportion of the 
lam! and wealth, liesides exercising a cimtrdlling influence in politics, 
religion and education? Let the foremost representative of tlie colored 
ranee answer this cjuestion in his own words. In 1903 Booker T. 
^Vashing■ton contributed to the Outlook an article entitled "TwO' Gen- 
erations Under Freedom," in which he described at length this interest- 
ing C(ilnn\- in Cass ccjunty. The article is one of the documents (jf 
Cass countv history, and this chajiter may Ije concluded with the quo- 
tation of its salient points together with a very few comments on the 
part of the present writer: 

"When I visited Calvin township recently," says Mr. Washington, 
"I found that it contained a population of 759 negroes and 512 whites. 
In addition to these a large negro population had overflowed into the 
adjoining tn\vnship nf Porter, and to some extent into' all but two of the 
towns in the cnunty. As 1 dmxe from Cassopolis in the direction 
of Calvin township, we soon began going through well cultivated 
farms and past comfortable-looking farm houses. The farms fur the 
most part in their general appearance compared favorably with the a\er- 
age farms we saw in Alichigan. Many of the houses were large, at- 
tractive and well buill. The yards were made beautiful with grass, 
shruijbery and flowers, 'i'he barns, stock, poultry and other farm at- 
tachments were in keeping with everything else we saw. In our dri\e 
of nearly ten hours, in which we covered nearly thirty miles of terri- 
tory, through Calvin township and a part of Porter, we saw little to in- 
dicate that we were in a negm town except the color of the faces of the 
jieople. They were up to the a\erage of their white neighbors. 

"In a few cases it was interesting to see standing on the same 
])remises the small cabin in which the people began life years ag(.i, 
and then to see near it a modern frame cottage containing six or se\'en 
rtHims. To me it was interesting and encouraging to note to what 
extent these people 'li\'ed at home," that is, produced what the_\' con- 
sumed. My visit took me through the communitv during the harvest- 
ing season, and at that time most of the farmers were engaged in 
threshing wheat and oats. On one farm we saw a large modern steam 
thresher at work, operated wholly by negroes and owned by a negro, 
Mr. Henry L. Archer. Mr. Archer not only threshed grain for the 
negro farmers in the township, but for the white farmers as well." 

]\Ir. Washington spoke highly, but in terms which all citizens 
would .•ip])ro\-c, of the successful colored men alxn-e mentioned, nnniel}'. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 293 

William .\llen, Samuel Hawks, Cornelius Lawson, Jesse W. Madrey, 
and C. W. Bunn. Continuing his description, he states that "a c(jn- 
siderable number of the colored people of Calvin township own their 
homes, and many of those who are renting are doing so from negro 
landowners. In a few cases \\hite people in the county are renting 
property owned by negroes." 

With respect to political relations and civic performance Mr. 
Washington could lind no e\'idence that "there was any fricticjn l;c- 
lv\^een the two races. The county officials informed me that there 
were no reports of cheating at the ballot boxes, and that the affairs of 
the township were conducted as well politically as anv in the county. 
For some _\'ears it had been the boast of the negro tax collector of 
Calvin county that he was one of the first collectors to secure and pay 
into the county treasury all of the township taxes. * * * Each 
township in the county is entitled to one representative on the c<.)unty 
lx)ard of supei-visors which has the control of the affairs of the entire 
county. The representative of Cah'in is a l)lack man, and I was told liy 
several white people of the county that the negro supervisor \'oted in- 
telligently and conser\'atively. '" * * I was informed by several 
reliable white men of the count\' that there had never lieen an}' troulile 
worth menticming growing out of political differences. When the war 
between the states broke out, as soon as colored soldiers were permitted 
to enlist, practically every negro man iti the township who' was eligil>le 
enlisted and went to the front. As a result there is a Grand Army post 
in Calvin named Matthew Artis Post, in honor of one of the old set- 
tlers and soldiers. * * * Jn ^ly inspection of their church houses 
there were two things that specially pleased me. One was the fine and 
neat appearing parsonage which stood near the Chain Lake Baptist 
church: the other was the appearance of the gra\'eyard near the same 
building. The church house, the parsonage and the gravevard gave one 
a picture which made him feel he was in a "Massachusetts village. The 
graveyard was laid out in family plots, and most of the graves had 
marble slabs or headstones. There were evidences that the Ijurial place 
received systematic care." 

Since the enfranchisement of the negro no distinction is made 
between the white and colored men for jury service in the courts of 
the county, and among the jurors on the regular panel at each term of 
the circuit court are found colored men, both members from Cal\'in 
at the Septeml)er ( iqciG) term lielonging to that race. Reuben Bever- 



294 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ley, now deceased, then of Cassopolis, was the first colored man to he 
summoned and accepted as a juror in Cass county. His son later served 
four years as register of deeds (if the C(junty. 

While DU his visit to the cciunl)- Mr. Washington took opportunity 
Id gain llie npinion of some of the white men whose positions made 
their judgment concenhng the race \aluahle. Judge L. B. Des Voignes 
spoke with con\icition of the impro\'ement of the material condition 
of the negr(jes tluring the preceding twent)- years, and of the decrease 
of crime among them. "I do not recall any instance where white resi- 
.dents of the township ha\e ohjected to colored people buying land 
there. 1 do not think there is any depreciation in the price of land. 
To a stranger buying land the colored residents might be an objection; 
but 1 do not think it \v(.)uld be to those who' know the colored people 
of Calvin. The cohered residents have helped to contribute to the 
])rosperity of the county, considering the opportunities they ha\-e had. 
There is a prosperous colored community in \'olinia, of not more than 
a hundred persons, and there are colored residents in several of the 
townships of Cass county." 

Mr. C. O. Harmon, then count}- clerk, corroborated the testimony 
of Judge Des Voignes, adding that the colored people were "quick to 
take advantage of impro\ements, such as the telephone and improved 
machiner}-. The merchants of Cassopolis find these people extra good 
customers. That may be one criticism to make — that they buy too 
freely for their own g(iod." ]\lr. C. C. Nelson gave as his opinion that 
whereas the people of Cahin were once haphazard and lawless, the 
township at (Hie time furnisliing two-thirds of the court business of the 
countw that conilition was now [last and the colored people had im- 
pro\fd more, proportionatelw than the whites. 

The editor of this history was cjuoted by Mr. Washington as 
sa^•ing that "the first generation of negro settlers were fine men — none 
fietter. The second generation was bad. The third shows a marked 
improvement But through it all the liest men have supported the law 
unfailingly. There is no social mingling. Init otherwise the relations 
of the races are entirel_\' friendly. I do not know of more than a 
dozen marriages between the whites and the blacks in the entire 
county." 

The observations and inferences of ]\Ir. ^^'ashington. though the 
result of a brief visit to his peo])le. must stand in the main as correct 
and judicious. The settlement will long deserve serious consideration 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 295 

and study as one of the notable experiments in the development of a 
racial community in mastering and adapting the principles of American 
democracy. Evidences of clannishness among the colored people are 
to be considered in a favorable light, since it seems that a wholesome 
integration of the race, independent, yet harmonious, is the true solu- 
tion of the "negro problem." The ideas of these people certainly tend 
to good citizenship and a desire for homes, schools and morality. Yet 
the struggles of the settlement in this direction have some pathetic 
shadows. It is confessed that the disturbing element in this colony 
comes from the injection of a lower type from communities which 
have not had the advantages of that in Cass county. As long, tlien, 
as the older settlers remain predominant, with the training in self-cun- 
trol and civic strength which "two- generations of freedom" give them, 
the welfare of the community seems to be assured. Ihit what if the 
stock be weakened by the withdrawal to the cities — which is certainly 
taking place among the younger people — and the infusion of inferior 
classes among those that remain? Can this small colony, enterprising 
and high-minded though it is. become tlie leax'en for the whole lump 
and succeed in communicating its inheritance to all those who come ? 
These questions need cause no immediate alarm, since all con<liti(ins 
point to progress rather than retrogression. 

Education and schools received little mention by Mr. Washing- 
ton because his visit to the county was during the summer vacation. 
The school at Calvin Center is entirely attended by negro children and 
taught liy a colore^! man, and several other schools ha\-e negro teachers 
and colored children in the majority. Comparing these with other 
schools for the race, especially tliose to be found in the smith, there is 
afforded ground for the highest satisfaction with the progress these 
people are making in education. A comparisim with one oi the schools 
in the same county supported and attended by the whites results to the 
advantage of the latter, as should be natural. The colored people 
believe thoroughly in schools and send their children to them as a mat- 
ter of course, but it is confessed that they are not so strict in keejiing 
them in school as their white neighbors, altlniugb the recent compulsorv 
attendance law will leave little latitude in that direction for either 
race. 

There is a difference of opinion regarding the power of the 
churches, some maintaining that their bold on the people is not so 
strong as formerly and that the ministers are not broadening as rapidly 



21)6 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

as the peiiple in their cuiiceiitions nf moral duties and the relatiims n( 
tlie church t(i society. The modern era has certainly hrout;iit man\' new 
interests which the older and less educated negroes did not have. Reail- 
ing is more general and it is prolialile that not a family with a settled 
home goes without a weekly ]ierusal of the local jiaper, and manv 
mctroiiolitan ])apers go out dail\- oxer the rural routes to these homes 
in CaKin and Porter. Literar_\- societies, fraternities and bands and 
other musical interests are not uncommon and indicate the widening 
scope of the people's training and progress. 

To the general obser\-er it seems that there is a tendency to seg- 
regation ni the race. This is encoiu'aging rather than to he considered 
with delicate tact in con\ersation. .\s the colored i>eople are becom- 
ing more independent and lietter ada])te(l to .\merican ideals, it seems 
that the bonds of race will bring them closer in their own social rela- 
tions and at the same time strengthen those relations in Inisiness, edu- 
cation, politics and activity for the general welfare wdiich do not recog- 
nize racial lines. By all means the jilanting of a negro cohnn' in Cass 
Count)- two generations agri has redounded to the credit of the world 
and a(l\-anced society one ste]) further toward the goal of aspiration 
and slri\-ing on the part of this age. And for Cass county it is no 
small distincti<in that it has been the arena on which some of the most 
interesting and pressing ])roblems of race assimilation and ada|>tation 
ha\-e been ad\-anced to solution. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 2«»7 



CHAPTER XXn. 

MILITARY RECORDS. 

The military history of Cass county has ah^eady been written in de- 
tail in the work of 1882. Fortunately the crises which demand almost 
unanimous outpouring of life and property in defense of country occur 
but rarely. The Sauk and Black Hawk war was the first martial event 
that concerned this county and, as we know, was too distant to cause 
more than an alarm an<l militia muster. The war with iNIexico marie 
comparatively small demand on the \-(ilunteer fcirces nf the country, and 
no organization and perhaps no individuals from Cass county partic- 
ipated in that war. But the Civil war called for the county's best and 
bravest, and the call was not made in vain. The manhood of the state 
was drained off to fight in the south, and Cass county may never cease 
to be proud of the record her soldiers made in the rebellion. As stated, 
the history of our soldiers in that war has been fully written, not only 
in the Cass county history but forms a part of the annals of the state 
and nation. The detailed description of the movements of the regiments 
and divisions to which Cass county soldiers belonged does not, there- 
fore, seem to require repetition on these pages. But the names of those 
who enlisted from this county to fight on the battlefields of the south 
deserve space in every history of the county, and for this reason the 
individual records of Cass county soldiers in the Civil war are appended 
in full to this chapter. 

No regular organization was formed in this county for service in 
the Spanish-American war. Some individuals enlisted in the regiments 
formed in the state to fill out Michigan's quota, but so far as known none 
of these reached the field of action, most of the volunteers for that war 
getting their military experience in camp on American shores. 

Cass county has several representatives in the regular army and 
navy. In the list of Dowagiac high school alumni will be fcmnd brief 
mention of several who have attained rank in the army. Cassopolis 
is also proud of three young men now in the regular service of their 
country each with the rank of lieutenant, they being Frank M. Bennett 
and Steven V. Graham, in the navy, and Jay Paul Hopkins in the army. 



298 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CASS COUNTY SOLDIERS IN THE CIVIL WAR. 

The following records represent the enlistments and service of Cass 
comity men in the various regiments of the northern armies. In a few 
cases an entire company of a regiment would be composed of Cass county 
boys, but as a rule the roster of the regiments show those from this 
county distributed through the companies, occasionally only one Cass 
county soldier being found in a company. But the compilation is thought 
to contain the names of all those \\-ho went from this cnimty. 

The indi\idual record consists generally of the dates of enlistment 
and of the muster out or discharge, or of the sadder chronicle of death 
on tlie field nv in hospital. The abbreviations used to con\'ey these 
and other facts are self-explanator}-. 



FORTY-SECOND ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



C0MP.\NY E. 

Capt. Daniel McOmber, Dowagiac. 

Capt. William H. Colburn, Silver Creek; 

com. April ii, 1865; m. o. Dec. 16, 1865; 

1st Lieut. May 17. 1864; Sergt. vet. Jan. 

I, 1864; Corp., July 26, 1861. 
First Lieut. William H. Clark, Dowagiac. 

May 17, 1864; declined com. 
Second Lieut. Nathan H. DeFoe, Dow- 
agiac, Jan. 22, 1S61 ; res. May 11, 1862. 
First Sergt. William T. Codding. Dow- 
agiac, July 22. 1S61 ; m. o. Sept. 16. 

1864. 
Sergt. Jehiel Hall. Dowagiac. July 23. 

i86i ; killed at Stone River Dec. 31, 

1862. 
Sergt. Cyrus Phillips. Dowagiac. July 22, 

1861 ; vet. Jan. i. 1864; prom, ist Lieut. 

Co. F. 
Sergt. Leonard H. Norton, La Grange, 

Aug. ID, 1861 ; vet. Jan. i. 1864: died of 

wounds INIarch 5, 1864. 
Corp. William H. Colburn, Silver Creek, 

July 26, 1861 ; vet. Jan. i, 1864; prom. 

Ist Lieut, from Sergt. 
Corp. Asher Huff, Dowagiac. July 26. 

1861 ; dis. for disability March 12. 1863. 
Corp. Comfort P. Estes, Dowagiac, July 

26. t86i ; vet. Jan. i, 1864: killed at 

Kenesaw June 18, 1864. 
Corp. Christopher Harmon, Dowagiac, 

July 26, i86t ; vet. Jan. i, 1864; m. o. 

Sergt. Dec. 16. 1865. 
Corp. Theo. De Camp. Silver Creek. July 

26. 1861 ; dis. for disability March n. 

1863. 
Corp. William H. Clark. Dowagiac, July 

26, iSfii : vet. Jan. I. 1S64: m. o. as 

Sergt. May 28. 1865. 
Corp. Victor Wallace. Dowagiac, July 26, 



1861 ; vet. Jan. i. 1864; m. o. as Sergt. 

Dec. 16. 1865. 
.\rnold, Desire, Silver Creek, July 26, 

1861 ; killed at Stone River Dec. 31, 

1862. 
Brownell. Lorenzo D., Dowagiac, July 26, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Nov. 18, 1862. 
Barrack, Jonathan A.. Calvin, Aug. I, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Aug. 17, 1862. 
Burhng, Robert G., Pokagon, July 26, 

1861 : dis. for disability Oct. 24. 1862. 
Bragg, Gustavus, Pokagon, Aug. 7, iS6t ; 

died of wounds at Trenton, Ga.. Sept. 

10. 1863. 
Caston, Hiram,, Jefferson. July 26, 1861 ; 

m. o., wounded, Sept. 16, 1S64. 
Cone, Hulett. Dowagiac. Aug. 31, 1861 ; 

died at Park Barracks. Kv., Nov. 5, 

1862. 
Calhoun. Alliert, Aug. .so, 1861 : died in 

rebel liosp.. Wilmington, N. C. March 

5. i8fi5. 
Day. Lucius C. Dowagiac, July 26, 1861 ; 

vet. Jan. i. 1864; m. o. July 15, 1865. 
Finehart. Daniel P., Pokagon, Tulv 26, 

1861 ; died Feb. 8, 1862. 
Fleming, James H., Voliuia. .\ug. — , 
t86i ; died of wounds at .Atlanta. Ga., 
Dec. 25, 1863. 
Heath, Edward C, Pokagon, July 26. 

1861 ; Corp-. ; 'died Aug. 23, 1862. 
Hill, James, Dowagiac, July 26,' 1861 ; vet. 

Ian. I. 1864: m. o. Dec. l6, 1865. 
Hanna; Nathaniel L.; Dbwagiac! Aug. to, 
1861 ; dis. for disability March 27, 18(53. 
Hover. John B., Calvin, .A.ug. 21, 1861 ; 

vet. Jan. i, 1864: prom. Prin. Mus. 
Higgins. George W., Dowagiac. July 26, 
1S61 : dis. for disability ^Larch 27, 1862. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



•2\)[) 



Henderson, George H., Dowagiac, July 26, 

1861 ; m. o. July 15, 1865. 
Hitsman, Sidney, Dowagiac, July 26, 1861 

vet. Jan. i, 1864; m. o. Dec. 16, 1865. 
Higgins, Daniel, Dowagiac, Aug. i, 1861 

dis. Dec. 5, 1862. 
Krisher, John, Jr., Calvin. Sept. g, 1861 

vet. Jan. i, 1864; m. o. Dec. l6, 1865. 
Leonard, William, Cassopolis. July 26, 

1861 ; vet. Jan. i, 1864; ni. o. Dec. 16 

1865. 
L'!ca.s, Henry, Newberg, July 31. 1861 

vet. Jan. i, 1864; detached at m. o. 
Lewis. Edwin H., Cassopolis, July 26, 

1861 ; vet. Jan. i, 1S64; dis. for disabil- 
ity April 18, 1862. 
Miller, William H. H., Calvin, July 26, 

1S61 ; vet. Jan. I, 1864; killed at Frank- 
lin, Tenn., Nov. 30. 1864. 
Munger. Charles A., Dowagiac, July 26, 

1861 ; vet. Jan. i, 1864; prom. 1st Lieut. 

from Sergt. 
Momany, Oliver F., Dowagiac, July 26, 

1861 ; wounded; transferred to Vet. Res. 

Corps Feb. t6, 1864. 
McDonald, Alva, Pokagon, Aug. 1, 1864; 

m. o. Oct. 3, 1864. 
Northrup, Adonirani, Calvin, Aug. i, 

1864; killed at Stone River Dec. 31. 

1862. 
Nevill, John G., Dowagiac, Aug. i, 1864; 

W'ounded ; transferred to Vet. Res. 

Corps April 16, 1864. 
Orange, Andrew, Dowagiac. ."Vug. 10. 

1861 ; dis. Dec. 5, 1862. 
Peters, John, Calvin, Aug. i, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability May 26, 1862. 



Pierson, Bartley, Calvin, Aug. i, 1861 ; 

dis. for disability May 3, 1862. 
Corp. Peter Runimels, Silver Creek, July 

26, 1861; vet. Jan. I, 1S64 ; m. o. Dec. 

16, 1865. 
Rea, Albert W., Calvin, Aug. i, 1861 ; vet. 

Jan. I, 1864; died of wounds Dec. 15, 

1864. 
Spicer, George G.. iJowagiac. July 26, 

1861 ; vet. Jan. i. 1864: m. o. Dec. 16, 

1865. 
Shanafelt, Albert .•\.. Dowagiac, July 26, 

1861 ; m. o. Sept. 28, 1864. 
Shanafelt. Herbert R., Dowagiac, July 26, 

1861 ; died of wounds Columbia, S. C. 
Shearer, James H., Dow-agiac, Aug. I, 

1861 ; died at Smithton, Mo., Jan. 29, 

1862. 
Stevens, Joseph H., Dowagiac. Aug. i, 

1861 ; died of wounds July 7, 1864. 
Stevenson, Zimri, Calvin, Aug. i, 1861 ; 

vet. Jan. i, 1864; ni. o. Dec. 16, 1865. 
Slurr, Joseph L., Calvin, Aug. i, 1861 ; 

m. o. Sept. 18, 1864. 
Tillotson, John D., Calvin, .\ug. I. i85i ; 

m. o. Dec. 16. 1865. 
Trenholm. Benjamin. Calvin. Sept. 9, 

1861 ; m. o. Sept. 16, 1864. 
Worden, Amasa P. R.. Dowagiac. July 26, 

1861 ; died of wounds .\pril 7, 1864. 

RECRUITS. 

Morse. Abel S., Silver Creek, dis. for dis- 
ability Aug. 15, 1861. 

Row, Fred. P., Silver Creek: dis. for dis- 
ability Sept. 10, 1861. 

Stage, William, transferred to Sappers 
and Miners Sept. 5, 1861. 



SIXTH MICHIG.\N INF.ANTRV. 



Field ,^ND St.\ff. 
Col Chas. E. Clarke, Dowagiac, com. Oc- 
tober 16, 1864 ; m. o. as Lieut. Col. 
Sept. 7, 1865: com. Lieut. Col. Feb. I, 
T864; Maj. June 21, 1862; Capt. U. S. 
Army July 28, 1866; Brevet Major 
March 7, 1867. for gallant and meritor- 
ious services-in the siege of Port Huron, 
La. ; retired June 28, 1878. 

NoN-CoM MISSIONED St.\FF. 

Sergt. Maj. Henry W. Ellis. Pokagon, 

com. May 13, i86i^; m. o. .A.ug. 20, 

1865. 
Principal Musician Geo. L. Hazen, Calvin, 

e. Jan. i, 1862; vet. Feb. I, 1S64; m. o. 

Aug. 20, 1865. 
Musician John R. Lee, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

dis. by order Sept. 20, 1862. 
COMP.ANY A. 
Briggs. George, Porter, e. .^ug. 30. 1862 ; 

dis. by order July 22, 1865. 



Woodard, .Mvah. Porter, e. .\ug. 30. 1862; 
died of disease at Ft. Morgan. .\la.. 
Sept. 24, 1864. 

C0MP.\NY C. 

First Lieut. Jas. A. Ellis, Dowagiac. com. 

Dec. I, 1862; trans, ist Lieut, to Co. D, 

July 20, 1863. 
.Anderson, Andrew J., Calvin, e. Jan. 11, 

1864: trans, to 7th U. S. Heavy .\rtil- 

lery June 1. 1864. 
Freeman, Henry W., Porter, e. Jan. 20. 

1864; trans, to Veteran Reserve Corps. 
Gilbert. Anson. W^ayne. e. Dec. 21. 1863 ; 

died of disease at New Orleans. La.. 

Oct. 12. 1864. 
Hawks. Henry. Mason, e, Jan. it, 1864: 

trans, to 7tb L^. S. Heavy .Artillery 

June I, 1864. 
Turnley. Hiram M.. e. .^ug. 20. 1861 ; dis. 

for disability March 28, 1864. 



30(t 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Company D. 
Capt. Charles E. Clarke, Dowagiac, com. 

Aug. 20, 1861 ; prom. JNIajor. 
Capt. James A. Ellis, Dowagiac, com. 
Sept. I, 1863; resigned July 19, 1864; 
trans, ist Lieut, from Co. C, July 20, 
1863; 2d Lieut. Co. D, Aug. 20, 1861. 
First Lieut. Frederick J. Clarke, Dow- 
agiac, com. Aug. 19. 1861 ; killed in bat- 
tle at Port Hudson, La., May 27, 1862. 
First Lieut. William W. Mcllvaine, Cass- 
opolis. com. Sept. I, 1863; com. 2d 
Lieut, Dec. i, 1862; Sergt. Aug. 20, 
1861 ; resigned as ist Lieut. July 20, 
1864. 

First Lieut Charles St. John, Dowagiac. 
com. March 7, 186^; m. o. July 20, 
1865; 2d Lieut. Co. F; Sergt. Co. D; 
vet. Feb. i, 1864. 

Second Lieut. John G. Allison, Porter, e. 
Sergt. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. i. 1S64: 
m. o. as Sergt. July 20, 1865. 

Sergt. Hiram Meacham, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 
dis. for disability Oct. 14, 1862. 

Sergt. William O. Kellam, e. Aug. 20, 
1861 ; dis for disability April 30, 1S64. 

Sergt. Ira Coe. e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; prom. 2d 
Lieut. U. S. C. T. 

Corp. Charles K. Weil, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 
prom. 1st Lieut, ist La. Battery. Nov. 
29, 1862. 

Corp. Ira Coe, e. Aug, 20. t86i ; dis. at 
end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 

Corp. Thomas M. Sears, La Grange, e. 
Nov. 21, 1862; vet. March 2, 1864; dis. 
by order Aug. 20, 1865. 

Corp. James K. Train, e. Dec. 16, 1863; 
m. o. Aug. 20, T865. 

Corp. Theodore Perarie. Ontwa, e. Dec. 
2. 1864; m. o. .^ug. 20, 1865, 

PRIV.\TES. 

Aikins. .Alexander, Calvin, e. Oct. 7, 1863: 

m, o Aug. 20, 1865. 
Baker. Ferdinand, m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Bell, James M., JefTerson. e. Aug. 20, 

1S61 ; vet, Feb. i, 1864; dis. for dis- 
ability Aug. I. 1865. 
Brown, Francis D., e. Aug, 20, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Carter, Elijah H., Porter, e. Aug. 12, 

1862; died at Port Hudson, La., of 

wounds May 27. 1863. 
Carter, John ^I., Calvin, e. Aug. 12, 1862; 

died of disease at Port Hudson, Sept, 

2, T863. 
Christie, Willard, e. Aug. 20. tS6i ; dis, 

at end of service Aug. 23, T864. 
Curtis, Edward, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died 

of disease at New Orleans, La., Nov, 30, 

T862. , ., 

Gushing, James H„ Silver Creek, e, April 

12 1864; dis. bv order Sept, 5, 1S65. 



Dorr. Peter, Penn, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; vet. 

Feb. I, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Estabrook, Aaron L., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Estabrook, George R., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

dis. for disability Oct. 14, 1862. 
Fraker, Oliver P., Porter, e. Aug. 20, 
1861; vet. Feb- i, 1864; dis. for dis- 
ability May 18, 1865. 
Gannett, Lewis, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Grennell, Oliver C, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 14, 1862. 
Gates, Jefferson, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of 

disease at Baltimore Oct. 8, 1861. 
Gilbert, Allison J., Wayne, e. Dec. 21, 

1863 ; dis. for disability June 2, 1865. 
Goodrich, Noah, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 12, 1864. 
Gregg, James H., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Greenman, James J., Porter, e. Aug. 12, 

1862: m. o. July 21. 1865. 
Hall, George M., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 6, 1863. 
Hall, Philander W., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

vet. Feb. i, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Harmon, Benjamin H., died at Port Hud- 
son. La., of wounds J\Iay 27, 1863. 
Harmon. James, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; dis. 

by order March 28, 1864. 
Harmon, Sylvester, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died 
of disease at Port Hudson. La., Aug. 
13. 1863. 
Hcrrod, Francis M., Porter, e, Jan. 2, 

1864: m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Horr, Calvin L.. Calvin, e. .\ug. 14, 1862; 

m. o. July 21, 1865. 
Hover, Evart, Silver Creek, e, March 31, 

1864: m, o. .\ug. 20, 1865. 
Jackson, J. J., Porter, e. Aug. 27, 1862; 

dis. for disability IMarch 10, 1863. 
Johnston, Albert, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. by 

order Feb. 10, 1863. 
King, Edward, e, Aug. 20. 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Aug. 23, 1864, 
King, John. e. Jan. I, 1862: vet. Feb. i, 

1864. 
Kidder, Norman C, e. Aug. 12, 1862: m. 

o. Ju'y 21, 1865. 
Kirk, George W., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died 
of disease at Camp Williams Nov. 2T, 
TS62. 
Lake, William H , e. Aug, 20, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Aug. 23, 1S64, 
Lewis. Peter, e. Aug, 20. i.86t ; died "f 
disease at Port Hudson. La,, Aug. 12. 
1863. 
Mcintosh, Jacob M., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

dis, at end of service Aug. 23, 1864, 
Mecham. Cvrus. e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; dis. 
for disabilitv Oct. 14. 1862. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



301 



Meacham, William J., e. Jan. i, 1S62 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 14, 1862. 
Miller, James M. ; dis. for disability Sept. 

18, 1863. 
Montgomery, Milton, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

died of disease at Baton Rouge, La., 

Aug. 3, 1S62. 
Montgomery, Samuel, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

died of disease at Port Hudson, La., 

July 18, 1863. 
Myers, George R., e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; died 

of disease at New Orleans, La.. Aug. 

12, 1862. 
Nesbitt. William, e. Aug. 20, 1&61 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 14, 1862. 
Neville, Jerry. Silver Creek, e. Dec. 22, 

1863; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Osborn, Allen S.. Calvin, e. Aug. 11, 

1862; m. o. July 21. 1865. 
Osborn, Arthur, e. Nov. 10, 1862 ; m. o. 

Aug. 20, 1865. 
Osborn, Job E., Calvin, e. Aug. 14, 1862 ; 

died of disease at Port Hudson. La., 

Oct. 4, 1863. 
O'Neil, Timothy, Silver Creek, e. Nov 

21, 1863; m. o. Aug. 20, 1S65. 
Overmeyer, Thomas J., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Owen, Andrew J., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Patrick, Levi W., died of disease at Baton 

Rouge, La., July 3, 1862. 
Randall. Lorenzo D., e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service Aug. 23, 1S64. 
Reynolds, George, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Reynolds, Paul S., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Rinehart, Henry, e. Aug. 18, 1862 ; m. o. 

July 21, 1865. 
Ring. John, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for dis- 
ability Oct. 14, 1862. 
Robb. John, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. for dis- 
ability Jan. 20, 1862. 
Rogers, Leroy, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Aug. 23. 1864. 
Sickles. George W., e. Aug. 20, 1S61 ; died 

in action at Port Hudson, La., Tune 30, 

1863. 
Starks, William. Silver Creek, e. April 12, 

1864; m. o. Aug. 20. 1865. 
Shawl. Merrin, Silver Creek, e. April 12, 

1S64; m. o. Aug. 20. 1865. 
Stockwell, John, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 14, 1862. 
Stone. Edmund, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; died 

of disease at New Orleans, La., Aug. 12, 
1862. 
St. John, Charles, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 

20, 1861 ; vet. Feb. i, 1864; dis. for 

prom. 2d Lieut., this regt., Co. J, Nov. 
I. 1864. 
Swinehart, Lewis, Porter, e. Aug. 18, 



1862; died of disease at Port Hudson, 

La., Aug. 29, 1863. 
Tracy, Spencer, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died of 

disL-ase at I'nrt Hudson, La., Sept. 22, 

1863. 
Wallace, William, e. Dec. 19. 186 v. m. o. 

July 21, 1865. 
Wheeler, Thomas, Penn, e. Aug. 25, 1864; 

m. o. Aug. 20. 1865. 
Wieting, John, Silver Creek, e. ^Nlarch 31, 

1864; dis for disability Dec. 15. 1864. 
W ilscy, William H., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died 

of disease at Carrolton, La., March 6, 

1863. 

Company E. 

Second Lieut. Charles St. John. Dowagiac. 
prom, from Serg. Co. D. July 18, 1864; 
prom. 1st Lieut., Co. D. March 7, 1865. 

CoMP.\NY F. 

PRIVATE. 

Corselman. Levi. Marcellus, e. ^larch i, 
1862; dis. by order Sept. 14. 1865. 

Company G. 

privates. 

Clark. George H., Wayne, e. Dec. 19, 

1S63; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Dewey, Enoch, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 21, 

1863; 111. o. Aug. 20. 1865. 
Stevens. Isaac R.. Silver Creek, e. Oct. 
20, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 

Company K. 
First Lieut. John Jacks. E<hvardsburg, 

com. Sept. I, 1862; dis. for disability 

Oct. 27, 1863. 
First. Lieut. Edward C. Beardsley, Dow- 
agiac, com. Nov. 25. 1864. 
Second Lieut. John Jacks, Ontwa, com. 

Aug. 20, 1863 ; prom. First Lieut. 
Second Lieut. Edward C. Beardsley. Dow- 
agiac. com. June 3. 1864; prom. First 

Lieut. 
Sergt. Charles Morgan, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service Aug. 23. 1864. 
Sergt. E. C. Beardsley. e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

prom. Second Lieut. 
Sergt. John P. Carr, Jefferson, e. Aug. 

20. 1861 ; vet. Feb. i. 1864; ni. o. Aug. 

26. 1865. 
Corp. John R. Lee. e. Aug. 20. 1861 : trans. 

to regimental band. 
Corp. Alonzo Benedict, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

dis. for disability Oct. 26. 1862. 
Corp. Leonard Sweet, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; 

dis. for disability Oct. 26. 1862. 
Corp. David Ogden. e. Aug. 20. i86t ; 

vet. Feb. i. 1864; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Corp. James H. Smith, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

dis. for disability Jan. 20. 1862. 
Corp. John Chatterdon, Howard, e. Aug. 



iOL> 



HISTORY OF CASS COUxXTY 



JO. 1861; vet. Feb. i, 1864; m. o. Aug. 
11, 1865. 

PRIVATES. 

Barrett, Ransom, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died 

of disease at Port Hudson, La.. June 

25, 1862. 
Bramhall, Nathan W., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

died of disease at Port Hudson, La.. 
• Feb. 6, 1864. 
Brunson, Perry, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

to enter Regular Army Dec. 23, 1862. 
Bump, Adolphus. JclTerson. e. Aug. 20, 

1861 ; vei. Feb. i, 18O4; m. o. Aug. 20. 

1865. 
Coder, Willett G., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 26, 1861. 
Cole, Johnson B., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 29, 1862. 
Eby, George W. N., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Jan. 5, 1863. 
Hanson, Benjamin, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died 

of disease at Ship Island, La., March 

18. 1862. 
Haskins, Calvin, Jefferson, e. Aug. 20, 

1861 ; vet. Feb. i, 1S64; m. o. Aug. 20, 

1865. 
Heyde, Henry, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 
Joy. Elias W., Jefiferson, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; 

vet. Feb. I, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Kieffer, Jacob, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 



Lamson, Horace, dis. at end of service 

Aug. 2i, 1864. 
Lockwood, Henry P., e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; 

died of disease at Baton Rouge. La., 

July 24, 1863. 
McKinstry. Albert, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; dis. 

by order March 9, 1864. 
Mott, Sylvester, e. Aug. 20, 1861 ; died 

of disease at Camp Williams Oct. 8, 

1862. 
Putnam, Uzziel. Pokagon, e. Aug. 20, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Jan. 26, 1864. 
. , Niles. vet. Feb. i. 1864; 

m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Rourke. Patrick, e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; vet. 

Feb. I, 1864; m. o. Aug. 20, 1865. 
Shiry, William, Baton Rogue, e. Aug. 20, 

i86i ; died of disease New Orleans, La., 

Sept. II, 1862. 
Smith. Mathew. e. .\ug. 20. 1862; died 

of disease at New Orleans Aug. 2q, 

1863. 
Sweet, Leonard, re-e. Dec. 5. 1863: ni. o. 

Aug. 20, 1865. 
Thayer, Ezra, Jefferson, e. .\ug. 20, 1861 ; 

vet. Feb. I, 1864; m. o. .'\ug. 20, 1S65. 
Westfall, Marvin F., Jefferson, e. Aug. 

20. 1861 ; vet. Feb. i. 1864 ; dis. for dis- 
ability June 4, 1865. 
Williams, George W., e. Aug. 20. 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service Aug. 23, 1864. 



THE TWELFTH MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



C0MP,\NY A. 

Capt. Joseph Harper. Cassopolis, com. 

Sept. 26, 1861 ; resigned May 7, 1862. 
First Lieut. Charles A. Van Riper. La 

Grange, com. Oct. 4, 1861 ; resigned Feb. 

28, 1863. 
First Lieut, .\ustin L. Abbott, Pokagon. 

com. Feb. 2^,. 1863 ; resigned July 3. 

1864. 
Second Lieut. David ^I. McLelland. Dow- 

agiac. com. Oct. 14, 1861 ; resigned Nov. 

16, 1862. 
Second Lieut, Robert S. M. Fox, Howard, 

com. .A-pril 8, 1864; prom. 1st Lieut. 

Co. G. 
Sergt. Austin L. Abbott. Pokagon, e. 

Sept. 28. 1861 : prom, ist Lieut. Co. A. 
Sergt. George B. Crane, Pokagon. e. Oct. 

4. 1861 ; died of disease at Little Rock, 

Ark., July 23, 1864. 
Sergt. Benjamin F. Dunham, Cassopolis, 

e. Oct. 4, 1861 ; prom. Com. Sergt. April 

I, 1862; died of disease at St. Louis, 

Mo.. May 24, 1862. 
Sergt. James Hill, Cassopolis, e. Oct. g, 

1861 ; dis. for disability May 31. 1864. 
Sergt. Joseph R. Edwards, Pokagon, e. 



Sept. 28, 1861 ; dis. at end of service 

Jan. q. 1865. 
Sergt. Robert S. M. Fox, Howard, e. Oct. 

2. 1861 ; vet. Dec. 25. 1863; prom. 2d 

Lieut. Co. A. 
Sergt. Isaac D. Harrison. Pokagon, e. 

Sept. 28. 1861: vet. Dec. 2^. 1863; m. 

o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Corp. Isaac D. Harrison. 
Corp. William E. Stevens, Mason, e. Oct. 

22, 1861 ; prom. 2d Lieut. Co. K. 
Corp. Lewis Van Riper, La Grange, e. 

Oct. 4, 1861 ; dis. for disability Jan. 21, 

1862. 
Corp. William Lingual. Pokagon, e. Sept. 

30, 1861 : dis. at end of service Feb. 14, 

i86s. 
Corp. Almon W. Eck, Wayne, e. May 18, 

i86s: vet. Feb. 29, 1864; ni. o. Feb. 

15, "1866. 

Musician Wellman Blanchard, Pokagon, 
e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; dis. for disability Aug. 

16, 1862. 

PRIVATES. 

.Mien, ."Monzo W^. Pokagon, e, Sept. 28, 
1861 ; died of disease at Memphis, Tenn.. 
Oct. 25, 1863. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



303 



Allen, Nelson K., Porter, e. Jan. 30, 1864; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Barker, George F., e. Dec. 15, 1861 ; vet. 

Dec. 5, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Bilderback, Peter, Silver Creek, e. Oct. 

31, 1861 ; died of wounds at Pittsburg 

Landing, June 5, 1862. 
Bilderback, Wesley B., Silver Creek, e. 

Oct. 31, 1861 ; dis. for disability Nov. 

14. 1863. 
Bronner, David, Penn, e. Oct. 18, 1861 ; 

died of disease April — . 1862. 
Brown, Albert E., Ontwa, e. March 2, 

1865; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Brown, Charles G., Dowagiac, e. Sept. 5, 

1862; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 

1865. 
Buckley, Peter, Pokagon. e. March 18, 

1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Bucklin, George S.. Wayne, e. Nov. 12, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Sept. 9, 1862. 
Bush, Asa L., Dowagiac, e. Feb. 18, 1862 ; 

died of disease at Memphis, Tenn., Oct. 

20, 1863. 
Byer.s, Charles F.. La Grange, e. Aug. 19, 

1864; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Carr, Allen M., Ontwa, e. Feb. 25. 1864; 

dis. for disability May 22, 1865. 
Caves, Samuel, died of disease at Niles, 

Mich., March 23, 1862. 
Clasby, James. La Grange, e. Feb. iS, 

1862; dis. at end of service Feb. 17, 

1865. 
Campbell, Daniel, Pokagon, e. March 18, 

1863 ; died of wounds at Camden. Ark., 

Oct. 6, 1865. 
Cleveland, Charles E., e. Jan. 27, 1862 ; dis. 

at end of service Jan. 27, 1865. 
Colby, James E., e. Oct. 14, 1861 : died in 

action at Shiloh April 6, 1862. 
Colvin, James M.. e. Oct. 29, 1861 ; vet. 

Dec. 25, 1863; accidentally killed Sept. 

5. 1864. 
Curtis, Franklin P., Mason, e. Feb. 14, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Davis, Edson. Dowagiac. e. Oct. 5. 1861 : 

vet. Dec. 25, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Delaney. Thomas, Cassopolis, e. Oct. 9. 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 25, 1863 : dis. by order 

Aug. 14, 1865. _ 
Denison, Franklin. Cassopolis, e. Oct. 9, 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 28, 1863 ; dis. for disabil- 
ity May II. 1865. 
Eggleston. William J., Mason, e. Feb. 16, 

1865 ; dis. by order May 22, 1865. 
Emmons, Darius, Dowagiac. e. Feb. 22, 

1864 ; dis. by order May 22, 1865. 
Emmons, Jonathan. Dowagiac, e. Feb. 

22, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Emmons, William A., Dowagiac, e. Feb. 

22, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Foster, Francis M.. Penn.. e. Feb. 23. 

1864 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866, 



Gallagher, James, Jefferson, e. Dec 8 

1863; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Gilbert. Samuel, Mason, e. Oct. 25. 1861 ; 

dis. by order Sept. 7, 1862. 
Gillespie, George, Dowagiac. e. Dec. 28, 

1861 ; dis. by order April 25, 1863. 
Goodrich, James, Jefferson,' e. Feb. 22, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1S66. 
Goff, Hiram, Wayne, e. Nov. 9, 1861 ; died 

at home. 
Graham, Edward R., Cassopolis, e. Feb. 

21. 1862; dis. at end of service Feb 21 

1865. 
Graham, Henry C. LaGrange. e. Sept. 7, 

1864; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Haas, Jacob, Howard, e. Sept. 23, 1864; 

dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Haines, Thomas L., Ontwa, e. March 2, 

1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Hartsel, Edward, Dowagiac, ,e. Oct. s, 

1861 ; died of disease at Columbus, Ohio. 
Hatfield, Andrew V., dis. by order Jan 24 

1866. 
Hauser, Michael B., Pokagon, e. Oct. 15, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Aug. 28, 1862. 
Heaton, Abram, Porter, e. Dec. 5. 1863; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Heaton. Lester M., Porter, e. Dec. 29 

1863; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Higgins, Benjamin F., Newberg, e. Oct. 

12. 1861 ; dis. by order April 21, 1863. 
Higgins. James P.. e. Dec. 10, 1861 ; vet. 

Dec. 25. 1863; dis. for disabilitv July 8. 

1864. 
Higgins, John. Newberg, e. Dec. n. 1861 ; 

yet. Dec. 25. 1863: m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Higley. Solomon G.. Ontwa. e. Dec 29 

1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Higley, William, Ontwa, e. March 2 

1865: m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Hill. Henry T., Cassopolis, e. Feb. 18, 

1862; dis. at end of service Feb 17 

1865. 
Hibray, Jacob P., Newberg. e. Oct. 3, 

1861 ; died of disease at Montgomery 

Ala., May i, 1862. 
Hitchcock, Lucius P., Porter, e. Feb ^ 

1864: m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. ' '' 

Holmes, Henry, Pokagon. e. Alarch 18. 

1863; died of disease at Dowagiac Oct. 

20, 1863. 
Holmes, William, Silver Creek, e. Nov. 

19, 1861 ; died of disease at Dowagiac 

June 10, 1863. 
Homer, James, LaGrange, e. Oct. 18, 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 28, 1863 : m. o. Feb i ■; 

1866. 
Hudson, James, Jefferson, e. Dec. 15, 1863; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Huff, Charles H.. LaGrange. e. Jan. 17, 

1865 : dis. by order Jan. 24. 1866. 
Hunt. John H., Jefferson, e. Nov. 11, 



304 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



1861 ; vet. Dec. 25, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 
1866. 
Ireland, Elon M., m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Jackson, Erastus M., Porter, e. Feb. 7, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Jackson, George, Mason, e. Feb. 14, 1865; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Jackson, John S., Porter, e. Feb, 7, 1864; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Jennings, Abram, Dovvagiac, e. Oct. IS, 

1861 ; dis. by order July 23, 1862. 
Johns, Aaron, Mason, e. Oct. 18, 1861 ; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1S66. 
Kugan, Edward, Jefferson, e. Feb. 28, 
1862; captured at Little Rock, Ark., 
Sept. 3, 1864; exchanged May 27, 1865; 
dis. at end of service July 8, 1865. 
Kelley, John H., Calvin, e. Feb. 7, 1865; 
died of disease at Washington, Ark., 
Jidy 2, 1865. 
Kelley, Joseph, Calvin, e. Feb. 26, 1864 ; 

dis. by order May 22, 1865. 
Keyes, John. Wayne, e. Nov. 9, 1861 ; dis. 

by order July 16, 1862. 
Landon. Edward, Mason, e. Feb. 16, 1865 ; 

m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Langley, Zachariah B., Pokagon, e. Oct. 
13, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 
1865. 
Lillie. John. LaGrange, e. Dec. 28, 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 1865. 
Liphart, George M.. LaGrange, e. Oct. 31, 
1861 ; died at Indianapolis, Ind., April 
17. 1865. 
Lewnian, Simon, LaGrange, e. Fel.i, 22, 
1864; died of disease at DuwiH's Bluff. 
Ark., Dec. 16, 1864. 
Maloney, Lawrence, Pokagon, e. Feb. 3, 
1864; died of disease at Camden, Ark., 
Dec. 9, 1865. 
Marsh, Benjamin, LaGrange, e. Dec. 7, 

1863; ni. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Marsh, Nathan. LaGrange, e. March 16, 

1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Miner, William A., LaGrange, e. Oct. 5, 
1861 : vet. Dec. 25, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15. 
1S66. 
Munson, .Mien C, Volinia, e. Sept. 2, 
1864; dis. at end of service Sept. g, 
1865. 
Myers, George, Volinia, e. Feb. 18, 1S64; 
died of disease at Camden, Ark., l^ec. 
9, 1865. 
Neff, .A.aron, Jefferson, e. Feb. 22. 1SO4 ; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Niblett, James, Mason, e. Feb. 8, 1864; 

dis. by order May 22, 1865. 
Nichols, Arthur, Penn, e. Dec. 11, 1861 ; 

dis. for disability July 17, 1862. 
Norton, Bela A., LaGrange, e. Jan, 27, 
1862: dis. at end of service Jan. 27, 
1865. 



Odcll, Victor M., e. Feb. i, 1862; missing 

in battle at Shiloh April 7, 1862. 
Pratt. Henry D., Pokagon. e. Nov. 17, 
1861 ; died of disease at St. Louis, Mo., 
June 5, 1862. 
Pratt, James E., La Grange, e, Oct. 21. 
1861 ; vet. Jan. 2, 1S64; m. o. Feb. 15, 
1866. 
Philips, William J., Mason, c. Jan. 18. 
1864: died of disease at Duvall's Bluff, 
Ark.. Nov. 26, 1864. 
Post, John H., Pokagon, e. Oct. 8, 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service Jan. 27, 1865. 
Reams, Peter, Jefferson, e. Feb. 23, 1864 ; 

dis. for disability May 26, 1865. 
Roberts. James H., Mason, e. F"eb. 15, 

1865; m. o. Feb, 15, 1866. 
Robinson, Levi, Pokagon, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; 
vet. Dec. 25, 1863; dis. by order March 
I, T864. 
Rogers, Jesse, Porter, e. Dec. s, i86;; m. 

o. F"eb. 15, 1866. 
Root, Charles, La Grange, e. Feb. 22, 1864 ; 
died of disease at Little Rock, .\rk.. 
Aug. 8, 1864. 
Root. Josiah C, La Grange, c. Oct. 31, 

1861; dis. for disability July 17, 1862. 
Riisburgh, Enos, Jefferson, e. Feb. 26. 

1862; dis. by order Nov. t6, 1862. 
Rost, John A., La Grange, e. Feb. 18, 

1S62: dis. for disability June 4. 1862. 
Russey, John M., La Grange, e. Feb. 21. 
1862; vet. Feb. 29, 1864: m. o. Feb. is. 
1866. 
Sergt. James M. Savage, La Grange, e. 
Oct. ^i, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 2=;, 1863; m. o. 
Feb. T3, i86r3. 
Scotten. William, Ontwa, e. March 2. 

1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Sccor. Isaac. La Grange, e. Oct. 28, 1861 : 
died at Jackson. Tenn. (railroad acci- 
dent). Sept. 24, 1862. 
Secor. Joseph W., La Grange, e. Oct. 24, 

i86i ; dis. bv order Sept. I, 1862. 
Shanafclt. William H., e. Oct. 31, i86t ; 
vet. Dec. 25. 1863; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Shcpard, Charles. Calvin, e. Feb. 25, 1864 ; 

died of disease at Niles. Mich. 
.Shuste. Thomas P., LaGrange. e. Nov. 
IT. tSfii ; dis. for disability Sept. 20, 
1S62. 
Simpson. Thomas, La Grange, e. Oct. 20, 
i.%r ; vet. Dec. 25, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 
1866. 
Soules, Peter, Pokagon, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; 

vet. Dec. 28, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Stanage, Benton, La Grange, e. Feb. 20, 

1864: m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Stephenson. James B., Jefferson, e. Feb. 
22, 18(14; died of disease at Little Rock, 
Ark., June 28, 1864. 
Sleerc, William H., Wayne, e. Nov. 19, 
1861 ; dis. for disability .Aug. 2, 1862. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



305 



Stevens, Samuel, Mason, e. Feb. 15, 1865; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Smith, Nelson A., Porter, e. Oct. 13, 1S61 ; 

dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 1865. 
Temple, Franklin, Ontwa, e. March 2, 

1S65; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Thomas. Noble O., La Grange, e. Oct. 

31, 1861 ; dis. at end of service Jan. 

7, 1865. 
Thomas. Sherwood, La Grange, e. Oct. 

M. 1861 ; dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 

1865. 
Thompson, Smith. Marcelhis, e. Oct. 20. 

1861 ; dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 

1865. 
Townsend. ^\'illianl. La Grange, e. Oct. 

31, 1861 ; died of disease at St. Louis, 

^lo., Nov. II, 1863. 
Tubbs, Lester, Porter, e. Dec. 5. 1863 ; m. 

o. Feb. IS, 1866. 
Upham. George. La Grange, e. Feb. 23. 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Van Tuvl, Richard, ^Nlason, e. Feb. 27, 

1864; ni. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
White, Seth, Wayne, e. Nov. 12. 1861 ; 

\et. Dec. 25, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Wilcox, Henrj', Pennsylvania, e. Feb. 4, 

1862 : killed in railroad accident at Jack- 
son. Tenn., Sept. 24. 1S62. 
Willard. John. e. March 3, 1864; died of 

disease at St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 20. 1863. 
Williams, Samuel, Jefferson, e. Feb. 23, 

1864; ni. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Winfrey, George. Dowagiac, e. Dec. 15. 

1861 ; dis. by order July 24. 1862. 
Wing. Orlando, Jefferson, e. Dec. 2. 1862 ; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1S66. 
Wolfe, Franklin, e. Feb. 26. 1862; vet. 

Feb. 29, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Woolsey, Lewis, La Grange, e. Oct. 4, 

1861 ; died of disease at Camp Logan, 

Tenn., May 21, 1862. 

C0MP.\NY B. 

Baldwin. Edwin K.. La Grange, e. Dec. 

I, 1S63; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Bell. Richard H., Howard, e. March 29, 

1S62; vet. March 22, 1864; m. o. Feb. 

15, 1866. 
Bryant. Thomas G.. Mason, e. March I. 

1865 ; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 

1865. 
Dennis, John, Milton, e. IVIarch i. 1865: 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Driscoll. Noah, Porter, e. Feb. 13. 1S64; 

m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Dunn, Ambrose, Cassopolis, e. Feb. 15, 

1864: m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Haas. George. *La Grange, e. Dec. i. 1863; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Haas. John, La Grange, e. Dec. i, 1863 ; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 



Haas. John A.. La Grange, e. Dec. i, 

1803; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Higby. Calvin J.. Newberg. e. Sept. 5, 

1S64; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 

1865. 
Huyck, William D.. dis. for disability 

Nov. 9. 1865. 
Mosher, Isaac, Pokagon, c. Feb. 16, 1863; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1865. 
Palmer, Charles H., vet. Jan. 2, 1864. 
Parkerton. William, Dowagiac. e. Feb. 

19. 1862; vet. Feb. 27, 1864; m. o. Feb. 

15, 1866. 
Pettus, Luther. La Cirangc. e. Dec. i, 

1S63 : died of disease at Camden, Ark., 

Sept. I. 1865. 
Rose, John. Poka.gon, e. Sept. 3, 1864; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 9. 1865. 
Wheeler, Edwin. Marcellus. e. Feb. 2g, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 

COMP.VXV C. 

Ashley, Horace, e. Dec. 31. 1861 ; dis. for 

disability July IQ. i8f)2. 
Barmore. John E.. e. Dec. 5, 1861 ; vet. 

Dec. 29. 1863. 
Cobb. Albert T., Dowagiac. e. Dec. 25, 

1861 : dis. for disability Feb. 25, 1862. 
Doty, James H., Porter, e. Feb. 22. 1864; 

vet. Dec. 24. 1863. 
Doty, William J., e. Dec. 7. 1861 ; vet. 

Dec. 24. 1863; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Griffith. Samuel, Milton, e. Oct. 25. 1S61 ; 

vet. Dec 24, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Corp. Charles Hungerford. Dowagiac. e. 

Oct. 25, 1861 ; dis. by order June 30. 

1862. 
Kapi)elman. John. Pokagon. e. March 1. 

1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
King. Samuel P., Porter, e. Feb. 22. 1S64 : 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Kirk, William H.. Porter, e. Feb. 22. 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Marks. Isaac. Dowagiac. e. Feb. 15, 1862; 

vet. Feb. 25. 1864. 
IMcGee. Lemuel S.. Dowagiac. e. Jan. 4. 

7862: vet. Jan. 2. 1864; m. o. Feb. 15. 

1866. 
Olmstead, John. e. Feb. 8, 1862:. dis. by 

order March 18. 1862. 
Sergt. John H. Patterson, e. Nov. 25. 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 24, 1863 ; m. o. Feb. 

15, 1866. 
Sanders. Daniel. Pokagon. e. Feb. 21. 

1865: m. o. Feb. 15. 1S66. 
Stillwell, Edwin C, Dowagiac. e. Jan. 5. 

1862; vet. Dec. 31. 1863. 
Thompson. Reason. Porter, e. Feb. 23, 

1S64; died of disease at Camden, Ark., 

Sept. 8. 1865. 
Welch, John C, Dowagiac, e. Dec. 25, 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 31. 1863; prom. 2d. 

Lieut. Co. I July 3. 1864. 



306 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Company D. 

Simmons. Peter \V.. Mason, e. Aug. 31. 

1H64; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 

1865. 
Sirrine, Henry F., Volinia, e. Sept. 2, 

1864; dis. at end of service Sept. 9. 

1S65. 
Springsteen, John \\ ., Volinia, c. Sept. 6, 

US64; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 

Company E. 

Barton, Reuben, Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 

1864 ; dis. by order Sept. 14, 1865. 
Beebe. William H.. died of disease at St. 

Louis, Mo., June i. 1862. 
Leach, James I\L. Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 

1864; dis. by order June 20, 1865. 
Odell, Joseph, Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864 ; 

dis. by order Sept. 14. 1865. 
Perkins, Harvey W., Howard, e. Oct. 18, 

1S64: dis. by order Oct. 24, 1865. 
Walz, John, Silver Creek, e. Feb. 29, 

1864: died of disease at Grand Raptds. 

.Mich. 

Company F. 

Second Lieut. William Horton, Jr., Dowa- 
giac ( Sergt. Co. I), resigned June 12, 
1865. 

Sergt. Philo H. Simmons, dis. for disabil- 
ity March 16, 1862. 

Sergt. Robert. A. Walton. Howard, e. 
Oct. 12. i86i ; vet. Jan. i, 1S64 ; m. o. 
Feb. 5, 1866. 

privates. 

Albrecht, Jacob G.. Porter, e. Feb. 22. 
1864; ni. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 

Bellows, Job. S., Ontwa. e. Sept. 2, 1864; 
dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 

Brown. Luman. Jefferson, e. Nov. 25, 
1861 ; died May i, 1862, of wounds re- 
ceived at Shiloh April 6. 1862. 

Butler. Henry M.. m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 

Dean, Thomas, O'ntwa, e. Nov. 8. 1861 ; 
dis. at end of service Jan. 7. 1865. 

Dnrstern. Michael, e. March 16, 1862; dis- 
charged by order July 15. 1862. 

Hawkins. Charles. Pokagon. c. Dec. 30, 
1863: m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 

Hawkins, Benjamin, vet. Dec. 30. 1863; 
m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 

Hawkins. Charles, discharged by order 
June 17, 1865. 

Inman. Isaiah. La Grange, e. Aug. 31. 
1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 

Leich, Elias, Milton, e. Dec. 5, 1861 ; trans, 
to Veteran Reserve Corps Jan. 15, 1864. 

Lewis. George W., Jefiferson. e. Nov. 22. 
1861 ; vet. Dec. 30, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 
1866. 

Lynch, William J.. Milton, e. Oct. 15. 
i8()T : died on hospital boat May. 1S62. 



Markle. John, ^Milton, e. Feb. 22, 1862; 

vet. Feb. 24, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
.McNitt, Charles W.. Porter, e. Feb. 26, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
jAlitchell. Robert, Pokagon, e. Feb. 21, 

1865 ; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Moran, James, Jefiferson, e. Dec. 2, 1861 ; 

vet. Dec. 30, 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Morgan. Charles .A... Milton, e. Oct. 15, 

1861 ; vet. Jan. i. 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 

1866. 
Noble, James M.. Milton, e. Dec. 3, 1861 ; 

dis. by order June 25. 1862; re-e. March 

8, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
O'Keefe, Eugene. Silver Creek, e. Oct. 30, 

1861 ; dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 1865. 
Parks, Almenon, e. March 7, 1862; vet. 

March 8, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Reigle. George W.. Porter, e. Feb. 22, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Reynolds. Henry C. La Grange, e. Sept. 

23. 1864: dis. at end of service Sept. 

29, 1865. 
Rogers, Charles F.. Pokagon, e. Nov. ig, 

1861 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps Jan. 15, 

1864. 
Rogers, Hiram, Ontwa. e. Nov. 21. 1861; 

dis. for disability March 16. 1862. 
Rogers. Hiram L., Pokagon. e. Oct. 14, 

i86r ; died of disease at Keokuk, Iowa, 

May 6, 1862. 
Simmons, Joseph, Jefferson, e. Dec. 2, 

i86r ; dis. for disability March 16, 1862. 
.Snow. William H.. Jefferson, e. Nov. 22, 

i86t : dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 1865. 
Tuttle. Jacob, Milton, e. Oct. 15, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability March 16, 1862. 
Whitmore, George A.. La Grange, e. 

March 15. 1865; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Wilson. James. Ontwa. e. Dec. 13. 1861 ; 

vet. Dec. 3, 1863 ; m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Wilson. Joseph S.. Ontwa. e. Dec. 14, 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 3. 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 

1866. 
Warden, George R., Jefferson, e. Dec. Si 

1861 ; dis. by order July 25. 1862. 
Wvant. Tames. Ontwa. e. Nov. 21. 1861 ; 

dis. by order July 8. 1862. 
Zeek. William F.. Ontwa. e. Sept. 2, 1864; 

dis. by order Oct. 31. 1865. 

Company G. 

First Lieut. Robert S. M. Fox. Howard, 
com. Oct. IQ. 1864: resigned Sept. 18, 
1865. 



Lawrence, Joseph, Silver Creek, c. Dec. 

10. 1863; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Nichols. Warren W.. Marcellus, e. Sept. 

27. 1864 : dis. by order Sept. 30. 1865. 
Schuh. Nicliiil.Ts. La Grange, e. Dec. 3, 

1863: m. o. Feb. 15. t866. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



307 



Shawl. Alexander, Pokagon. e. Sept. 3, 

1864; dis. at end of service Sept. g. 

1865. 
Shiver. Walter. Ontwa, e. Dec. 24, 1863; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Stamp, David, Porter, e. Dec. 5. 1863 ; m. 

o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Ties, Anton, La Grange, e. Dec. 3, 1S63 ; 

m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 

Company H. 

Bailey, James E., Silver Creek, e. Feb. 14, 

1864; dis. by order May 22, 1865. 
Born, Henry, Mason, e. Sept. 3, 1864; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Conrad, Jacob, Volinia, e. Feb. 20, 1864; 

m. o, Feb. 15, 1866. 
Eggleston, Harvey. Porter, e. Aug. 11, 

1862 ; vet. Dec. 26, 1863 ; dis. by order 

Sept. 30, 1865. 
Franklin. .Samuel W., INIason. e. Jan. 29, 

1864; died of disease at Duvall's Blul^, 

Ark., Oct. 21, 1864. 
Salyer, James. Mason, e; died of disease 

at Duvall's Bluff, Ark.. Sept. 24. 1864. 

Company I. 

Second Lieut. John C. Welch, Dowagiac, 
com. July 3, 1864; prom. 1st Lieut. Co. 

A. Jan. 7. 1865. 
Allen. Israel IM., Pokagon, e. Sept. 2. 1864; 

dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Anmack, Jacob. Pokagon. e. Sept. 2, 1864 ; 

dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Cole. William L., La Grange, e. Jan. 17, 

1864: m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Corin, Robert, Ontwa. e. Sept. 2, 1864; 

trans, to 5th U. S. Colored Infantry 

.^pril I. 1865. 
Curtis, Thomas J., Mason, e. Aug. 31, 

1864; died of disease at Duvall's Bluff, 

Ark., Nov. I. 1864. 
Fisher. John, Pokagon, e. Feb. 21. 1S65; 

m. o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Hayden, Edward W., e. Dec. 25. 1861 : dis. 

for disability July 26. 1862. 
Hoyt, Henry, Mason, e. Aug. 31, 1864 •. 

dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Johnson. I^riah. died of disease at Deca- 
tur. Mich.. June i. 1862. 
Johnson, Egbert, Mason, e. Aug. 31. 1864; 

died of disease at Washington. .Ark., 

July T. 1S65. 
Leader, Nathan H., Pokagon, e. Sept. 2. 

1864: tlis. by order May 6, 1865. 
Horton. William. Jr., Dowagiac, e. Dec. 

II. 1861 : vet. Dec. 25, 1863; Sergeant, 

prom. 2d Lieut. Co. I. 
Knapp. Bruce, Silver Creek, e. Feb. 24, 
1864; dis. for disability Aug. 23, 1864. 



Tuttle. Royal J., Silver Creek, e. Feb., 

1864; died of disease at Duvall's Blutt. 

Ark., .A-ug. 12, 1864. 
McMichael. Albert. Ontwa, e. Feb. 24. 

1862; vet. Feb. 26, 1864; m. o. Feb. 15. 

1866. 
Nye. Lsaac, Jefferson, e. Se!>t. i. 1S64 ; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
On. .Adam. Mason, e. Aug. 20, 1864; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 9, 1865. 
Searles, Henry M.. Mason, e. Feb. 24. 

1861 ; vet. Feb. 26. 1864; m. o. Feb. i=i. 

1866. 
Smith. Hiram. La Grange, e. .Aug. 29, 

1864; dis. at end of service Sept. 9, 

1865. 
Stephenson, Harvey. Pokagon. e. Sept. i, 

1864: dis. at end of service Sept. g, 

1865. 
St. John. John. Pokagon. e. Sept. 3. 1864; 

dis. at end of sendee Sept. 9, 1865. 
Tibbits. Nathan, Porter, e. Dec. 15, 1863; 

died of disease at Huntersville. Ark., 

July 2, 1864. 
Treat, Horace J., Silver Creek, e. Oct. 10, 

1861 : died in action at Pittsburg Land- 
ing .A-pril 6, 1862. 
Yawkey. .Amos, Howard, e. March 7, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Vetter, Joshua T.. vet. Dec. 29. 1863. 
Willard. William. Jefferson, e. Dec. 3. 

1S63; died of disease at Duvall's Bluff, 

Ark.. Jan. 6. 1865. 

Company K. 

Second Lieut. William E. Stevens, Mason, 

e. Oct. 22, 1861: vet. Dec. 25, 1863; 

Sergeant Co. .A. com. April 2, 1865: m. 

o. Feb. 15. 1866. 
Bidlack. Charles E., Porter, e. Oct. 14, 

1864: dis. by order Oct. 27, 1865. 
Crandall. Lewis, Wayne, e. Feb. 22. 1864; 

m. o. Feb, i.i, 1866. 
Drake, Lorenzo, dis. by order Aug. 12, 

1865. 
Farnham. Erastus S.. e. Dec. 9, 1861 : dis. 

at end of service Sept. 7. 1865. 
French, Noah, Sergeant, e. Oct. 10, 1861 ; 

dis. bv order July 19. 1862. 
Hardy, Robert, Milton, e. Oct. 2T, 1861 ; 

dis. by order Oct. 17, 1862. 
Nostrand. John J.. Silver Creek, e. Nov. 
II. 1S61 : dis. at end of service Jan. 7, 
1865. 
Rawson. Charles W.. Volinia, e. Sept. 7, 
1864 ; dis. at end of senice Sept. 9, 
1865. 
Sayers, James, Pokagon. e. Feb. 24, 1863 : 

dis. by order June i, 1865. 
Shepard. Caleb, Howard, e. Dec. 28. 1861 : 



308 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



vet. Dec. 29, 1863 ; dis. bv order Aug. 

12, 1865. 
Tappan, Harlow, Alarcellus, e. Feb. 25, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 
Weatherwax, John G., Porter, e. Feb. 13, 



1864; died of disease at Little Rock, 
Ark., June 13, 1864. 
Webber, Geo. W., Ontvva, e. Feb. 29, 
1864; ni. o. Feb. 15, 1866. 



THE NINETEENTH MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



FIELD AND STAFF. 

Surgeon William E. Clarke, Dowagiac, 

Surgeon 4th Mich. Infantry, trans. 

Surgeon to 19th Infantry Aug. 12, 1862; 

resigned July 18, 1863. 
Asst. Surgeon Leander D. Tompkins, 

Cassopolis, com. Aug. 12, 1862 ; resigned 

for disability Sept. 7, 1863. 

NON-COMMISSIONED STAFF. 

Quartermaster Sergt. John M. Myers, 

Cassopolis, e. Aug. 9, 1862 ; appointed 

1st Lieut, and Quartermaster; m. o. 

June 10, 1865. 
Commissary Sergt. George S. Larzelere, 

Silver Creek, com. Jan. 14, 1863 ; m. o. 

June 15, 1865. 
Principal Musician Ezekiel O'wen, La 

Grange, e. Aug. 9, 1862; m. o. June 10, 

1865. 

Company A. 
Capt. Joel H. Smith, Dowagiac, com. July 

22, 1862; resigned July 11, 1864. 
Capt. George T. Shaffer. Calvin, com. May 

IS, 1864; promoted Maj. 28th Mich. Inf.; 

wounded in action June 22, 1864. 
First Lieut. George T. Shaffer, Calvin, 

com. August 2, 1861 ; promoted Capt. 
First Lieut. Henry J. Ohls, Marcellus, 

com. May 8, 1865 ; Sergt. Aug. 8, 1862 ; 

m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Second Lieut. Reuben B. Larzelere. Dowa- 
giac, com. July 28, 1862; resigned Aug. 

7, 1863. 

Sergt. Isaac Z. Edwards, Pokagon. c. Aug. 

6, 1862 ; promoted 2d. Lieut. Co. E. 
Sergt. Norman B. Farnsworth. Silver 

Creek, e. .\ug. 2. 1864; dis. for disabil- 

itv Sept. 2, 1863. 
Sergt. John S. Gritilis, Wayne, c. Aug. 11, 

1862; killed at Resaca, Ga., May 5, 1864. 
Sergt. Barker F. Rudd, Newberg, e. Aug. 

8, 1862 ; dis. for wound Oct. 23. 1863. 
Sergt. George S. Larzelere, Silver Creek. 

e. Aug. 9, 1862; appointed Commissary 

Sergt. 
Corp. George H. Batten, Penn, e. Aug. 9. 

1862; died of disease at Murfreesboro, 

Tenn., Aug. 29, 1863. 
Corp. Zach Aldrich. Newberg, e. .\ug. 9, 

1862; prom, sergt.; dis. for loss of an 

eye Feb. 9, 1864. 
Corp. John Manning. Marcellus, e. Aug. 

13. 1862 ; dis. for wound, lost hand. May 

9, 1863. 



Corp. Alexander Kirkwood, Wayne, e. 

Aug. 9, 1862; prom, ist Lieut. Co. I. " 
Corp. Amos D. Stocking, Pokagon, e. Aug. 

2, 1862; dis. for disability Feb. i, 1863. 
Corp. Albert T. Cobb, Wayne, e. Aug. 5, 

1862 ; dis. for disability Feb. 8, 1863. 
Corp. William Slipper, Penn, e. Aug. 2, 

1862; m. o. Sergt. June 10, 1865. 
Corp. James S. Crego. Silver Creek, e. 

Aug. 7, 1862 ; m. o. Sergt. June. 
Musician Ezekiel Owen, La Grange, e. 

Aug. 9, 1862; prom. Principal Musician 

Sept. I, 1863. 
Musician Franklin R. Sherman, Pokagon, 

e. July 31, 1862; m. o. June 22, 1865. 
Wagoner, Isaac Hamlin, Pokagon, e. July 

20, 1862 ; died of disease at Washington, 

D. C, Feb. 17, 1863. 



.A.llen. Loren A., Pokagon, e. Aug. 16, 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
.\llison, George W., Pokagon, e. Aug. 7, 

1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Allison, Henry C, La Grange, e. Aug. 3, 

1864; m. o. i\lay 19, 1865. 
Anderson. Jacob M., Newberg. e. Aug. 

22. 1863 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps. 
Baker, Albert, Mason, e.- Aug. 5, 1862; 

died of disease at Nicholasville, Kv., 

Dec. 5, 1862. 
P>e]l. Samuel D., Silver Creek, e. .A.ug. 8. 

1862; m. o. June 10. 1865. 
Benton. Flic, Pokagon, e. ; m. o. 

June 10. 1865. 
Bend, Thomas F., Wayne, e. Aug. 6, 1862; 

dis. for wound April 28, 1865. 
Bowerman, Addison, Newberg, e. .\ug. 

27, 1S63 ; died of disease at Nashville, 

Tenn., Sept. 25, 1864. 
Bridge. Daniel G., iSIarcellus, e. Aug. 8. 

1862; m. o. June 10. 1865. 
Corbit. James, Penn, e. Aug. 8, 1S62 ; 

killed on picket before Atlanta, Ga.. Julv 

23. 1864. 

Corwin. Amos B.. Penn. e. .'\.ug. S, 1S62; 

m, o. June 10. 1865. 
Cooper, Harley R., Jefferson, e. Dec. 15. 

1863; m. o. May 26, 1865. 
Crawford, George. Pokagon. e. .\ug. 8. 

1862; Sergt.; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Crocker. Milford, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 

t6, 1S64: m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Fosdick. Franklin H.. Penn, e. Feb. 27. 

1864 ; dis. for disability Jlme 27, 1865. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



3U9 



Danahy, Timothy, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 9, 

1S62; died of wounds at Resaca, Ga. 

May 25, 1864. 
Davis, Norman, Pokagon, e. Aug. 7, 1862 

dis. for disability Feb. 8, 1863. 
Davis, Reason, New berg. e. Aug. 13 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Davis, William, Penn, e. Aug. 9, 1862 

m. o. June lO, 1865. 
Edwards, Henry, Pokagon, e. Aug. 9 

1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Evans, John, Pok.-igon, e. Aug. 9, 1862 

m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Freeman, Adin, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 2 

1862; killed in action at Thompson': 

Station, Tenn.. March 5, 1863. 
Fuller, Oren A., Penn, e. Aug. 7, 1862 

dis. for wounds May 20, 1863. 
Fuller, William R., Wayne, e. Aug. 6, 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Garwood, Levi. Volinia, e. Aug. 8, 1862 

dis. for disability Aug. 21, 1S63. 
George, Stephen L., Silver Creek, e. Aug, 

Q, 1862 ; dis. for disability Jan. 14, 1864. 
Gilbert, Jeremiah B., Penn, e. Feb. 27, 

1864; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Gillon, Patrick I., Pokagon, e. Aug. 9 

1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Gleason, Charles H., Pokagon, e. Aug. 9 

1S62 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Grinnell, Sylvester M., Penn, e. Feb. 27 

1864; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Hagerman, Noah D., Penn, e. Aug. 9. 

1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Hamilton, John P., Wayne, e. Aug. 11 

1862 ; died in action at Thompson's Sta- 
tion, Tenn.. March 5, 1863. 
Hannah, James A., La Grange, e. Aug. 9, 

1862 ; died in action at Thompson's Sta- 
tion, Tenn., March 3, 1863. 
Hawes, Jerome B.. Pokagon, e. Aug. 11 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Hoover, Calvin, La Grange, e. Aug. 8 

1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Hungerford, Homer M., Wayne, e. .\ug 

9. 1862; missing in action near Dalton, 

Ga., 1S64. 
Laylin, Oren. Wayne, e. Aug. 6, 1862 ; m 

o. June 10, 1865. 
Lilly. Aaron. Wayne, e. .A.ug. S, 1862 ; m 

o. June 10. 1865. 
Lundy, Ira C. Penn, e. .^.ug. 8, 1862; m 

o. June 10, 1S65. 
Lundy, Robert, Penn. e. .•Vug. ir, 1862 

dis. for disability Feb. 8, 1863. 
Lundy, Thomas, Penn, e. .A.ug. 8, 1862 

died of disease at Annapolis. Md., Apri 

13- 1863. 
Lytle, William M., Alarcellus, e. Jan. i 

1863; dis. for wound Nov. 12. 1864. 
Mead. Smith, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 2 

1862 ; m. o. June 10. 1865. 



Means, Andrew, Pokagon, e. Aug. 8, 1S62 ; 
dis. for disability Aug. 18, 1863. 

Muncy, Nimrod, Wayne, e. Aug. 2, 1862 ; 
m. o. June 10, 1863. 

Nicholas, Ezra W., Marcellus, e. Aug. 9, 
1862; died of wounds at Vining's Sta- 
tion, Ga., Sept. 4, 1864. 

Nichols, William H., Marcellus, e. Jan. 

I, 1863; died of wounds at Chattanooga, 
Tenn., June 20, 1864. 

Parker, Haynes G., Calvin, e. Aug. 8, 

1862; died of disease at Nashville, 

Tenn., July 13, 1864. 
Parker, Romaine, Pokagon. e. Aug. 4, 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Parker, Thomas S., Calvin, e. Aug. 8, 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Peters. John, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 22, 

1863 ; died of wounds at Chattanooga, 

Tenn., June 20, 1S64. 
Potter, Thomas, Jefferson, e. Aug. 7, 

1862 ; died of disease at Lexington, Ky., 

Nov. 13, 1862. 
Reams, Caleb M., Penn, e. Aug. 26. 1862; 

m. o. July 19, 1865. 
Reams, Isaiah G., Penn, e. Sept. 12, 1862; 

m. o. July 19, 1865. 
Reams. Silas G., Penn, e. Aug. 31. 1863; 

m. o. May 24, 1865. 
Savage, Henry B., Marcellus, e. Aug. 12, 

1862 ; died in action at Thompson's Sta- 
tion, Tenn., March 5, 1863. 
Schideler, John, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 7, 

1862 : died in rebel prison at Richmond, 

Va., March — , 1863. 
Schideler, Robert, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 

7, 1862; dis. for disability. 
Shawl. Madison, Silver Creek, e. July 25, 

1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1S65. 
Shepard, Purley, Silver Creek, e, .\ug. 2, 

1S62 ; died of disease at Lookout Mount- 
ain, Tenn., Oct. 26, 1864. 
Sherman, C. C, Pokagon. e. July 23. 1862; 

m. (>. June 16. 1865. 
Spaukiing, Joel, Newberg. e. Aug. 9, 

1862 ; m. o. May 10, 1865. 
Spencer, Edward, Wayne, e. Aug. 9, 1862 ; 

m. o. June 10, 1S65. 
Stedman, Livingston. Pokagon, e. .Vug. 8, 

1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Stuart. Salmon, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 9, 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Suits, Jacob, Wayne, e. Aug. 9, 1862 : m. 

o. June 10. 1865. 
Suits, Solomon A., Silver Creek, e. Aug. 

9, 1862 ; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Sullivan, Solomon A., Wayne, e. Aug. 4, 

1862 ; m. o. June 10. 1865. 
Taylor, John. Pokagon, e. .Aug. 4. 1862; 

m. o. June 10. 1865. 
Thompson. Francis M.. Wayne, e. Aug. 

II, 1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 



3 in 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



L'ndc-rwood, Eiios, Newberg, e. Aug. 9. 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 
Underwood. Stephen W.. Pcnn, e. Aug. 9, 

1862; ni. o. July II, 1865. 
WicUliani, William C, Silver Creek, e. 

.■\ufi;. 13, 1862; died of disease at Dan- 
ville, Ky., Dec. — , 1862. 
Wiggins. George E., Wayne, e. Aug. 11, 

1862; died of wounds at Richmond, Va., 

March — . 1863. 
Wiggins, Lorenzo R., Wayne, e. Aug. 7, 

1S62; died in rebel prison, Richmond, 

Va., March — , 1863. 
Winchell, Seneca W., Pokagon, e. Aug. 2, 

1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 

Company C. 

Phillips, Juhii H.. Newberg, e. Jan. 17, 
18(14; ni. o. July 19, 1865. 

Company D. 

Secnnd Lieut. Isaac Z. Edwards, Pokagon, 

trans, frum Co. E. July 37. 1863 ; prom. 

1st Lieut. June i, 1864; resigned as 2d 

Lieut. Aug. 6. 1864. 
Harrigan, William, Marcellus, e. Sept. 

15. 1864; m. o. June 23 1865. 
Wright, Giles, Newberg. c. Sept. 5. 1863; 

m. o. July 19, 1S65. 

Company E. 

Second Lieut. Isaac Z. Edwards. Pokagon. 
com. May 1, 1863; trans. 2d. Lieut, to 
Co. D. 

Ashley. William H.. e. .\ug. — , 1862 ; 
confined in Libby Prison ; died at An- 
napolis. Md., April 11, 1863. 

Basley, Hiram E., Jefiferson. e. Dec. 15, 

1863, in loth Infantry. 

Hollister, Albert E., Penn, e. Sept. 29, 

1864. in loth Infantry. 

l\!ahey. Martin. Silver Creek, e. Dec. 

22. 1863. in loth Infantry; trans, to loth 

Mich. Infantry. 
Martin. George H.. m. o. Aug. 3. 1R65. 
Miller, Charles Z., e. Aug. — , 1862; died 

at Nicholasville. Ky.. Dec. 13, 1862. 
Quay, William H., Newberg, e. Jan. 23, 

1864; died of disease at Nashville, 

'Penn., March 21, 1864. 
Quay. Edward L., Newberg, e. Dec. 21. 

1863; m. o. July 19, 1865. 



Welch, Thomas C, Jefferson, e. Dec. 15, 

1863; m. o. July 19, 1865. 
White, Enos H.. Pokagon, e. Nov. 18, 

1864; m. o. July 19, 1865. 

Company G. 
Beaman, Alonzo P., Newberg, e. Jan. 5, 

1864; m. o. July 19, 1865. 
Boghart. Peter C., Newberg. e. Jan. 5, 

1S64, in loth Infanlrv; died of disease 

March 3. 1864. 
;\Iadden. Michael. Silver Creek, e. Dec. 

23. 1863; ni. o. July 19. 1865. 
McCoy, John, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 23, 

1S63; m. o. July 19, 1865. 
Reams. Erastus, Dowagiac, e. Sept. 12, 

1862; m. o. June 10. 1865. 
Reed. Henry S., Newberg, e. Jan. 5, 1864; 

died of disease at Chattanooga, Tenn., 

June 30, 1864. 
Reed, William '1'., Newberg, e, Jan. 5. 

1864; died of disease at Chattanooga, 

Tenn., Aug. 7, 1864. 
Trattles, Daniel, Newberg, e. Aug. 11, 

1862 : m. o. June to. 1865. 

Comp.any H. 

Bair, Myron "SI.. Newberg. e. Jan. 20, 
1S64; m. o. June 10. 1865. 

Hawkins, Lsaac, Dowagiac, e. .\ug. 13, 
1862; m. o. June 10, 1865. 

INlnsician George N. Rosebrock. Ontwa. e. 
.-\ug. 13. 1862: died of disease at Cov- 
ington. Ky., Oct. 21. 1862. 

Teagen. Samuel. Porter, e. Aug. 13, 1862; 
dis. for disability July 6. 1863. 

Company I. 
P'irst Lieut. .Alexander Kirkwood. Wayne, 

com. Nov. Ti. 1864; m. o. June 10, 

1865. 
Buttrick, William, Wayne, e. Jan. 4. 1S64; 

m. o. June 24. 1865. 
Carroll. Thomas. Wayne, e. Dec. 17. 1863 ; 

m. o. July T9, 1865. 
Cooper. Asbury. Jefferson, e. Dec. 15, 

1S63. in loth Infantry ; trans, to loth 

iNlicbigan Infantry. 
Havens. Adam. Wayne, e. Jan. 4. 1864. in 

loth Infantry; trans, to loth Michigan 

Infantry. 
White. William L., Wayne, e. Dec. 4, 

1863 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps. 



THE FIR.ST REGIMENT MICHIG.\N CAV.^LRY. 



NON-COM MISSIONED STAFF. 

Scrgt. Maj. James S. McElheny. Dowa- 
giac, e. Aug. m. 1861 ; prom. 2d Lieut. 
Co. G. 

Hosp. Steward James R. Leader. Poka- 
gon; m. o. Oct., 1862. 



Company .\. 

First Lieut. Sidney G. I\Iorse, Cassopolis. 
com. June. 1862 ; 1st Sergt. Co. M. May 
12. 1862; killed in battle at Second Bull 
Run, Aug. .30, 1862. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



311 



First Lieut. John H. Simmons. Dowagiac, 
com. March 7, 1865 ; m. o. Nov. 7, 1865. 

Private Richard L. Crawford. Penn, e. 
Feb. 4, 1864; m. o. Jan. 23, 1866. 

Company B. 

Capt. Rollin C. Denison, Dowagiac, trans. 

from Co. M. Oct.. 1861 ; trans, to Co. 

M, Nov., 1861. 
Capt. William Heazelit. Dowagiac. trans. 

from Co. K, July iS, 1862 ; m. o. Oct. 

30, 1864. 
Second Lieut. John Simmons, Dowagiac, 

prom. 1st Lieut. Co. A, March 7, 1865. 

Com p.^ NY C. 
Randall. Wesley C, Jefferson, e. March 
13, 1865 ; m. o. May ig, 1866. 

Company E. 
Bugler George Krupp, Pokagon, e. Dec. 

30, 1863 ; m. o. ^larch 25, 1866. 
Shanafels, George, Calvin, e. Feb. 6, 

1865; m. o. Dec. 5, 1865. 

Company' D. 
First Lieut. John Munson, Volinia, com. 
March 7, 1865; 2d Lieut. Dec. 4, 1864; 
m. o. trans, to Co. G, March 10, 1865. 

Company' G. 

First Lieut. James S. McElheny, Dowa- 
giac, com. May 18, 1863 ; 2d Lieut. Nov. 
12, 1862: killed in action at Monterey, 
Md., July 4, 1863. 

First Lieut. John Munson. Volinia, trans, 
from Co. D, ist Lieut. March 10, 1865; 
m. o. l\Iarch 10, 1866. 

Private Warren Simpson, Jefferson, e. 
Feb. 8, 1865 ; m. o. Dec. 5, 1865. 

Company' K. 

Capt. William M. Hazelet, Dowagiac, com. 

- Nov. 12, 1862 ; 2d Lieut. Co. M ; wound- 
ed in action at Gettysburg July 3, 1863; 
and at Cold Harbor June i, 1864; trans. 
Capt. to Co. B; m. o. Oct. 30, 1864. 

PRIVATES. 

Apted, William, Volinia, e. Feb. 15. 1865; 

ni. o. Dec. 5, 1865. 
Conner, Isaac B., Volinia, e. Feb. 17, 

1865 ; trans, to Co. G. 
Fonger, William, La Grange, e. Nov. 30, 
■ '863. 
Hanna, Ilezekiah. Volinia. e. Nov. 26, 

1863; died at Washington, D. C. July 

II, 1864. 
Herbert, William P., Corp., Vnlinia, e. 

Dec. IS, 1863: m. o. Marcli 10, 1865. 
James, Lewis, Volinia, e. Dec. 16, 1863 ; 

m. o. March 10, 1866. 
Kenny, James, blacksmith, Volinia, e. 

Nov. 30, 1S63 ; m. o. Jan. 10, 1865. 



Munson, John, saddler, Volinia, e. Nov. 

30, 1863 ; prom. 2d Lieut. Co. D, Dec. 

4, 1S64. 
Myers, James W., Jefferson, e. Feb. 7, 

1865 ; m. o. Dec. 8, 1865. 
Sweet, George W., Volinia, e. Dec. 16, 

1863; m. o. July 16, 1863. 
Welcher, Nelson, Volinia, e. Nov. 30. 

1863; died at Detroit, Mich., Oct. 27, 

1864. 
Winegarden, Abram S.. \'olinia, e. Nov. 

30. 1863; dis. by order July 7, 1865. 

Company L. 
Corp. Albert Vincent, Volinia, e. Aug. 20. 
1861 ; died in rebel prison. 



Koonse. Herbert, Mason, e. Jan. 26, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 25, 1865. 
Redmcin, J. W., Mason, e. Feb. 26, 1865 ; 

m. o. Dec. 5, 1865. 

Company !M. 

Capt. Rollin C. Denison. Dowagiac, com. 
Aug. 12, 1861 ; resigned April 23, 1863. 

Capt. David W. Clemmcr, Dowagiac, com. 
May 2, 1863; wounded in action at 
Gettysburg, Penn., July 3, 1863; m. o. 
Dec. 14, 1864. 

First Lieut. Charles H. Sprague, Dowa- 
giac, com. Aug. 12. 1861 ; prom. Capt. 
Co. A. 

First Lieut. David W. Clcmmer. Dinva- 
giac. com. Aug. 12. 1861 : prom. Capt. 
May- 2, 1863. 

Second Lieut. David W. Clemmer, Dowa- 
giac, com. May 12, 1862; prom, ist 
Lieut. Nov. 12, 1862. 

Second Lieut. William M. Heazlit, Dowa- 
giac, com. Aug. 12, i86r : prom. Capt. 
Co. K, Nov. 12. 1862. 

First Sergt. David W. Oemmer, Dowa- 
giac, e. Aug. 12. 1861 ; prom. 2d Lieut. 
May 12. 1862. 

Sergt. Sidney G. Morse, Cassopolis ; 1st 
Sergt. May 12, 1862: Commissary Sergt. 
Aug. 16, 1861 ; prom, ist Lieut. Co. A. 

Sergt. William Dickson, Dowagiac, e. 
Aug. 12, 1861 ; prom. 2d Lieut. May 12, 
1862; dis. for disability January, 1864. 

Sergt. Joseph L. Tice, Dowa.giac. e. Aug. 
22, 1861; vet. Dec. 21, 1863; dis. by 
order Aug. i, 1865. 

Sergt. John H. Simmons. Dowagiac ; 
prom. 2d Lieut. Co. B. 

Sergt. "Matthew B. Dopp. Dowagiac, e. 
Auff. 19, 1861; vet. Dec. 21, 1863: m. 
o. March 25, 1866. 

Sergt. Gilbert Vincent, Volinia, e. Aug. 
20. 1861; dis. for disability Nov. i. 
1862. 

Sergt. John W. Robinson. Dowagiac, e. 



312 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Aug. 2J, iiSfji ; vet. Dec. 21. i8<.)3; ni. o. 

March 25, 18O6. 
Corp. James S. McElheiiy. Dovvagiac, e. 

Aug. 15. 1861 ; prom. Sergt. January, 

i86j; Sergeant Maj. October, 1862. 
Corp. Charles Allen, Dovvagiac, e. Aug. 

16, 1861 ; prom. Sergt. October, 1862; 

died in rebel prison at Florence, Ala. 
iMusician John H. Simmons, Dowagiac, c. 

Aug. 16, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863; pro- 
moted. 
Musician George W. Pierson, Dowagiac, 

e. Aug. 16, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 29, 1863; 

m. o. July 29, 1865. 
Farrier Abram R., Sigerfoos, Dowa.giac, 

c. Aug. 19. 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863; 

m. o. July 31, 1865. 
Wagoner Daniel Rummell, Dowagiac, e. 

Aug. 16, iS5i ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863 ; m. o. 

Aug 8. 1865 



James R. Leader, Pokagon. e. Aug. 20, 

i86t ; jiromoted Hospital Steward. 
Henry W. Ellis, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 16. 

1861 ; dis. for disability Nov. i. 1862. 
Cliarles C. Wilcox, DoAva,giac. e. Aug. 

16, 1861 ; prom. Sergt. ; dis. at end of 

service. 
John H. Simmons, Dowagiac. c. .-Xug. 16, 

1861 ; prom. Sergt. 
Albert H. Lewis, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 16, 

1861; vet. Dec. 21, 1863; m. o. March 

25, 1 866. 

COMP.^NY ]\L 

Angle, IMiili]), Wavue, e. Aug. ig, 1S61 ; 

vet. ])ec. 21. iSVi^; m. 0. ' March 2S. 

1866. 
Barnaby. .Alvin P., Volinia, c. Jan. 23. 

1864; dis. by order May 3. 1865. 
Barney, William W., La Grans-e, e. Feb. 

15, 1864; died of disease April 5, 1864. 
Becraft, William F.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

20, t86t : vet. Dec. 21, 1863; dis. by 

order May 31, 1865. 
Beutley, Pardon F., Pokagon. e. Aug. 13, 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863: died at Alex- 
andria, Va., Nov. 22, 1864. 
Bilderback. John, Silver Creek, e. Aug. 

20. 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863; prom. 

Sergt. ; trans, to Co. D. 
Bulhand, Joseph L.. Edwardsburg, e. Aug. 

22, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21. 1863; ni. o. IMarch 

2=;, 1866. 
Cables, Jerome L. Volinia, e. Aug. 17, 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 186^ : m. o. Aug. 7. 

1865. 
Chatterson, Joseph. Silver Creek, e. Aug. 

16, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21. t86^: m. o. Nov. 
24, 1865. 

Clock, Miles A., Porter, e. ; m. o. 

Aug. 7, 1865. 



Colby, Frank, Penn, e. Feb. 2, 1864; vet. 

Dec. 21, 1863; m. o. July 10, 1865. 
Cook, Albert H., Dowagiac. e. Aiig. 21. 

1861 ; dis. at end of service Sept. 24, 

1864. 
Crawford, Charles C. Penn, c. Feb. 16, 

1864 ; died in action Wilderness. Va.. 

May 6. 1864. 
Day. James E.. Porter, e. Feb. 9, 1S64 ; 

m. o. March 25, 1866. 
Dewitt, Isaac A.. Dowagiac, e. Au.g. 19, 

18C1 ; vet. Dec. 21, 186?; m. o. March 

25, 1866. 
Drummond, Alcius, Dowagiac, e. Au.g. 

22, 1861 ; dis. for disability April to. 

1863. 
Ellsworth, Andrew J.; m. o. March 25, 

1866. 
Ensign, Leroy, Pokagon, e. Aug. 13, 

1861 ; died in battle at Winchester, Va., 

Afay 24, 1862. 
Gates, Henry C, Dowagiac, e. Sept. S, 

t86i ; died of disease at Alexandria, 

Va.. Sept. 24, 1862. 
Crush, John, Volinia, e. Aug. t6. t86i ; 

vet. Dec. 21, 186^; m. o. March 2^^, 

1866. 
Hutson, Edward R., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

12. t86i ; dis. for disability. 
Huff, Franklin. Dowagiac. e. Aug. 22. 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863; dis. at end of 

service Au,g. 22, 1864. 
King. John R.. c. Oct. 10, 1862: died in 

rebel prison, Richmond. Va., Feb. •;, 

1864. 
Labadie, A. C, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 16, 

1861 ; dis. for disability April 3, 1863. 
Lamphere, Elias, Dowagiac' e. Aug. 12, 

i86t : dis. for disability April, 1862, 

wounded. 
Lillie, George, Dowagiac, e. .Au.g. 17, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Jan. T3. 1863, 

wounded. 
Lyons, John. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 16, 1S61 ; 

dis. for disability September, 1862. 
McCreevy, Hiram, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 17, 

tS6i ; vet. Dec. 21. 1863; dis. by order 

July 31. 1865. 
Meachani, Charles, Dowa.giac, e. .Vug. 16, 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863: m. o. ?ilarch 

25, 1866. 
Morland. Joseph, Volinia. e. Jan. 16. 1864; 

m. o. March 25, 1866. 
Norton. Cassins M.. Dowagiac, e. Oct. 

21, T862 ; dis. by order June 19, 1865. 
Niver, William C, Ontwa, e. Aug. 22, 

t86i ; died of disease at .Annapolis. Md., 

Oct. 3. 1862. 
Ornt, Eli, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 22, 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service. 
OInev. Darwin, Dowagiac. e. .\u!X- to. 

i86t : vet. Dec. 21, 1863: killed in battle 

at Gettysburg. Penn.. July 3, 1863. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



313 



Oyler, John, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 22. 1861 ; 

dis. for disability July. 1862. 
Peck, Coleman C, Cassopolis, e. Aug. 19. 

1861 ; dis. at end of sen'ice. 
Pettigrew, William M., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

22, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863 ; m. o. May 

II, 1866. 
Pierce. Thomas P., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

16, 1861 ; died of disease at Richmond, 

Va. 
Reimer, Henry, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 16, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Nov. 2g, 1862. 
Robinson, Richard M., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

22, 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863; m. o. Aug. 

22, 1864. 
Roberts. Luman C, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 12, 

1S61 ; vet. Dec. 21. 1863; m. o. Nov. 

24, 1865. 
Rose. Alexander. La Grange, e. Dec. 21. 

1S63 ; m. o. Aug. 8, 1865. 
Rutter. Benjamin H.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

20, i86x ; dis. at end of service Sept. 

6. 1864. 
Rutter, Henry C. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 17, 

1861 ; died of disease April, 1862. 
Serrine, Ezra, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 16, 

1861 ; dis. for disability May. 1862. 
Stults. Seth S.. Dowagiac. e. Aug. 26. 

1861 ; vet. Dec. 21. 1863; Sergt. ; trans. 

to Co. F. 
Shrackengast. George W.. Dowagiac, e. 

Aug. 22, 1861 : vet. Dec. 21. 1863. 



Shaw, John N., Corp.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

16, 1861 ; dis. at end of service. 
Simons. Joseph R. C, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

22. 1861 ; vet. Dec. 21, 1863 ; died at Ft. 

Bridger. Utah. Nov. 18, 1865. 
Smyth. Daniel, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 32, 

1861 ; dis. for disability Jan. 14, 1863. 
Spillman, Jacob, Dowagiac, e. .'\ug. 26, 

1861 ; dis. by order. 
Stone, George, Corp., Jefferson, e. Feb. 7, 

1865; m. o. March 25, 1866. 
Suydam, William H.. Silver Creek, e. 

l^ec. 26, 1863 ; dis. bv order Aug. 3. 

1865. 
Taylor. Halbert R.. Wayne, e. Dec. 28, 

1863 ; m. o. March 25, 1866. 
Thomas, Cassius, Porter, e. Feb. 19. 1864 ; 

died of yellow fever May 6. 1S64. 
Tinkler, George W.. Dowagiac. e. Aug. 

16. 1861 ; dis. at end of service. 
Tice. iNIyron C. Dowagiac. e. Au.g. 19, 

1861 : m. o. July 13. 1865. 
Watson. Joseph H.. Dowagiac, c. Aug. 21, 

1861 ; taken prisoner in action at Robb's 

Tavern, Va. 
Wilber. Oscar, Dowagiac, e. .Aug. 22, 

1861 : died of disease Aug. 29, 1862. 
Wiley. James P., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 17. 

1861 • vet Dec. 21. 1863: m. o. March 

2^. 1866. 



SECOND REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER C.WALRY. 



Company D. 
Fellows. Austin P., Milton. Nov. 8, 1863; 
m. o. .-^ug. 17, 1865. 

Company L 
Farrier John H. A.shley, Mason, e. Aug. 

24, 1864; dis. by order June 20, 1865. 
Rix, Alfred, Mason, e. Aug. 24, 1864; 

taken prisoner at Shoal Creek, .-Ma., 

Nov. 5, 1864. 
Stephens, George, Mason, e. Aug. 24, 

1861 ; dis. by order June 20, 1865. 

Company L. 
officers. 

First Lieut. Andrew J. Foster, com. .^ug. 
24, 1861 ; resigned Aug. 31, 1862. 

First Lieut. John H. Hutton. com. Sept. 
9, 1862 ; 2d Lieut. Aug. 24, 1861 ; re- 
signed for disability April 9. 1864. 

Quartermaster Sergt. William P. Thomas, 
e. Sept. 12. 1861 : died of disease at Cor- 
inth. Miss.. June 25. 1862. 

Sergt. Jay Blodgett. e. Sept. 16, i86t ; dis. 
for disability Sept. 9. 1862. 

Corp. John K. Stark, e. Sept. 17. 1861 : 
dis. for disability Aug. 14. 1862. 



Corp. Harvey L. Drew, e. Sept. 16, 1S61 ; 

trans, to 3d Cav. Nov. 2. 1861. 
Corp. .Mbert P. Anderson, e. Sept. 14. 

1861 ; died of wounds near Boonville. 

Miss.. July 3. 1862. 
Corp. William H. Todd. e. Sept. 16. 1861 ; 

dis. for disability Dec. 9. i86^- 
Corp. Samuel INIaxham, e. Sept. 18. 1S61 ; 

dis. for disability Dec. 6. 1862. 
Corp. Abner P. Stimpson. e. Sept. 14. 

1S61; vet. Jan. 5. 1864: m. o. Aug. 30, 

Wagoner Robert Lingrell. e. Sept. 8. i86t ; 

vet. Jan. 5. 1864; prom. Sergt.; m. o. 

Aug. 17. 1865. 
Quartermaster Sergt. S. J. W. Thomas. 

e 1S62; killed at battle of Bear River, 

Feb. 20. 1863. 



Andrews. James H.. iNlason. e. Aug. 27. 

1864: dis. bv order June 3. '865. 
Barker. John C. e. Oct. I. 1861 ; vet. Jan. 

5. 1864: m. o. Aug. 17. 1865. 
Burns. Lawrence, e. Sept. 14. 1861 ; vet. 

Tan. .=;. 1864; died in action in Alabama 

Oct. 7. 1864. 



314 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Burns, Roger, e. Sept. 14, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 

5, 1864; m. o. Aug. 17, 1855. 
Carlisle, William, e. Sept. 14, 1S61 ; trans. 

to V'et. Res. Corps. 
Dailey, Hiram, e. Nov. 14, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 

5, 1864; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Eisele, Felix, e. Sept. 24, 1861 ; died in 

action at Mossy Creek, Dec. 27, 1863. 
Eisele, iVIartin, e. Sept. 24, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 

5, 1864; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Goodrich, J T., e. Nov. i, i86l ; vet. Jan. 

S, 1864; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Griffith, John W., e. Sept. 7, 1861 ; vet. 

Jan. 5, 1864; ni. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Hanson, John, e. Sept. 16, i86i ; dis. at 

end of service Oct. 22, 1864. 
Hewitt, Henry W., c. Sept. 16, 1861 

for disability May 30. 1863. 
Ketcham, .\lonzo. e. Sept. 14, i85i 

Jan. 5, 1804; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Layton. James L., Xewberg, m. o. 

17, lS65- 
Loveland, Andrew J 

vet. Jan. 5, 1864. 
Lowry, William S., e 

Jan. 5, 1S64; dis. 

1865. 
Lybacher, Porter, Mason, e. Aug 

1861 ; m. o. July 5. 1865. 
Mallory, Marquis D., e. Oct. i, 1861 ; dis, 

at end of service Oct. 22, 1864. 
Manco, Theo., e. Sept. 13, 1861 ; vet. Jan, 

5, 1S64; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Mann, George H., JNIason. e. Aug. 14. 

1862; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 



Sept. 



dis. 



0. Aug. 

1, 1861 ; 



Sept. 13, 1S61 ; vet. 
by order June 4, 



14. 



.Mannermg, W. 11., e. Oct. 10, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Aug. 16, 1862. 
Marshall, James M., Alason, e. Aug. 19, 

1862; dis. for disability Dec. 6, 1802. 
Moore, Lorenzo D., e. Sept. 24, 1861 ; vet. 

Jan. 5, 1864; died of wounds at Shoal 

Creek, Ala., Dec. i, 1864. 
Nelson, Edgar, e. Sept. 16, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 

5. 1864; dis. by order May 19, 1865. 
Parker, Chandler, e. Nov. 1, 1861 ; vet. 

Jan. 5, 1864; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Shockley, Alfred, e. Sept. 14, 1861 ; vet. 

Jan. 5, 1864; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Smith, Henry, e. Sept. 16, 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Oct. 22, 1864. 
Smith, Walter, e. Sept. 17. 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Oct. 22, 1864. 
Stark, Edward, e. Sept. 24, r86i ; dis. for 

disability Oct. 20, 1862. 
Stilson, Hiram, Mason, e. Aug. 14, 1862; 

trans, to Vet. Res. Corps Feb. 15. 1865. 
Stilson, John, Mason, e. Sept. i, 1864; 

m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Stilson. William C, Mason, e. Aug. 24, 

1864; m. o. Aug. 17, 1865. 
Weiting. Jacob, dis. for disabilitv Alarch 

25.1863. 
W illiams, Richard J., c. Sept. 14. 1861 ; 

vet. Jan. 5, 1864; dis. for promotion 

Sept. 20. 1864. 
Williams, Theodore, e. Sept. 18, 1861 ; 

killed by guerrillas at Madisonville, 
Tenn., March 7. 1864. 
Wooden, Timothy, e. Sept. 16, 1861 : died 

of disease at St. Louis, Mo.. Jan. 31, 

1862. 



THIRD REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. 



COMPAXY A. 

Smith, George W., Penn, e. Feb. 15, 1864; 
m. o. Feb. 12, 1866. 

Company F. 
Second Lieut. Morrel Wells, La Grange, 

e. Sept. 30, 1861. Corp. ; vet. Jan. 19, 

1864; Sergt. ; prom. 2d Lieut. Co. F; 

prom,. 1st Lieut. Co. I, Nov. 17, 1864 ; 

m. o. Feb. 12, 1866. 
Second Lieut. Robert H. Carr, Dowagiac, 

e. Sept. 26, 1861 ; Corp., Sergt., 2d Lieut. 

July 4, 1S64; m. o. as Sergt., Feb. 12, 

1866. 

PRIVATES. 

Beebe, Benjamin F., Volinia, e. Feb. 24, 



i8(>4; died of disease Duvall's Bluff, 

Ark., July 29. 1864. 
Vance, William J., Volinia, e. Jan. 19, 

1864; m. o. Feb. 12, 1866. 
Wallace, John L, Dowagiac, e. Sept. 30, 

1861 ; di'^. for prom. June 20. 1863. 

Company L 

First Lieut. Morrel ■ Wells, La Grange, 
com. Nov. 17, 1864; m. o. Feb. 12, 1866. 

CoMP.VNV M. 

Foster. David, Pokagon, e. Dec. 29. 1863; 
m. o. Feb. 12. 1S66. 



FOURTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. 



Company A. Company C. 

McManus. John, La Grange, e. Nov. 3, McCy. William. D. P. R., Aug. i. 1862; 
T8C3 ; m. o. Aug. 15, 1865. m. o. July I, 1865. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



315 



Partridge, Edwin D., Pokagon, e. Dec. S, 

1863; m. o. Aug. IS, 1865. 
Riggs, Rensselaer, Porter, e. Aug. 18, 

1864; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Shoemaker, John H., Marcellus, e. July 

15, 1862; m. o. July I. 1865. 

Company G. 
Cowles, David B.. Howard, e. Nov. 3, 
1863 ; trans, to Veteran Reserve Corps 
Aug. 17, 1864. 

Company I. 

Bedwell, George W., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

II. 1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Corp. Brown, Preston W., Dowagiac, e. 

July 2g, 1862; m. o. July i, 1865. 
Driskel, Noah. Porter, e. Aug. 11. 1862; 

dis. for disability April 2, 1863. 
Eaton, Frank P., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 11, 

1862 ; dis. for disability ^larch 3, 1863. 
Fetterly, Charles, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 2, 

1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Joy, Fraklin D.. Penn, e. .^ug. 11, 1862; 

m. o. May 3, 1865. 
Kennedy, David A., Penn, e. Aug. II, 

1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Powers, Samuel H.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. II, 

1862 ; died of disease at Nashville, 

Tenn., Jan. 12, 1863. 
Roberson, Jonathan S., Corp., e. Aug. 2, 

1862; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps Sept. i, 

1863. 
Matthews. William, Penn. e. Ang. 11, 

1862: sick at Nashville at m. o. 
Morton, Charles L.. Porter, e. .-Vug. 11. 

1862 ; dis. for disability Feb. 27, 1863. 
Sigerfoos. .Mbertus, Porter, e. Aug. 11, 

1862 ; sick at Nashville at ni. o. 
Scrgt. Witherell. Henry A., Pokagon, e. 

Aug. II. 1862: died of disease at Nash- 
ville, Tenn., April 9, 1864. 
Lewis, James. Newberg. e. Aug. 11. 1862; 

killed in action at Stone River. 
Lew'is, Franklin B.. e. .\ug. 11. 1862; died 

of disease at Nashville. 

Company M. 

officers. 

First Lieut. Hiram F. Beals, Dowagiac. 

com. Aug. 13, 1862. 
Quartermaster Sergt. William H. Davis, 

Dowagiac. e. July 26, 1862 ; dis. by 

order May 19, 1865. 
Commissary Sergt. James W. .'^rgo, e. 

July 24, 1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Sergt. James D. Dawson, e. Aug. 11, 

1862; dis. for disability July 8, 1863. 
Sergt. Edward Pearce, Wayne, e. .'Vug. 

IS, 1862; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Corp. Truman Pond, Wayne, e. .\ug. 2, 

i8fi2: died of disease at Louisville, Kv.. 

Oct. 27. 1862. 



Corp. George Scott, Volinia, e. Aug. 5, 

1862; dis. for disability Jan. i, 1863. 
Corp. John Fox, Milton, e. Aug. 7, 1862; 

dis. by order May 19, 1865. 
Corp. Elias Ingling. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

6, 1862; m. o. July i, 1865. 
Corp. John W. Bowles, Volinia, e. Aug. 7, 

1862 ; absent sick at m. o. 
Farrier Henry Cooper, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

13, 1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Teamster Charles D. Northrup, Dowagiac. 

e. Aug. S, 1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Wagoner Josiah Ipes, e. Aug. 2, 1862 ; m. 

o. July I. 1865. 

PRIVATES. 

Abbott. Hiram. Milton, e. .\ug. 16, 1862; 

m. o. Julv I, 1865. 
.A.ldrich. James M.. e. Aug. 1^2, 1S62; died 

of disease at Lebanon, Kv.. Nov. 18. 

1862. 
.Arnold, Alvin, Newberg, e. Aug. 13, 1862 ; 

trans, to Vet. Res. Corps. 
.\rnold. Robert, Volinia, e. Aug. 11, 1862; 

m. o. July I, i86s. 
Baldwin, Thomas, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 5, 

1862; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Dunbar, George W.. Milton, e. .\ug. 13. 

1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Finch, Mathew, Volinia, e. Aug. 10. 1862; 

dis. for disability May i. 1863. 
Ferris, Albert P. Volinia, e. Aug. 11, 

1862 : dis. by order May 3. 1865. 
Garwood. Levi J., Volinia, e. Aug. 2. 

1862: dis. by order June 29. 1865. 
Higgins. George W.. Dowagiac, e. July 

26, 1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Haight. Horatio. Marcellus, e. Aug. 7. 

1862: m. o. July I, 1865. 
Hoyt, Henry. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 2, 1862; 

died of disease at Nashville. Dec. 26. 

1S62. 
Huff, Simon. Volinia. e. Aug. 15. 1862: 

m. o. July I. 1865. 
Humiston, Perry, e. Aug. 8, 1862; m. o. 

July I, 1865, 
Jaquavs. William, Volinia. e. -'Vug. I3- 

1S62; transferred to Vet. Res. Corps 

Jan. 15. 1864. 
Little. John H.. Volinia, e. Aug. 6. 1S62; 

dis. for disability Feb. 11, 1863. 
Northrup, Freeman G., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

6. 1862: died of disease at Mitchellville. 

Tenn.. Nov. 22, 1862. 
Parks, Tames, Dowagiac. e. Aug. 6. 1862: 

dis. by order April 28. 1865. 
Pond, Wesley D., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 9. 

1862; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Quick. Robert I.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 6, 

1862 ; dis for disability Feb. 4, 1863. 
Rankin, John F.. Dowagiac, e. .\ug. 12, 

1862; m. o. July I, 1865. 



316 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Shaiiahaii, Henry, c. Ails'. 12, 1862; 111. o. 

July I, 1865. 
Southvvorth, George AL, Volinia, e. Aug. 

11, 1862; m. o. July I. 1S65. 
Sweetland, James M.. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

7, 1862; dis. for disability Jan. 7, 1863. 
Swcelland, John B., Edwardsburg, e. Aug. 

12, 1862; dis. by order to appointment 
as United States Medical Cadet Sept. 
20. 1863. 

Taylor, Nelson, m. o. July i, 1865. 

Thompson, Benjamin F.. Milton, e. Aug. 
15, 1862; prom, to Corp. 1863. after the 
battle of Stone Kiver; dis. for disabil- 
ity Nov. II, 1864. 

Tharp, John L.. Penn, e. Aug. g. 1862 ; 
dis. for disability March 25, 1864. 

Van Tuyl. John. Dowagiac, e. Aug. 8. 
1862 ; m. o. July i, 1865. 

Vaughn. Dewitt C, Calvin, e. \usi. 6, 
1862; died of disease in Indian,! March 
18, 1863. 



Welch, Michael, La Grange, e. Aug. 5, 

1862 ; died in rebel prison Richmond, 

Va., Dec. 18, 1862. 
Welcher, Sherman B., Volinia, e. Aug. 

6, 1862 ; died of disease at Woodson- 

ville, Ky., Dec. — , 1862. 
Wilson. Samuel, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 6, 

18O2 ; m. o. July I, 1865. 

RECRUITS — UNASSIGNED. 

Brown, Simeon, Wayne, e. Nov. 18, 1863. 
Day. Robert B., Wayne, e. Dec. 21, 1863. 
Rigin. Thomas. I\Iason, e. Nov. 3, 1863. 
Ross. William. Silver Creek, e.' Dec. 23, 

1S63. 
Randall, Charles. Silver Creek, e. Aug. 30, 



Shoemaker, Franklin C, Penn, 

23., 1863. 
Williams, Leonard W., Penn, e. 

1863. 



Dec. 



FIFTH REGlMJiNT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY 



FIELD ANll ST.\FF. 

Surg. Sylvester L. Morris, Dowagiac, 
Oct. 2^, 1S63 ; Assistant Surgeon Sept. 
3, 1S63 ; resigned July 28, 1864. 

C0MP.\NY D. 

Dean. Edward, La Grange, e. Jan. 23, 
1865; transferred to ist Michigan Cav- 
alry. 

Randall, Wesley C, Jefferson, e. i\Iarch 
13. 1S65 ; m. o. May ig, 1866. 

Shilling, Lemuel C, Volinia. e. March 15. 
1865 ; m. o. Jan. 9, 1866. 



CoMI'.\NY H. 

King. Franklin T.. La Grange, e. Jan. 6, 



1865 ; 
airy. 

Hiiyck, 
1865 
alrv. 



transferred t(.i 1st Michigan Cav- 

C0MP.\NV K. 
.Mva H., Volinia, e. March 15, 
transferred to 7th Michigan Cav- 



COMPANY M. 
Harrington, Silas, Silver Creek, e. Feb. 
17. 1865; transferred to 7th Michigan 
Cavalry. 



SIXTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. 



Company E. 
Savage. Frank, Marcellus. c. March 31, 
1S65 : m. o. Feb. 16, 1866. 

Company G. 
Branch. Arthur R.. Silver Creek, e. March 

7, 1865 ; m. o. Feb. 16, 1866. 
Nearpass, Ira N., Newberg, e. March 31, 

1865 ; m. o. May i6„ 1866. 

Company K. 
Potts, James H., Silver Creek, e. March 
10. 1865; m. o. March 31. 1866. 

Company L. 
Bliss, Edwin S., Newberg. e. Jan. 26. 
1864; m. o. May 30. 1865. 



Dewev. Orlando, Marcellus; m. o. March 

25, "1866. 
Kilmer, George F., Penn. e. Feb. 11, 

1864 ; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Mathers, William, Silver Creek, e. Feb. 

17. 1865; m. o. March 10, 1866. 

Company M. 

Cole, Hiram G., Jefferson, c. Feb. 6. 1865; 

m. o. Feb. 8, 1866. 
Deline, Frank H., Calvin, c. Feb. 6, 1865 ; 

died of disease at St. Louis, Mo., June 

24. 1865. 



-SEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. 

Company A. Cmcker. William A.. Jeft'erson, e. Sept. 

.Mexander. Samuel, Jefferson, e. Sept. 9, g. 1862; trans, to Invalid Corps Sept. 

1862 ; missing in action. 10. 1863. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



317 



Collins, Joseph E., Pokagon, e. Sept. 12, 

1862 ; died at Alexandria, V'a., Jan. 12, 

1864. 
Foster, Zach. ; trans, to ist Mich. Cav. 
Harrison, Jesse, Jefferson, e. Sept. 9. 

1862; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps April 

10, 1864. 
Henderson, William, jNIilton. e. Dec. 29, 

1862 ; m. o. June 7, 1865. 
Huyck, John. 
Maloy, Thomas, Pokagon, e. Sept. 29, 

1862; m. o. Dec. 15. 1865. 
Milliman, Samuel, Pokagon. e. Sept. iS, 

T862. 
Nelson, Walter, Pokagon, e. Sept. 29, 



1862; died in battle at Gettysburg, Pa., 

July 3, 1863. 
Peck, George P., Jefferson, e. Sept. 9, 

1862 ; dis. for disability Nov. 25. 1862. 
Richardson, Varnum, Pokagon, e. Sept. 

IS. 1862; dis. for disability .March 28. 

1863. 
Smith, Thomas J.. Milton, e. Dec. 25, 

1S62; ni. o. July 6, 1865. 
Stout, John. Alilton; m. o. Dec. 15. 1865. 
Wortler. George A.. Milton, e. Dec. 27, 

1862. 

COMI'ANV I. 

Irwin, Andrew; m. o.. Dec. 15, 1865. 



NINTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. 



FIELD AND STAFF. 

Chaplain John Fletcher. Edwardsburg, 
Aug. 23, 1864; m. o. July 21, 1865. 

Company L. 

Capt. George Miller, Pokagon, Nov. 3, 
1862 ; resigned March 12, 1864. 

Commissary Sergt. James F. Prater, 
Wayne, e. Dec. 12. 1862 ; prom. Regi- 
mental Commissary Sergt. May I, 1864; 
m. o. July 21, 1865. 

Sergt. Henry L. Barney, Wayne, e. Dec. i. 
1862 ; prom, in U. S. Cav. Troops. 

Sergt. Clagon Dunham, Volinia, e. Dec. 
28, 1862 ; m. o. June 30, 1863. 

Corp. Martin Quinlan, Volinia. e. Jan. 10, 
1863; m. o. July 21, 1865. 

Teamster John C)yler. Pokagon, e. Nov. 
12, 1862; m. o. Dec. 5. 1865. 

Barrett, George, Wayne, e. Dec. 28, 1862 ; 
m. o. June 13, 1865. 

Blackman, Jerome, Dovvagiac, e. March 
24, 1863; m. o. July 21, 1865. 

Brownell. William, Wayne, e. Dec. 27, 
1862 ; m. o. May 27, 1865. 



Ellsworth. Daniel. Howard, e. Jan. i, 

1863; dis. for disability June 9, 1865. 
Elliott, P'ranklin, Jefferson, e. Jan. i, 1863; 

died in rebel prison at Richmond, Va., 

Feb. 17, 1864. 
Garrigan. John, Volinia, e. Dec. 18, 1862; 

died in rebel prison pen, Andersonville, 

Ga., June 19. 1864. 
Kelly, Edgar D., Wayne, e. Dec. 13. 1862 ; 

m. o. July 21, 1S65. 
Rose. John H., Dowagiac, e. April 2;i„ 

1863; dis. for disability June 9, 1865. 
Smith, Judson, Wayne, e. Jan. 12, 1863 ; 

m. o. July 21, 1865. 
Smith, Henry, Silver Creek, e. Jan. 12, 

1863; died of disease in Tennessee. Dec. 

27. 1863. 
Travis, Ezekiel, Wayne, e. Nov. 11. 1S62; 

m. o. Dec. 5. 1S65. 
Ovcrbeck, Augustus, Volinia, e. Jan. 8, 

1863 ; died at Dandridge, Tennessee, 

Dec. 15, 1863. 
Williams, James A.. Corp.. Penn, e. Dec. 

29. 1862; m. o. July 21, 1865. 
Davis, M. Barney. 
Willis I!arncv. 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIG.\N VOLUNTEER CAVALRY. 



Company G. 
Canning, George, Marcellus, e. Nov. 5. 
1863; m. o. Nov. 2, 1865. 

Company I. 
Allen, William H„ Penn, e. Sept. 19, 

1863; m. o. May 17, 1865. 
Canning. Thomas, Marcellus, e. Sept. 19. 

1863; m. o. Aug. 24. 1865. 
Lettick. William, La Grange, e. Dec. 7, 

1863 ; m. o. Sept. 22, 1865. 

CoMP.\Ny K. 
Sergt. Horace R. Brown, Ontwa, e. Sept. 
22, 186^ ; died of disease at Lexington, 
Ky., July 8, 1864. 



Blackburn, Thomas, Ontwa, e, Nov. 2, 

1863; m. o. Sept. 22. 1865, 
Blue, Erwin, Ontwa, e. Nov. 2. 1863; 

killed by accident at Shelbyville, Ky., 

July 17, T864. 
Brown, Carlton, Ontwa, e. Sept. 30, 1863 ; 

m. o. July 18, 1865. 
Lofand, Joshua. Ontwa, e. Sept. i, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 22, 1865. 
Farrier William W. Marr. Ontwa. e. 

Sept. 22, 1863; m. o. Sept. 22, 1S65. 
Saddler Albert R. Raymond, Ontwa. e. 

Oct. 9, 1863; m. o. Sept. 22, 1865. 
Shideler, George, Ontwa, e. Oct. 26. 

1863: m. o. Sept. 22, 1865. 
Shiar, Alonzo S., Ontwa, e. Sept. 22, 1S63 ; 



318 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



died of di'icase nt AshUiiid. Ky., July Steele, John S., Ontvva, c. Oct. 14. 186.5; 

It, 1864. m. o. Sept. 22, 1865. 

Stark. Edward. Silver Creek, e. Sept. 10, Farrier Wieling. Jacob II., Silver Creek, 

1863; ni. o. Oct. 9, 1865. e. Sept. 10, 1863; m. o. Sept. 22. 18G5. 



FIRST MICHIGAN LIGHT ARTILLERY. 



Battery A. 

Second Lieut. George J. Nash. Volinia. 

e. March 6, 1865 ; m. o. July 28, 1865. 
Hanning. Samuel ; m. o. July 28, 1865. 
Hickox, .William H., La Grange, e. Dec. 

30. 1863 ; m. o. July 28, 1865. 
Mesler, William, La Grange, e. Dec. 25. 

1863 ; m. o. July 28, 1865. 
Williams. Levi P., Porter, e. Feb. 9, 1863 ; 

ni. o. July 28, 1865. 



Battery E. 
-•\bbott. Seneca W.. Ontvva. e. Sept. 5. 
1864 : m. o. Aug. 30, 1865. 
Battery F. 
Norris, Webb; m. o. iNlay 6. 1865. 

Battery G. 

Smith, Horace, Sergt., Adanisville, e. Nov. 

23, 1861 ; dis. for disability Aug. 25, 

1863. 

Wickerly, David, e. Dec. 15. 1861 ; dis. 

for disability July 28, 1862. 



FOURTEENTH BATTERY. 



privates. 
Armstrong. Benjamin F., Pokagon, e. 

Sept. 17, 1863; dis. for disability May 

15. 1S65. 
Arnold, Edward R., Corp., A'olinia. e. Oct. 

9. 1863; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Barney, Myron F., Newberg. e. Sept. 7. 

1863; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Blanchard, George L., Pokagon, e. Sept. 

5, 1864; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Burnham, Charles M., Jefferson, e. Dec. 

31, 1863; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Canfield, Washington B., Marcellus. e. 

Sept. 17, 1863; dis. for disability Jan. 

12. i86s. 
Crane, Judson J., Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 

1864; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Day, Alexander P., Volinia, e. Sept. 3, 

1864: m. o. July I, 1865. 
Davis, Charles J.. Newberg. e. Sept. 7, 

1863; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Drake, George S., New-berg. e. Oct. 3, 

1863: m. o. July 1, 1865. 
Goff. William H.. Penn, e. Sept. 4, 1863; 

m. o. July I, 1865. 
Goff, Stephen C. Penn, e. Sept. 3. T864; 

tn. o. July I, 1865. 
Goff, Sylvester J., Volinia, e. Sept. 3, 

1864; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Goodrich, George, Pokagon, e. Sept. 5, 

1864; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Harwood, William M., Penn, e. Aug. 29. 

1864; m. o. July I. 1865. 
HoUoway, Charles, Newberg, e, Sept. 12, 

1863; m. o. July I, 1865. 



Holloway. William, Penn, e. Aug. 25, 

1864; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Hutchings, William W., Newberg, e. Sept. 

26. 1863; died of disease at Washington. 

D. C. March 21, 1864. 
Lemon, John F., Penn. e. Sept. i. 1864; 

m. o. July I, 1865. 
Martin, Robert N., Penn. e. Sept. 5, 

1863 ; dis. for disability Nov. 23, 1864. 
Murphy, William, Jefferson, e. Jan. 2. 

1864; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Patrick, Christopher, Corp., Marcellus, e. 

Sept. 7, 1863; m. 0. July I, 1865. 
Pemberton, Eliphalet. iMarcellus. e. Oct. 3, 

1863; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Pound, Lsaac S., Pokagon, e. Sept. i, 

1864; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Rudd, Baruk L., Newberg, e. Sept. g, 

1863 ; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Shoemaker, Frank C, Pokagon, e. Aug. 

30, 1864; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Skinner, James R., Marcellus, e. Oct. 2, 

1863 ; m. o. July I, 1865. 
Skinner. Harrison H.. Marcellus. dis. for 

disability Dec. 6, 1864. 
Tompkins. Melvin R., Newberg, e. Sept. 

26, 1863; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Turengo. Andrew. Jefferson, e. Jan. 4. 

1864; m. o. July I. 1865. 
Vincent, Henry, Volinia, e. Oct. 2, 1863 ; 

m. o. July I, 1865. 
Wetherell, Smith D., Corp., Volinia, e. 

Nov. 5, 1863; m. o. July i. 1865. 
Wilsey, Erasmus, Marcellus, e. Sept. 10, 

1864; m. o. July I. 1865. 



FIRST REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Company F. 
Sergt. Frank Upson, Howard, e. July 17. 



i8fil : died in action at Gaines' Mills 
Jime 2T. 1862. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



31!) 



SECOND REGIMEXT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Company E. 
Corp. Joel Cowgill, Calvin, e. May 25, 

1861 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps July i, 

1863. 
Sergt. John S. Gliddon, e. May 21, 1861 ; 

vet. Dec. 31, 1863 ; dis. by order Sept. 

15. 1864. 
Private William Jackson, Jefferson, e. 

May 25, t86i ; vet. Dec. 31, 1863; ni. o. 

July 28, 1865. 



Sergt. Benjamin F. Lee, Ontwa. e. May 

25, 1861 ; died May 18, 1S62, of wounds 

received at Williamsburg. 
Corp. Henry Meacham, Ontwa, e. May 

25. 1861 : trans, to Vet. Res. Corps Feb. 

IS. 1864. 

Company I. 

Coleman, Francis A., Wayne, e. Feb. 21, 
1S65 : dis. by order June 15, 1865. 



FIFTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Company A. Company D. 

Haigh, William, e. Aug. 28. 1861 ; vet. Stamp. E. 11, Porter, e. Sept. 18, 1862 ; 



Dec. 15, 1863 



m. o. June 3, 



SEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Assistant Surgeon Cyrus Bacon, Ontwa, 
enrolled June 19, 1861, at Fort Wayne 
(near Detroit), Mich.; mustered in 



Aug. 22, 1861 ; resigned JNIay 6, :862 ; 
appointed Ass't Surgeon of Regular 
Army July 3, 1862; died Sept. i, 1868. 



EIGHTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Dec. 22, 1863 ; 



Company A. 
Grant, William. Pokagon. e. Dec. 21, 
1863 ; died in action near Petersburg. 



\'a.. June 27, 1864. 

Lane. Thomas. Milton. 

m. o. July 30, 1865. 



NINTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Company A. 

Ayres, Sylvester B., Howard, e. Oct. i. 

1S64; dis. by order June 20, 1865. 

Company B. 

Dougherty, Thomas, Howard, e. Sept. 29, 

1864; dis. by order June 20, 1865. 
Hedger. Charles W.. Pokagon. e. Feb. g. 

1865; m. o. Sept. 15, 1865. 
Kelly. Ethan. La Grange, e. March 17. 

1865 : dis. by order Aug. 10, 1S65. 
Mater. John, e. 1861 ; dis. 1862 ; re-e. in 
same company, and finally dis. Sept. 26, 
1863. 

Company C. 
Fisher. Francis. Porter, e. Oct. I, 1864; m. 
o. June 20. 1865. 

Company D. 
Bender, Joseph D., Newberg, e. April 5. 
1865; m. o. Sept. IS, i86s. 



Sept. 3, 



Hendricks. Clark, Pokagon 

1864: m. o. June 20, 1865. 
Higgins, Charles J.. Pokagon. e. Sept. 3. 

1864; m. o. June 20, 1865. 

Co^rpANV G. 

Cole. Brayton I\I.. La Grange, e. March 

25. 1865; IV.. o. Sept. 15, 1865. 
Myers. William. Silver Creek, e. October 

4. 1864 ; absent sick at m. o. 

Company H. 

Saltsgiver. Henry, Porter, c. Oct. 3, 1864; 
m. o. Sept. 15. 1S65. 

Company L 

Thompson. John B., Howard, e. Sept. 30, 
1864 : m. o. June 20. 1865. 



TENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTR\\ 



Company C. 
Ayers, Thomas B., Porter, e. Oct. 27, 

1864; m. o. July 19. 1865. 
Barker, Peter, Marcellus, e. Oct. 31, 1864; 

m. o. July 19, 1865. 
Brown, William A., Calvin, e. Nov. 2, 

1864; m. o. July ig, 1865. 



Company E. 
Baer, Westell. Marcellus, e. Oct. 20, 1864; 
m. o. July 19, l86s. 

Company K. 
Philips, John, Newberg, e. Jan. 17. 1864; 
m. o. July 19. 1865. 



320 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



ELEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY (oLD). 



Company C. 
Angle, John A., Wayne, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; 

died of disease at Bardstown, Ky., 

March 20, 1862, 
Beardsley, EHsha L., e. Nov. 22, 1861 ; 

died of disease at Bardstown, Ky., June 

31, 1862. 
Birdgett. John, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. for 

disability Sept. 15, 1862. 
Farnhani, John B., Ontwa, e. Aug. 24, 

i86i ; died of disease at Bardstown. Ky., 

Feb. 6. 1862. 

Company D. 
Hathaway, Henry C, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; 

absent sick at m. o. 
Lucas, William H., e. Aug. 24, 1861 : killed 

at Stone River. 
O'Connor. Cyrus W., e. Aug. 24. 1861 ; 

dis. at end of service Sept. 30, 1864. 
Philips, William J., e. Aug. 24. 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 30. 1864. 

COMPANV E. 
Corp. David Klase. 

PRIV.ATES. 

Baldwin. Daniel, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; died of 

wounds near Atlanta. Ga.. Aug. 7, 1864. 
Blakely. Thomas L., e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; 

dis. for disability Aug. 4, 1862. 
Booth, Zeivala, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Sept. 30, 1864. 
Chamberlain, William L., e. Aug. 24, 

1S61 ; dis. at end of service Sept. 30, 

1864. 
Haines, James L.. dis. at end of service. 
Latham, Kneeland, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. 

by order July i, 1863. 
Milliman, Bryant, dis. at end of service. 
Mullen, Sidney S., e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 30, 1864. 
Nottingham. Judson, dis. at end of serv- 
ice Sept. 30, 1864. 
Poorman. John, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Sept. ,30, 1864. 

ELEVENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY (NEW.) 

Company E. F., e. March , ; m. o. Sept 

Sergt. Joel Cowgill, Calvin, e. March 9, 

1S65; m. o. Sept. 16, 1865. 
Musician Charles E. Deal, La Grange, Co. 



Quay, George W., e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; died 

near Atlanta, Ga., of wounds Aug 7, 

1864. 
Ryan, James N. C, e. Aug. 24. 1861 ; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 30, 1864. 
Schug. Emanuel, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. 

at. end of service Sept. 30. 1864. 
Schug. William F.. e. Aug. 24. 1861 ; trans. 

to Vet. Res. Corps Nov. 15. 1863. 
Shoemaker, Samuel S.. dis. for disability. 
Smith, Cyrus, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. at 

end of service Sept. 30, 1864. 
Tayler, George, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; died of 

disease at Bardstown, Kv., Feb. s. 

1862. 
'Iliompson, Smith, e. Aug. 24, 1861 ; dis. 

for disability Sept., 1861. 
Vanordstrand, John, e. Aug. 24, 1S61 ; dis. 

at end of service Sept. 30, 1864. 
Van Valkenburg, Benjamin, e. Aug. 24, 

1S61 : dis. at end of service Sept. 30. 

1864. 
Vanordstrand. Jerome P.. Sergt.. c. Aug. 

24. 1861 ; dis. at end of service Sept. 1,0. 

1.864. 

Company G. 
Bryan, James, dis. at end of service Sept. 

30, 1864. 
Bryan. Moses, died of wounds at Chat- 

tanoo.ga. Tenn.. Sept. 15. 1863. 
Granger. Chauncev. dis. for disabilitv June 

8, 1864. 
Haines. James L.. di; 

Sept. 26, 1864. 
Higgins, Thomas W 

March 18, 1862. 
Nichols, Charles N., dis. at end of service 

Sept. 30, 1864. 
Nichols, James O.. died at Chickamauga. 

Tenn.. Sept. 20, 1863. 
Scott, Lorenzo H.. dis. at end of service 

Sept. 30, 1864. 
.Skinner. Harrison H.. Corp.. dis. for dis- 
ability Feb. 15. 1862. 



16. 1865. 
Musician Elam Dacy. La Grange ; Co. F., 
e. ; m. o. Sept. 16. T865. 



at end of service 
died of disease 



THIRTEENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Company A. 
Beamau, Marvin D., Penn, e. Feb. 29, 

T864; m. o. July 25, 1865. 
Woliver, Philander J., Marcellus. e. Dec. 

3, 1863; Corp.; m. o. July 25, 1865. 



Company C. 
Blood. Charles H.. Volinia, e. Feb. 26, 

1864; m. o. July 25, 1865. 
Blood, George A.. Volinia, e. Jan. 2, 

1862: vet. Jan. 18. 1864: m. o. July 25. 

1865. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



321 



Dailey, William S., Porter, e. 
1861 ; vet. Jan. 18, 1864 ; m. 



Dec. 13, 
July 25, 



Haefner, Christian G., Volinia. e. Feb. 27, 

1864; m. o. July 2$, 1865. 
Jacquays, Smith C, Volinia. e. Feb. 26, 

1S64; died of disease at Philadelphia 

May 20, 1865. 
Johnson, Henry M., Porter, e. Dec. 13, 

1861 ; died of disease at Danville, Ky., 

Nov. 20, 1862. 

Company E. 
Brown, William H., Pokagnn, e. Feb. 29, 

1S64; m. o. 
Caldwell, William W., Pokagon, e. Oct. 

22, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 18. 1864; m. o. Jnly 

25, 1865, 
Crego, Hilance J., Poka.gon, e. Oct. 22, 

1861 ; dis. by order April 16. 1863. 
Fluallen. Simon E., Corp. Sergt., e. Oct. 

22, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 18, 1864: m. o. Jnly 

25, 1865. 
Hazen. Charles, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 27, 

1861 : dis. for disability Sept. 20, 1862. 
Hnngerford, Calvin A., Dowagiac, e. Oct. 

22, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 18. 1864; m. o. Jnly 

25, 1865. 
Hnngerford, Mason. Dowagiac. e. Oct. 22, 

1861 ; m. o. at end of .service Jan. 16, 

1865. 
Hntson, Edward R., Dowagiac, e. Oct. 

22, 1861 ; vet. Jan. 18, 1864; m. o. Jnly 

25, 1865. 



Kegley, William, Dowagiac. e. Oct. 2 

1861 ; vet. Jan. 18, 1864; m. o. Jnly 2 

1865. 

Lewis, Ephraim, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 2 

1861 ; vet. Jan. iS. 1864: m. o. Jnly 2 

1865. 
Moody, Loren, Dowagiac, e. Oct. 2. 

1S61 ; vet. Jan. 18, 1864; m. o. Jnly 25 

1865. 

C0MP.\NY G. 

Clendenning, James, e. Dec. 13, 1S61 ; dis. 

for disability Oct. 29, 1863." 
Roy, William G., Penn, e. Dec. 12, 1861 ; 

vet. Jan. 18, 1864; Sergt.; m.. o. Jnly 

25, 1865. 
Salter. James, e. Dec. 12, 1861 ; vet. Feb. 

13, 1864: dis. by order June 20, 1865. 
Salter, Silas, e. Dec. 12, 1861 ; dis. for 

disability Sept. 12, 1862. 
Weist, William F.. Dowagiac, e. Oct. 22, 

1861 : dis. for disability Nov. 23, 1863. 

CoilP.\NY H. 

Campbell. Seth R.. Silver Creek, e. Feb. 

27, 1865: m. o. Jnly 25. 1865. 
Wright. Gilbert, Silver Creek, c. Feb. 27. 

1865 : 111. o. July 25, 1865. 

COMP.VNV K. 

Wait, Byron, Jefferson, e. Feb. 
died of disease at Louisville, 
I, 1865. 



3. 1865 ; 
Ky., July 



FOURTEENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INF.\NTRY, 



Company B. 

Austin, Harvey H., e. Nov. 25, 1S61 ; vet. 

Jan. 4, 1864. 
Cope, Jacob, e. Oct. 5. 1861 ; dis. at end 

of service. 
Eaton, Abner, e. Dec. 18, 1861 ; dis. for 

disability Jan. 10, 1863. 
Garner, Henry, Porter, e. Nov. 28, 1861 ; 

vet. Jan. 4, 1864; m. o. July t8. 1865. 
Moore, Jared C, m. o. July 18, 1865. 
Morse. Albert J., e. Jan. 2. 1862; vet. Jan. 

4, 1864; m. o. July 18, 1865. 
Stewart. James A., vet. Jan. 4, 1S64; m. o. 

Jnly 18, 1865, 



Company E. 

Calkins, Thomas J., Porter, 
1864; m. o. Jnly 18. 1865.. 



Sept. 



Company F. 

Wilson, John, m. o. July iS, 1S65. 
Zimmerman. ^lichael. Porter, e. Sept. 27. 
1865; m. o. July 18. 1865. 



CojtPANY L 

, George. Porter, e. Sept. 
July 18. 1865. 



FIFTEENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 
Company A. 



1S64; 



1864 ; 



Fields, Alonzo, Porter, e. Sept. 27, 1864; 

dis. by order May 30, 1865. 
Company B. 
Bovet, Leon, Volinia, e. May 27. 1865; 

m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Leitz, Joel B., Marcellus, e. Oct. 22, 

1864; died of disease at Alexandria, Va.. 

June 3, 1865. 



Mowry, Jacob, Marcellus, e. Oct. 
dis. by order Sept. 11. 1865. 

Company C. 
Hice, John, Volinia, e. March 18. 1865; 

m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Park, John, Calvin, e. Nov. .so, 1864 ; dis. 

by order Aug. 2. 1865. 
Parsons, Ezra. Calvin, e. Oct. 22, 1S64 ; 

m. o. Aug. 13. 1865. 



322 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



1S04; 



1864; m. 
18. 1865; 
Nov. 4, 



Racey, Rubert.. Millon, c. Oct. 22 

dis. by order June 25, 1865. 
Sampson, John, Calvin, e. Oct. 21, 1864; 

m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 

C0MP.\NV D. 
Adams, John, Porter, e. Oct. 22, 

o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Daniels, John, Volinia, e. Alarcli 

m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Dunn, Anson L., Newberg, e, 

1864; m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Wagner, John, Calvin, e. Dec. 5, 1864; m. 

o. Aug. 13, 1865. 

CoMP.\NV E. 
Descartes, Peter, dis. at end of service 

Jan. 28, 1S65. 
De Witt, James, Dovvagiac, e. Dec. 23, 

1861 ; dis. for disability May 19, 1862. 
Doherty, Charles, dis. at end of service 

Jan. 28, 1865. 
Ducat, Duffy, dis. by order July 21, 1865. 
Gee, Alexander, m. o. Aug. 9, 1865. 
Girardin, Richard, dis. by order Sept. 9, 

1865- 
Greenwood, Anthony, dis. for disability 

July o, 1862. 
Johnson, Fred, Dowagiac, e. Dec. 21, 

1861 ; vet. Jan. 25. 1864; dis. by order 

Aug. 5, 1865. 
Kelly. John, m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Littlejohn, William, dis. for disability 

Aug. 3, 1862. 
Logan, John, dis. for disability ."^ug. 3, 

1862. 



for disability 



at end of service Ja 



Mclaggart, Archibald, di 

Aug. 3, 1862. 
Nephew, .\nthony, dis. for disability Aug 

II, 1862. 
Nye, Theo., di 

28, 1865. 
Walustrand, Julius, Marcellus, e. Oct. 22, 

1864; m. o. .\ug. 13, 1865. 

C0MP.\NY G. 

East, .-Mva. Porter, e. Oct. 10, 1864; died 

of disease at Baltimore, Md., Feb 21 

1865. 

Company H. 
Harder, James E., Howard, 

1865; in. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Honeywell, Newell, Howard, e. Oct. 6, 

1864; m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Howard, John F.. Howard, e. April i, 

1865; m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Hudson, William, Howard, e. April i, 

1S65 ; m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Johnson, John S., m. o. Aug. 13, 1865. 
Root, John W.. Volinia. e. March 18, 

1865 ; dis. by order Sept. 20, 1865. 

Co.MP.ANV I. 
Bell, Edward B., e. Feb. 5. 1862; died of 

disease at Griffith's Landing. Miss , Oct 

3. 1863. 
Joshn, Hiram, Newberg, e. Feb. 16, 1862; 

dis. for disability Aug. 25. 1862. 

Company K. 
Hogeboom. Cornelius P.. m 
1865. 



March 18, 



Aug. 13, 



SIXTEENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 
Company C. Company K. 

Rapp, George. Volinia. e. Tan., 1865; m. o. Prebamsky, Frank. Volinia. e. March 30, 
July 8, 1865. 1865 ; m. o. July 8, 1865. 

SEVENTEENTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Company B. 

Dick. William M., Howard, e. July 2, 
1862 ; ni. o. June 3, 1865. 

Doan, Thomas R., Howard, e. Aug. 3, 
1862; killed on Mississippi River by ex- 
plosion .A.pril 28, 1865. 

Earl. Levi F.. Howard, e. Aug. 2, 1862. 

Foote, John M.. Howard, e. Aug. 5, 1862; 
trans, to Vet. Res. Corps Dec. 15, 
1863. 

Harder. Tunis J., Howard, e. Aug. 5, 
1862 ; m. o. June 3, 1865. 

TWENTY-FOURTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Company A. Hunt. Henry H., Porter, e. March 9. 

Bowen, Henry H., Porter, e. Feb. 27, 



Kenyon, Varnum. Howard, e. Aug. 6, 

1862; died of disease at Fredericksburg, 

Va., Feb. S, 1863. 
Kenyon. Jesse A.. Howard, e. Aug. 6, 

1862; died of wounds at Washington 

Dec. 16, 1862. 
Schell, George D., Howard, e. Aug. I, 

1862 ; dis. by order June 16, 1865. 
Taylor. Fred. Howard, e. Aug. 7, 1862; 

dis. for disability Dec. S. 1862. 



1865 ; m. o. June 30. 1865. 

Goldsmith, I-Ienry, Porter. 

1865: ni. o. June 30, 1865. 



Feb. 27, 



1S65; m. o. June 30. 1865. 
Lubbow. William. Porter, e. March 7. 
1865; m o. June 30. 1865. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



■6-23 



Powers, William, Porter, e. March i, 

1SO5; m. o. June 30, 1SO5. 
Preston, Wintield 6., Porter, e. March 5, 

1SO5; 111. o. June 30, x8t)j. 
Rinehart, Nathan, Porter, e. Peb. 27, 

1865 ; m. o. J une 30, 1805. 
Stearns, Warren S., Porter, e. P"eb. 27, 

1805; 111. o. June 30, 18O5. 
Story, Milton, Porter, e. Peb. 2/, 18O5 ; 

ni. o. June 30, 1865. 
Story, William A., Porter, e. Feb. 27, 

1865; m. o. June 30, 18O5. 
Stout, Stephen S., Porter, e. March g, 

1865 ; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Sutton, John W., Porter, e. P'eb. 28, 1865 ; 

ni. o. June 30, 1865. 
Sutton, Joshua L., Porter, e. P'eb. 27, 

1865; ill. o. June 30, 1865. 
Weaver, William H., Milton, e. March 15, 

1865; in. o. June 30, 1865. 
Williams, Charles H., Porter, e. Feb. 27, 

1865 ; 111. o. June 30, 1865. 

Company B. 
Bell, John P., iMilton, e. Aug. 25, 1864; 
111. o. June 30, 1865. 

Company C. 
Avery, Charles, Porter, e. March 5, 1865; 

111. o. June 30, 1865. 
Calkins, Henry H., Porter, e. Feb. 21, 

1865; 111. o. June 30, 1865. 
Hilton, Hiram, Porter, e. Feb. 27, 1865 ; 

111. o. June 30, 1865. 
Jessup, A. H., Porter, m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Kyle, J. C, Porter, 111. o. June 30, 1865. 
Kyle, A. R., Porter, ni. o. June 30, 1865. 

Company E. 
Averill, Pliny T., Penn, e. March 16, 
1865 ; m. o. June 30, 1865. 



Blaiichard, Bradford, Pokagon, e. March 

^ 7, i805 ; m. o. J une 30, 18O5. 

Curtis, George, Untua, e. bept. 5, 18O4; 

died 01 disease at Chicago, HI., March 

15, 18O5. 
Kenyon, Hiram, Pokagon, e. Alarch 10, 

1805; 111. o. June 30, x8t)5. 
McKiiistry, Charles, Pokagon, e. March 7, 

iJSOj ; m. o. J une 30, 1805. 
Parker, Augustus N., Pokagon, e. March 

13, i86s ; 111. o. June 30, 1865. 
Parker, William H., Jr'okagon, e. iMarcli 

7, 1805; m. o. June 30, 1805. 
Penrod, Nathan, Penn, e. March lO, 1865; 

111. o. June 30, 1865. 
Steinbeck, Aiorgan, xMilton, e. Aug. lO, 

18O4; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Witherell, Duane, Pokagon, e. iMarch 7, 

18O5; m. u. June 30, 18O5. 

Company P". 
Van I'uyl, George, ni. o. June 30, 18O5. 

Company H. 
Hodges, Benjamin, Penn, e. March lO, 

18D5; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Rea, John, Penn, e. March lb, 18O5 ; m. 

o. June 30, 1805. 
Share, Edwin, Milton, e. Sept. 12, 1804; 
111. o. June 30, 1805. 

Company K. 
Ames, Bela, in. o. June 30, 1865. 
Meacham, Oliver G., Porter, e. Feb. 2j, 

1805 ; in. o. June 30, 1865. 
Nickerson, Evert B., Mason, e. Feb. 2^, 

1865; 111. o. June 30, 1865. 
Reed, Otis, m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Reese, John M., Milton, e. Aug. 24, 1804; 

m. o. June 30, 1865. 



TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Co-mpany D. 

Sergt. Amos W. Poorman, Marcellus, e. 
Aug. 9, 1862; died of disease at Nash- 
ville, Tenn., June 13, 1864. 

Corp. Roswell Beebe, Marcellus, e. Aug. 
II, 1862; killed at Tcbbs' Bend, Ky., 
July 4, 1S63. 

PRIVATES. 

Babe, Bruce, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; 

m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Musician Joseph Beck, Newberg, e. Aug. 

15, 1862 ; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Musician Samuel P. Beck, Newberg, e. 

Aug. IS, 1862; dis. for disability Jan. 

6, 1863. 
Beebe, Gideon, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 

1862 ; dis. for disability March 4. 1S65. 
Butler, Ransom L., Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 

1862; dis. by order July 26, 1863. 



Kent, Daniel, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 1862; 

dis. by order March 19, 1863. 
McKibby, Daniel, Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 

1862; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Messenger, Edward, Marcellus, e. Aug. 

II, 1864; dis. for disability Feb. 5, 1863. 
Nottingham, Horace M., Marcellus, e. 

Aug. 8, 1862 ; m. o. 
Nottingham, Oscar H., Marcellus, e. Aug. 

8, 1862; died of disease at Bowling 

Green, Ky., March 14, 1863. 
Poorman, John A., Marcellus, e. Aug, II, 

1862 ; ni. o. June 24, 1865. 
Root, Jacob, Marcellus, e. Aug. 12, 1862 ; 

III. o. June 24, 1865. 

Shears, Martin. V., Marcellus, e. Aug. 11, 

1862 ; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Shoemaker. Samuel, Marcellus, e. Aug. 

II. 1862; m. o. June 28. 1865. 



32i 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Taylor, Charles A.. Marcellus, e. Aug. 1 1, 

1862 ; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Taylor. Timothy A., Marcellus, e. Aug. 

II. 1862; ni. o. May 13, 1865. 
Young-, Simon, Marcellus, e. Aug. !i, 

1862; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps Fed. i^, 

1864. 

C0MP.\NY E. 

Bristol, Luther, Milton, e. Sept. 6, 1864; 
m. o. June 24, 1865. 

Company F. 

Bement. George, Ontwa, e. Aug. 13. 1S62; 

m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Bradbury, Benjamin F., Dowagiac, e. Aug. 

1,3, 1S62: died of disease at Bedford. 

Ky., June 7, 1S63. 
Colby, Ira O., Ontwa. e. Aug. 13, 1862; 

died of disease at Mumfiirdsviile, Ky., 

Jan. I. 1863. 
Day. Perry U., Dowagiac. c. -\ng. 0, 

1862; died of wounds at Tunnel Hill, 

Ga., May 12, 1864. 
Goodrich, Levi C. Dowagiac, m. n. June 

24, 1865. 
Hastings, Justus H., Ontwa, e. Aug. 11, 

1862; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Loux, Edwin G., Ontwa, e. Aug. 13, 1862: 

m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Mears, John, Dowagiac, e. Aug. 11, 1S62; 

trans, to Vet. Res. Corps Feb. 15, 1S64. 



Meredith, Nathaniel, Ontwa, e. Aug. 13, 

1862; ni. o. June 14, 1865. 
McFaren, Henry, Ontwa, e. Aug. 13, 1862; 

ni'. o. June 24, 1865. 
Niblett, William E., Ontwa, e. Aug. ig, 

1862; ni. o. June 24, 1865. 
Rozclle, Joshua C, Ontwa, e. Aug. 13. 

1862; died of disease at Bowling Greeii. 

Ky., Feb. 25, 1863. 

Company G. 
Bows. William. Newberg. e. Aug. 21. 

1862 ; trans, to Vet. Res. Corps June g. 

1865. 
Bennian, William H., Newberg, e. Aug. 

22. 1862 ; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Bennett, John J., Porter, e. Au,g. 12, 1862 ; 

m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Bird, William, Newberg, e. .\ug. 21. 1S62: 

ni. o. June 24. 1865. 
Cook. Orlan P.. Newberg, e. Aug. 22, 

1862; dis. for disability Sept. 23, 1863. 
Crump, William, Marcellus, e. Aug. 22, 

1862 ; died of disease at Lebanon, Ky., 

.\pril 24. 1863. 
Kenney. Fernando. Newberg, e. Aug. 22. 

1862; m. o. June 24, 1865. 
Neumann. Louis. Newberg. e. Aug. 13. 

1862; m. o. June 24. 1865. 
Stickney. Sidney M., IMarcellus. e. Aug. 

22. 1S62 : died of disease at Louisville. 

Ky., Oct. ,w. 1862. 



TWENTY-EUniTH REGIMENT MICHIG.XN VOLUNTEER INF.XNTRY. 



FIELD AND STAFF. 

Lieut. Col. George T. Shaffer. Calvin, 
com. Dec. 10. 1864; Maj. com. .Aug. 15. 
1864; Brevet Col. and Brevet Brig. Gen. 
v. S. Volunteers. March 13. 1865. for 
gallant and meritorious services at bat- 
tles before .Atlanta, Ga., and al Wise 
Fork, N. C; m. o. June 5, 1866. 

Surg. .Alonzo Garwood, Cassopolis, com. 
Aug. 15, 1864; m. o. June 5, 1S66. 

Company A. ^ 

Sergt. Thomas J. Baunder, Volinia. e, 

Sept. I. 1864: m. o. June 7. 1865. 
Schooley. Henry. Volinia. e. Sept. 8. 1864; 

m. o. Jime 5. 1866. 

Company E. 
Averv, David C. Volinia. e. Sept, 7. 1864; 

m. o. May 4, 1865. 
Baird, John. Howard, e. Oct. iS. 1864; 

m. o. June 5, 1866. 
Baird. William S.. Howard, e. Oct. 17. 

1864; "1- o. June 5. 1S66. 
Davis, Low^ell, Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864; 

m. o. June 7, 1865. 
Emery. Robert. Volinia. e. Sept. t2, 1864: 

dis. for wounds June 30. 1S65. 



Pope, Lyman, A., m. o. .\ug. 16, i86^. 
Randall. William. Milton, e. Sept. .3. '1864; 
m. o. Alay 22. 1865. 

Co.MP.WY G. 

Blackman, David R., \'olinia, e. Sept. 15, 

1864 ; m. o. June 5, 1866. 
Delong, Henry, Pokagon, e. Sept. 3, 1864: 

ni. o. Jtme 5, 1866. 
Hill, Charles A., Jefferson, e. Sept. 2g. 

1864: m. o. May 31. 1865. 
Nichols. Tyler. Volinia. e. Sept. 5. 1864; 

m. o. June ig. 1865. 

Company H. 
Bates, Buel H., Penn. c. Aug. 22. 1864; 

m. o. May 29, 1865. 
Bogert. Cornelius. Penn. e. .^ug. 20, 1864: 

dis. by order May 27, 1865. 
Clendenning. H. AL T., Penn. e. Aug. 10. 

1S64; m. o. June 8. 1865. 
Deacon, Isaac, Volinia. e. Sept. 20. 1864 ; 

m. o. June 5. 1866. 
Kinney. Nelson, Corp.. Penn. e. ."Kug. 20. 

1864 ; m. o. June 5, 1866. 
North, Nathaniel. La Grange, e. .\usr, ,^0. 

1S64; died of disease at Charlotte, N. C. 

June 7, 1865. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



325 



North. Norman, La Grange, e. Aug. 30, 

1864; m. o. June 5. 1866. 
Patterson, James, 2d Lieut., Penn, e. Aug. 

23. 1864; died of disease at Alexandria, 

Va., Feb. 21, 1865. 
Peniberton, Nathan, Penn, e. Aug. 28, 

1864; m. o. June 5, 1866. 
Robinson, Edmund, died of disease at Da- 
vids Island, N. Y., April 16, 1865. 
Tappan, William E., Penn, e. Aug. 29, 

1S64; died of disease at Alexandria, 

Va., Feb. 4, 1865. 
Trill, George, Pokagon, e. Sept. i, 1864; 

died of disease at Ale.xandria, Va., Feb. 

12, 1S65. 



Company L 

Brj'ant, James, Milton, e. Sept. 16, 1S64; 

m. o. June 5, 1866. 
Freeman, Miles, Howard, e. Oct. 18, 

1864: m. o. May 30, 1865. 
Mitchell, Alonzo J.. Milton, e. Sept. 14, 

1864 ; m. o. Jan. g, 1866. 

Com p.^ NY K. 

Harris, r.enjamin S., Pokagon, e. Feb. 16, 

1865 ; m. o. May 30, 1865. 
Smith, Carlton, Pokagon, e. Feb. 16, 1865 ; 

m. o. Feb. 19, 1866. 



THIRTIETH REGIMENT MICHIGAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 



Company H. 
Harwood. Henry \V., Ontwa. e. Dec. 2, 

1864 ; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Harwood, Jacob W., Jefferson, e. Dec. 6, 

1864 ; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Hirons. Oliver C, Jefferson, e. Dec. 2. 

1864: m. o. June 30, 1865. 



Massey. Robert D.. Sergt., Ontwa, e. Nov. 

28. 1864; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Massey, Peter, Corp., Otitwa, e. Nov. 28, 

1864; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Shaw, Edwin O., Corp.. Ontwa, e. Nov. 

30, 1864; m. o. June 30, 1865. 
Smith. Frank A.. Corp., Ontwa, e. Dec. 

2, 1864 : m. o. June 30, 1865. 



FIRST REGIMENT MICHIGAN SH.\RPSHOOTERS. 



Company B. 
.Mien, Nathan S., Penn, e. x\ug. 19, 1864; 
m. o. July 28, 1865. 

Company E. 
Second Lieut. Winfield S. Shanahan, 
Cassopolis, e. March 7. 1865 ; Corp. 
March 6, 1S63 ; m. o. July 28, 1865. 

PRIVATES. 

Bibbins, Charles, Ontwa. e. .^pril 13, 1S63 ; 

missing in action at Cold Harbor June 

12, 1864. 
Nichols, Alexander, Ontwa, e. April 12, 

1863 ; m. o. July 25, 1865. 
\\'yant, George. Ontwa. e. March 6, 1863 ; 

ni. o. Aug. 7, 1865. 

Company F. 
Reigar, Daniel H.. Sergt., Ontwa, e. May 
4, 1863 ; m. o. Jvdy 28, 1865. 

Company' G. 
Jackson, Henry H., Pokagon, e. Aug, 12. 

i86s ; died of disease at Chicago. 111.. 

Oct. 3, 1863. 
McNeil. William B.. Ontwa, e. .\ug. 12, 

1863; dis. for disability March 22. 1864. 
Smith, Wight D., Dowagiac, e. July 4. 

1S63 ; m. o. July 28. 1865. 

Company H. 
Northrop, William B., Calvin, e. Feb. 26. 



1864; died of wounds in General Hos- 
pital. 
Northrop. IMarion .\., Penn. e. Feb. 26, 
1864: died of disease at Chicago, 111., 
.April 17, 1S64. 

Company I. 
Beach, Myron W., Volinia, e. Sept. 7. 

1863 ; dis. for disability. 
Bedford, William, Pokagon. c. .\ug. 3, 

1863: ni. o. July 28, 1865. 
Fessenden, Clement, Volinia. e. Sept. 21. 

TS63; dis. for disability .April 7, 1865. 
George. David L., Silver Creek, c. .Aug. 

25. 1863 ; died of wounds received at 

Wilderness May 6, 1864. 
Huff, .Asher. Silver Creek, e. .Aug. 24. 

1863 ; dis. by order Dec. 28, 1864. 
Huff, Isaac. Volinia, e. Sept. 7, 1863 ; miss- 
ing in action before Petersburg. Va., 

June 17, 1864. 
Nash, Charles. Volinia. e. Sept. 21. iS6^; 

m. o. July 28. 1865. 
Nash. Theodore, Volinia, e. Sept. 21, 

1863: died near Petersburg. Va.. June 

20. 1864. 
Waterman. Charles. Silver Creek, e. July 

28. 186^; died near Peter^bur,g, Va., 

June 2S. 1S64. 

Company K. 
Tnhns. Davi.I. La Grange, e. Tan. 27. 186^; 
m. o. July 28. 1865. " 



326 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



FIRST MICllKJAN (I02 U. 
CoMI'ANV A. 

Hood, Philandt-r. Pukagun, c. Aug. 17, 
1SO4; 111. o. Sept. 30, 1805. 

Company B. 
Alexander, Jacob, Howard, e. Oct. i, 

1SO4 ; 111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Brown, John, Calvin, e. Oct. 20, 1863; 

in. o. Sept. 30, 1865, 
Brown, Stuart, Calvin, e. Oct. 20, 1863 ; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Butcher, David, Calvin, e. Oct. 21, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Callaway, Giles, Porter, e. Oct. 21, 18O3; 
^ m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Coker, James, Calvin, e. Oct. lO, 1803; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Coker, Michael, Calvin, e. Oct. 18, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Curtis, George H., Calvin, e. Dec. 4, 1863; 

111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Dungie, John, Calvin, e. Oct. 7, 18O3; ni. 

o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Gibbins, William, Jefiferson, e. Aug. 24, 

1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 18O5. 
Harris, Charles W., Howard, e. Oct. i, 

1864; 111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Hawley, William, Calvin, e. Oct. 22, 1863 ; 

dis. for disability May 26, 1864. 
Howard, William, Calvin, e. Oct. 5, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Limus, John, Pokagon, e. Oct. 10, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Little, Stewart, Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864; 

ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Mathews, Allison L., Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 

1864; died of disease at Orangeburg, S. 

C, Aug. 6, 1865. 
Newman, William H., Calvin, e. Oct. 7. 

1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Seton. Joseph, La Grange, e. Oct. 18, 

1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Stewart, George W., Calvin, e. Nov. 20, 

1863; died of disease at Beaufort, S. C, 

July 27, 1864. 
Stewart, James M., Calvin, e. Oct. 18. 

1863; in. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Stewart, John T.. Calvin, e. Oct. 21. 1863; 

ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Wade, Berry, Corp., Calvin, e. Oct. 7, 

1863; died of disease at Beaufort, S. C 

Aug. 22, 1864. 
Williams, George W., Calvin, c. Oct. 21, 

1863 ; died of disease at Coluniliia, S. 

C. Aug. 12, 1865. 
Wood, John W., Calvin, e. Oct. 19, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 

Company C. 
Ford. William. La Grange, 
1S65; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 



Feb. 17, 



S.j CULUREU INFANTRY. 

liill, Dennis K., Howard, e. Oct. i, 18O4; 

111. o. Sept. 30, 18O5. 
Kedniaii, Vvilhs, Howard, e. Oct. i, 18O4; 

111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Wallace, James H., Ontwa, e. Sept. 5, 

1864; ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Wilson, Nathaniel, Calvin, e. Oct. 18, 

1803; 111. o. Sept. 30, 18O5. 

Company D. 

Artis, George, Calvin, e. Nov. 5, 1863 ; 

ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Barrister, Gustavus, Howard, e. Oct. i, 

1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805. 
Calloway, Creed, Porter, e. Nov. 18, 18O3; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Hunt, Jordan P., Calvin, e. Oct. 2^, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Mattock, Henry, Pokagon, e. Feb. 16, 

1865 ; ill. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Simons, William H., Calvin, e. Nov. 17, 

1803; m. o. Sept. 30, 1805. 
Vaughn, James, Calvin, e. Sept. 2i, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 

Company ¥. 

Brown, John, Howard, e. Dec. 19, 1S63; 

died of disease Jan. 17, 1864. 
Bowden, John, La Grange, e. Nov. 28, 

1863 ; died of disease at Beaufort, S. C, 

Nov. 14, 1864. 
Boyd, Anderson, Pioward, e. Dec. 12, 

18O3; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Conner, William F., Sergt., .Penn, e. Dec. 

II, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 

Dungil, Wright, Penn, e. Aug. 22, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
P'ord, Edward, Milton, e. ; died of disease 

at Beaufort, S. C, Jan. 14, 1865. 
Harrison, Milford, Howard, e. Dec. 12, 

18(13; ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Hays, Arick, Penn, e. Aug. 24, 1864; m. o. 

Sept. 30, 1865. 
Hays, William H., Calvin, e. Oct. 4, 1864; 

absent sick at m. o. 
Henry, Martin V., Penn, e. Dec. 2, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1S65. 
Mill, Anthony, Penn, e. Sept. I, 18O4; m. 

o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Howard, Ezekiel, Porter, e. Oct. 3. 1804; 

III. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 

Lett, Zach., Corp., Penn, e. Dec. 14. 18O3; 

111. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Mathews, Henry A., La Grange, e. Sept. 

5, 1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Plowden. William P., Howard, e. Dec. 

19, 1863; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Ramsay. Joseph, Penn, e. Dec. 11, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



327 



Roberts, John, Penn, e. Aug. i8, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Van Dyke, Lewis. Sergt., Pemi, e. Dec. 

II. 1863; 111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 

Company G. 

Ashe. Joseph C. Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864; 

ni. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Bricey, George, Howard, e. Dec. 19, 1863 ; 

dis. for disabiHty May 26, 1864. 
Boyd, Lawson, Calvin, e. Dec. 29, 1S63 ; 

ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Bird, James M., Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Bird, Turner, Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864 ; 

ni. o. Sept. ,30. 1865. 
Farrar. Alfred, Corp.. e. Dec. 21, 1863; 

absent sick at m. o. 
Heathcock. Bartlett. Porter, e. Dec. 29, 

1863; died of disease in Michigan April 

5, 1864. 
Heathcock. Berry, Porter, e. Dec. 29, 

1863 ; dis. for disability May 28. i86.> 
Hill, Jackson, Penn. e. Sept. i, 1864; in. 

o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Huston, John, Silver Creek, e. Dec. 26, 

1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Jefferson, Thomas, Pokagon, e. Dec. 30, 

1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Lawrence, Alfred, Howard, e. Dec. 12, 

1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Russell, Henderson. Poka.gon, e. Dec. 30. 

1863 : m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Russell. Jacob, Pokagon, e. Dec. 30, 1863; 

dis. for disability June 8, 1865. 
Russell, John, Pokagon, e. Dec. 30, 1863 ; 

dis. for wounds June 8. 1865. 
Stewart, John E., Calvin, e. Feb. 28, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Stewart, Sylvester, Ontwa, e. Dec. 28, 

1863 ; dis. for disability May 30, 1865. 
Thornton, Henry. Calvin, e. Sept. 29, 

1S64 : m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Windburn. George, Howard, e. Sept. 23, 

1864: m. o. Sept. ,30, 1865. 
Wines, Ebenezer, Howard, e. Sept. 23. 

1864 ; m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 

Company H. 

Corp. Aquilla R. Corey, Howard, e. Dec. 
24, 1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 



PKIV.\TES. 

Cousins, Ely, Porter, e. Dec. 26, 1863; m. 

o. Sept. 30, 1S65. 
Cousins, David, Penn, e. Dec. 4, 1863; 

absent sick. 
Dorsey, James W., Howard, e. Dec. 24, 

1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Gibson, Marquis, Penn, e. Aug. 19, 1864; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Griffin, Solomon, Penn, e. Dec. 21, 1863; 

111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Hill, Allen, Penn. e. Sept. i. 1864; in. o. 

Sept. 30, 1865. 
Sanders, Peter, Porter, e. Dec. 9, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
White. Henry. Calvin, e. Dec. 13. 1863; 

died of disease at Beaufort. S. C., Aug. 

7, 1864. 
White, Wright. La Grange, e. Feb. 17. 

1865; 111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Washington. George, Dowagiac, e. Dec. 

18, 1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Sergt. James Wheeler. Wayne, e. Dec. 29, 

1863: m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 

Company L 

Anderson, Amos, Porter, e. Sept. 17, 

1864; m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Anderson. Jefferson B.. Porter, e. Jan. 11. 

1864; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Gillan, Andrew, La Grange, e. Dec. 31. 

1863 ; m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Morton. Henry, Calvin, e. Sept. 21,. 1864 ; 

111. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Sharpe. Joseph. Silver Creek, e. March 15, 

1865 ; dis. by order Oct. 28. 1865. 
Wilson. Jnel. Howard, e. Dec. 24, 1863; 

m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 

Company K. 

Sergt. Abner R. Bird. Calvin, e. Jan. 16, 

1864; ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Harris, William. Calvin, e. Sept. 23. 1864 ; 

m. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Murphy, Percival, Calvin, e. Jan. 15, 1864; 

dis. by order Nov. 13, 1865. 
Stafford. James K., Porter, e. Aug. 24. 

1864; m. o. Sept. 30. 1865. 
Talbot. Wii'iam H., Porter, e. Oct. 5, 

1864; ni. o. Sept. 30, 1865. 
Wilson, Giles i"!., Calvin, e. Sept. 23, 1864 ; 

m. o. Sept. ,30, 1863. 



FIR.ST REGIMENT ENGINEERS AND MECH.^NICS. 



Company C. 
Dickerson, Albert, died of disease at 

Louisville, Ky.. Feb. 24, 1864. 
Peachey. Aaron. Marcellus. e. Aug. 23, 

1864: died of disease at Nashville. 

Tenn.. Nov. 21, 1864. 



Company D. 
Gaines, Franklin. Pokagon, e. Dec. 

1863: m. o. Sept. 22, 1865. 
Little. John H.. Marcellus. e. Aug. 

1864: dis. by order June 6, 1865. 



328 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

CoMi-ANv F. Slank-y, James S., OiUvv.i, c. Jan. 4, 1864; 

Williams, Isaac N., Penii. e. Aug. 21. "i- "■ Sept. 22, 1865. 

1864; (lis. by order June 6, 1865. Van Tassell, David, Ontwa. e. Jan. 4, 

CoMrANvG. '*^''-*' '^''^'^ "^ disease Feb. 16, 1864. 

Cramptnu. Abel, Pokagon, e. Dec. 15, Company K. 

1863; m. o. Sept. 22, 1865. i,,,.„^^ William, Silver Creek, c. Dec. 21, 

f^J TTf V ^"'•^^f "'. ^- °f- '^' '«6,?; m. o. Sept. 22. 1S65. 

1803 died of disease at Ringgo d, &a., aim,:, -wi,- v. ci <~ 1 
Am^ c ii^fi, White, William H.. Silver Creek; m. o. 

Rogers. Lucius. Ontwa, c. Jan. 4, 1864; ^ "' ^ ^■ 

dis. by order June 6. 1865. 

MICHIGAN I'ROVOST GUARD. 
Mershon. .\ndre\v, dis. by order July 2, 1863. 
FIRST UNITED STATES SHARPSHOOTERS. 

Company K. jMcClellaud, William. 

First Lieut. Charles W. Thorp, Nicholas- ThooP- Sylvester A. 

ville, Nov. 27, 1863; Second Lieut. Oct. Comp\nv I 

II, 1862; Corp. Aug. 12, 1861 ; dis. for 

disability Alay 24. 1864. Lieut. William Stewart. Sept. i. 1862; m. 

Christie. Walter T., Marcellus; died of o. at end of service at end of war, Jan. 

wounds at Washington, D. C. May 12. i. 1865. 

1863. Corp. Samuel Iiiling. Ncwbcrg. e. Sept. 

Goodspeed, Edwin C. I, 1862; trans, to 5th Midi, liift. ; m. o. 
Beebe, George S. 

SIXTV-SIXTII ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Company D. 
Beckwith. Henry L.. e. W'h. 22. 1S64; vet. recruit; m. o. July 7, 1865. 

TWENTY-FIRST REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Company H. 
Graham, S. J., Mason, e. April, 1861 ; dis. for disability 1861. 

FORTY-NINTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Company E. 1S65; wounded in left arm at Rocky 

Graham. Sidnev J.. Mason, re-eul. Sept., R'^ge, May 9, 1865. 

iSfii ; vet. Feb. 1864; m. o. .May 20, 

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT INDIANA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 
CoMP.YNY F. 

Williams. Llenry. Mason. 

OHIO INFANTRY. 
Tompkins, Newbcrg. 

TWENTY-FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. 

Graham. Sidney J., e. .April 17, 1861. in Co. TL; rc-e. in Co. E, 49th Ohio Vol. 
Lift. ( See above.) 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 329 



CHAPTER XXni. 
MILITARY ORGANIZATIONS. 

W. J. MAY POST, G. A. R. 

W. J. Mav Post, No. 65, G. A. R., was organized at Jones July 
24th, i88j, with the following charter members: 

*Thomas L. Blakely. nth ISIicb. Infantry: Isaac S. Pound. 14th 
Mich. Battery : ='=Tabez S. Tompkins; Alonzo B. Congden. 88th Indiana 
Infantry; Tames L. Haine, nth Mkh. Infantry; *Anson L. Dunn, 
14th Mich" Infantry; -Hugh Ferguson, nth Mich. Infantry; -Cyrus 
W. O'Conner, nth ^Wch. Infantry; Samuel P. King. 12th Mich. In- 
fantry; Daniel Trattles, 19th Mich. Infantry; *Stephen A. Clardner. 
124th Ohio Infantry; Joseph H. Dunworth; =^Horton M. Squires. 
Sharp Shooters; -Henry Seigle; William Alexander. 12th Mich. In- 
fantry. 

THOMAS MANNING POST, G. A. R. 

Thomas Planning Post, No. 57. G. A. R.. at Marcellus. was 
chartered May 19. 1882. The Post's charter members were the fol- 
lowing : 

H. T. Kellogg, \Vm. Bedford, H. J. Ohls. Frank Shmihower, 
H M. Nottingham, \\'m. Schugg. G. I. Nash. Oren Flolden, H. E. 
Giddings. R. Haryell. C. E. Dayis, B. F. Groner. W. R. Snider, Samuel 
Kidney. J-din Littell, George Heckleman, Jas. Boner, H. H. Hartman. 
1. B. Fcirtner, George Eggleston, W. H. Vincent, E. Schugg, George 
Sayage. Chas. Guich. William Casselman. J. T. Van Sickle. Robt. 
I^IcDonald. Clarence Lomi.son. Asa Sheldon. E. S. W^eaver, Chas. Souls, 
Asa Sheldon, Wm. McKeeby, A. H. Lewis, Chauncey Druiy, S. P. 
Hartshorn, Noah Kunes. Beneyille De Long, James Youngs, Isaac 
Snyder. L. P. Raym<:m(l, Joseph Gearhart, Carr Finch. Wm. Collier, 
H.' Sheldon. James Wagner. W. H. AVaugh. Sr., S. Eberhart, Zenas 
Kidney. B. F." Harrington, \\\ J. Herbert, ^I. F. Burney. Lewis Timm. 
George Reynolds. George Scott, Henry Whitney. J. G. Harper, J. J. 
Hinchey, Robt. Lundy. 

* Dead. 



330 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

'Jlie present meniljershii> oi this Post is as follows: 
H. J. Kellogg, H. .M. Nottingham, W. R. Snider, C. E. Davis, 
John Littell, J. B. Fortner, W. H. Waugh, Sr., VV. J. Herbert, W. H. 
X'incenl, W'ni. Bradford, Clarence Lomison, Bemer Lewis, Richard 
Harvell, Noah Kunes, H. L. Cooper, Carr Finch, Chas. Tutton, G. I. 
Nash. V. W. Spigelmeyer. B. F. Adams, R. T. Streeter. W. H. Burch, 
Jo?. Romig. J(jhn Crockett. F. C. Brown. R. D. Snyder. A. J. Ma.xan, 
Clark H. Beardslee. N. W. Holcomb. H. J. Ikes. E. \\". La Barre. I. 
\\". Steininger, John Sniitli, Julins W'aterstradt, Roht. Smith, \V. G. 
\\ alters. E. S. Mack. Levi Dennis, (ieiirge F. Bowersox, Isaac Long, 
Daniel Emery, S. ]\l. Reigle, iM-anklin T. Wolf, B. H. Hodges. Isaac 
De Con, Wm. Mclntyre. P. S. Yonells, Pomeroy Castle, Peter Bowers, 
C. P. Bradford, H. C. Lambert. C. \\'. Graham. J, S. Brown. Wm. 
Holloway. 

The office of Post Ccmimander has been held in successimi liy 
the following named : H. J. Ohis, G. G. Woodmansee, George Munger, 
Ray T. Streeter, one term each ; II. J. Kellogg, Peter Schall. Clarence 
Lomison, W. R. Snider, Levi Dennis, B. F". Groner, two terms each; 
George I. Nash. fi\-c terms : J. B. Fortner, three terms. 

J. B. SWEETL.VND POST, G. .\. R. 

J. B. Sweetland I'ost. No. 448. at Fdwardshnrg. was cliartere<l 
July 21. 1899. with the following members: 

William W. Sweetland. Edward Beach. John James. Enoch F. 
Newell. Jonas Sassaman, Charles R. Kingsley. George O. Bates. Tlieo- 
dore Manchow, John Jacks. Emanuel Rhineliart. James H. Andrus, 
Charles E. Gardner, George Bement, Covington \\'^y. 

The present members are : 

Benajmin F. Thompson. Jonas Sassaman. Aaron Dever. ^\'m. W. 
.Sweetland. John James. James H. .\ndrus. George \^'illianrs, CaKin 
Steuben, Covington ^Vay, Theodore Manchow, William Funk, Roger 
Burns, John Jones. 

MATTHEW ARTIS POST, G. A. R. 

Matthew Artis Post. No. 341. was organized at Day ]\Iarcli to. 
1866, with twenty-one members, as follows: 

Commander. Bishop E. Curtis; Senior Vice Commander. Henry D. 
Stewart ; Junior Vice Commander, James Monroe ; Adjutant, Abner R. 
Bvrd ; Ouartermaster, Solomon Griffin ; Surgeon, Harrison Griffin ; Chap- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 331 

lain, George Scott ; Officer of Day, Zachariah Pompey ; Officer of Guard, 
John Copley; Sergeant Major, James M. Stewart; Quartermaster Ser- 
geant, James H. Ford. Members : Peter Saunders, Caswell Oxendine, 
Berry Haithcock, John Curry, Samuel Wells, John Brown, Martin 
Harris, Andrew Gillum, George Broaidy, L. B. Stewart. 

The officers and members in August. 1906, are as follows : 

Commander, Aljner R. Byrd : Senior Vice Commander. Jame^ 
Monroe; Junior Vice Commander, Caswell Oxendine; Adjutant. Bishop 
E. Curtis; Ouartermaster, Geo. H. Curtis; Surgeon. John A. Harris; 
Chaplain. Zachariah Pompey; Officer of the Day, James M. Stewart; 
Officer of the Guard. John Copley ; Ouartermaster Sergeant, L. B. 
Stewart; Sergeant I\[ajor. Solomon Griffin. Comrades: Wm. S. 
Copley, Hiram Smith. .\. B. Anderson, Bennett Allen. 

Matthew Artis \Y. R. C. No. 164, auxiliary to Matthew Artis 
Post. No. 341, was organized November 7. 1888. with the following 
ten members ; 

Marj' Copley, Cora Copley, Amelia Copley, ]Marinda Johnson. 
Anna Eliza Griffin, Eva Dungey, Eva O. Byrd, Sarah E. Curtis, Eliza 
Oxendine, Elizabeth Stewart. 

ALBERT .\XDER.SON POST. G. A. R. 

Albert Anderson Post. No, 157, was organized at Cassopolis July 
7, 1883, and the following members mustered; 

Zacheus Aldrich. William G. \\'atts. Fairfield Goodwin. Thomas 
M. Scares, James Patterson, Samuel A'. Pangborn, William T. Dilts. 
Jacob Mcintosh, Maro A. Abbott. John Pangborn, John Jackson, Joel 
Cowgill, Isaiah Harris, James M. Roberts, Edmond Landon. William 
Wallace Marr, Owen L. Allen, Mandn F. Westfall, Marcellus K. 
Whetsell, Jos. T. Bangham. 

Since the first muster the following conuMdes have been added 
to the membership: 

July 21, 1883 — Fred A. Beckwith. John L. Tharp. John Glass. 

July 28. 1883 — Francis Coon. Alonzo Garwood. George B. 
Crandell, Benjamin F. Hogue. 

August 4, 1883 — Samuel Williams. James M. Cowin. Henry C. 
Walker, E. W. Cornell, Wm. G. Roberts. 

August II. 1883 — Henry James. John A. Bronner, Jonathan H. 
Breed. I. M. Harris. 



332 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

August i8, 1883 — Vincent Reanies, Lewis Crandall, E. G. Loux, 
Charles Hedger, Reuben Beverly. 

August 9, 1884 — James M. Shephard, Francis Squires, Levi J. 
Garwood, William Clark, George T. Shaffer, Leander D. Tompkins, 
James J\L Noble, Jesse W. Madrey. 

August 16. 1884 — Daniel L. Clossun, John H. Keene, James H. 
B\rd, Edward P. Boyd. 

August 4. i88f). and since that time — Norris Richardson, Robert 
Toas, Michael Grimm, Erastus Saunders, John Rodman, S. AL Gren- 
nell, William Matthews, Abram Heaton, William Berkey, Moses F. 
Paisley, Henry Morton, Marion Garrison, Henry C. Westfall, John D. 
Williams, Edgar V. Hays, William H. Owen. 

soldiers' and sailors' monument association. 

To commemorate the bravery and patriotism of the m.nny soldiers 
who ha\'e gone from this comity tn the wars of the cnuntry, and to 
stimulate the interest and veneration of the present and future genera- 
tions for the deeds of war which were necessary for the establishment 
of tlie republic, a moxement has been set on foot to raise funds and 
erect a soldiers" monument to the soldiers and sailors of Cass countv. 

The movement had its incejition in the rooms of the H. C. Gilbert 
IVist. No. 4c;, at Dowagiac, in April. 1003, when it was first proposed 
to raise the modest sum oi fi\e hundred dollars and locale such a m<.>nu- 
ment as that would i)ro\'i(le on a soldiers' lot in Riverside cemeterw 
\\'illis M. Vnvv and Lewis J. Carr were appointed from the post to 
solicit funds, and these two later appointed a third G. A. R. menilicr, 
John Bilderliack, and Burgette L. Dewey, the merchant, and Clyde 
W. Ketcham. the lawAer. were afterward added. On the motion of 
Mr. Farr the committee proceeded to raise a fund of five thousand 
dollars or more, instead of five hundred, and amplify the plans and oli- 
jects accordingly. Individual donations have been mainly relied ujiou, 
a can\'ass was made among the citizens of Dowagiac and the couiU}', 
and also outside, nearly one thousand dollars being contriluited to the 
fund by what were considered outside parties. The pupils of the public 
schools were also given an opportunitv to gi\-e small sums. .\ benefit 
was gi\'en b\- a baseball team, sexeral clubs donated sums, the proceeds 
of a lecture and a legerdemain entertainment swelled the fund. The 
largest •^uni was given by the P. D. Beckwith Estate, fi\-e hundred 
dollars, and other large contributors ha\-e been Willis \l. Farr, Bur- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 333 

gette L. Dewey, Hon. William Alden Smith, Hon. Edward L. Hamil- 
ton, Charles R. Hannan of Boston, Mrs. Ellen T. Atwell, E. H. Spoor 

of Redlands, Cal., Mrs. Jerome Wares of Chicago, C. L. Sherwood, 

Burlingame, H. R. Spencer, Otis Bigelow, the Cit}^ Bank, J. O. Becraft. 

The executive committee, on whom has fallen the chief burden 
in promoting this cause, consists of Willis M. Farr. Lewis J. Carr, 
John Bilderback. Burgette L. Dewey and Clyde W. Ketcham. B_\- Ins 
enthusiasm and untiring efforts in behalf of the monument 'Sir. Earr 
has rendered nnxst signal service, and that the large sum has l>een 
raised and the monument become a fact is due to the unselfish w<jrk 
on the part of its principal promoters. 

In addition to the above fund the city council of Dowagiac do- 
nated five hundred dollars, and the Board of Supervisors of Cass county 
one thousand dollars, making a sum total of $6,500.00. 



334 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION. 

Tlie social tie was as strong, if not stronger, in the early days as 
in modern life. Job Wright, the hermit and recluse, whom we ha\'e 
elsewhere mentioned as seeking solitude on the island of Diamond lake, 
was an abnormal character. Such aversion to the society of fellow 
man is so uncommon as to mark its possessor with the interest of a phe- 
nomenon in human existence. His course was like a soldier trying to 
li\e bv himself during the Ci\il war. As there were ties which drew 
the soldiers t(5getber, ties which exist e\'en today, so there were ties which 
drew the early settlers together. They had common interests, had a 
common \A'ork to do, and were threatened bv common dangers. Their 
\er}- circumstances made it necessary that they stand together, min- 
ister to each otiier in sickness, and weep with those that wept; and this 
made them rejoice with those who rejoiced. There are bonds in the 
Crand Ami}- of the Re])ublic which do not exist in any other society of 
men. And so it is with the early settlers of this county. We see this 
when they get together. They have no grips nor secret words, and yet 
one who is not an early settler is as effectually debarred from entering 
into their experiences as though he were on the outside of lodge-roon? 
doors. 

Of course, the pleasurable occasions of the early days were in the 
main quite different from those of the present. They were also less 
frecpient. and for that reason enjoyed with more zest. Some of those 
pleasures accompanied the tasks that had to be performed — in fact, were 
a part of them. The work was of such a nature that neighbors often 
assisted one another. Without particularly intending it. each neigh- 
borhood was a co-operative society. The clearing of the land, getting 
rid of large timber, necessitated what were known as log rollings. No 
one individual could dispose of the great trees of those primeval for- 
ests. If he liad undertaken it his progress would have been so slow and 
the work so difficult that he would have given up in despair long before 
his ta.sk was completed. Necessity compelled co-operation in this work, 
and that principle was carried into much of the other labor that had to 



HISTORY OF CASS COUXTY 335 

be performed. A man who was so selfish or so mean as to refuse his 
assistance to a neighbor who needed help was regarded with disfavor 
by the other settlers. In fact, he became almost an outcast. In more 
ways than one he was a greater loser than the one whom he refused to 
assist. 

After the settlers had been here for a number of years and were 
raising large crops of corn, husking bees began to take the place of the 
log rollings of the earliest days. This does not mean that the log roll- 
ings ceased when the com huskings began, for both were kept up at the 
same time throughout a number of years. But after each farmer had 
a comparatively large acreage cleared the log rollings became less fre- 
quent and the corn huskings more frequent. 

The women, too. had their methods of co-operation as well as the 
men. and they also made opportunities by this means for social gather- 
ings. Wool pickings and quiltings were among tiieir frolics, and those 
occasions were not less enjoyable to them than the log rollings, house 
raisings and corn huskings were to the men. Manv of tlie women knew 
as much about outdoor work as the men. Often they assisted their hus- 
bands in the fields in order that the farm work might be done at tlie 
proper time and the necessaries of life provided for the family. And 
their household duties were more arduous than those of the farmers" 
wives of the present day. Besides, on account of living so far apart, 
their isolation was more complete. The occasions on which the womei: 
of the neighborhood would get together to help one another with a por- 
tion of their work aflforded a pleasant relief from the toilsome labor at 
home, whether it was the labor of the field or the household. Besides 
the diversions already mentioned there were evening apple-parings, in 
which both }Oung men and young women took part, and taffy-pullings 
for the younger people in the season of maple-sugar making. These 
gatherings closed by guessing contests, "spatting out." and. frequently. 
by dancing. 

Tliere was but little social diversion for that purpose alone, but it 
was associated with the usual labor in one form or another. This was 
not because the people of those days would not have enjoyed pleasure 
for pleasure's sake as well as the people of this generation, but rather 
because stern necessit}' decreed otherwise. Thus the social life of the 
pioneers became a part of their industrial life, and it is impossible to sep- 
arate the two in description. A few years later, when the people did not 
have to devote to labor every hour not spent in sleep, they found other 



336 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

methods for employing tlie time when they could come together. Sing- 
ing schools, spelling schools, debating clubs and literary societies liegan 
ti 1 take the place of corn bushings, apple-parings and tafTy-pullings. But 
e\en these, like the other gatherings which preceded them, had their 
duulile purpose. The opportunity they aftorded for mingling socially 
was not the onl}- reason they came into existence. The cultivatiim of 
the musical talent, the mastery of the art of spelling or training fnr talk- 
ing in public were the i)aram(nint objects. 

What e\'ent — except the contrastingly sad one of death — would 
stir pioneer sentiment more than a wedding? The union of families 
that liad perhaps met here after leaving homes in widely diverse parts 
of the ciiuntry was an occurrence worthy of social happiness and one 
to lie celebrated with jubilation. Marriages and births were the exents 
most in keeping with the spirit of hope and progress that animated 
ever\- new communit)-. Therefore, let us recall one of the early wed- 
dings, a celebration of great interest to the county, eagerl_\' looked for- 
ward to and long rememljered among pioneer happenings. 

Thnngh nut the first wedding in the couiUy. the marriage of Elias 
B. Sherman and Sarah, the daughter of Jacob Silver, on Xew Year's 
dav of 1833, was the first in the county seat and perhaps the most nota- 
ble of the earlv weddings. At that time Mr. Sherman, though a young 
man of abnnt thirty, had attained the prominence befitting the incum- 
bent of tlie offices of prosecuting attorney, probate judge and district 
surveyor of Cass county, and who was also one of the founders of the 
village of Cassopolis. There was no minister in Cassopolis at that time, 
and as the bride desired the cerem<iny to be ]3erformed according to the 
Episcopal rites, the matter of finding the proper minister threatened to 
be a serious olistacle. Haiipily, it was learned that Bishop Philander 
Chase li;id recently located at Gilead in Branch county, and thither Mr. 
Sherman went and made known to the bishop his need. Although no 
railr(>ad afl'orded the bishop a quick and comfortable ride to the place of 
ceremony and it was necessar}- for him to undergo a long drive over the 
frozen roads, such difficulties were made nothing of by i)ioneer minis- 
ters. On the a]iiiointed morning the bisho]i was on hand, and the peo- 
ple of the village and the surrounding countr\- were all ali\e to the 
festi\-e importance of the day. The guests assembled in the second story 
of the building in which Jacob .'Silver sold goods, where elaborate 
preparations had been made in anticijiation. and in the presence of many 
who.i^e names have been mentioned in connection with the early history 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 337 

of the county tlie marriage was performed, the first of the many that have 
occurred in the vihage during the subsequent three-quarters of a cen- 
tury. 

One other occasion may be described before proceeding with the 
special social and fraternal history. In 1837 Elijah Coble built a tav- 
ern at the little center called Charleston, in Volinia township. Having 
completed the structure, he resolved to have a house wanning, to which 
he invited all his fellow pioneers. This was, therefore, perhaps the first 
gathering specially designed to include early settlers. It is stated that 
from seventy-five to one hundred people, mostly from the north part 
of the county, assembled at the Coble tavern on the designated day. 
The features of the meeting which we would most like to reproduce were 
unfortunately lost with the passing of the day itself, for the experiences 
those old settlers exchanged can never be retold : the melody of the songs 
they sang has gone with the breath that made it. 

At this meeting in Volinia, as on other social occasions, music and 
dancing were features of the entertainment. It must not be supposed 
that the muse of song and harmony was a stranger tn the pinneer set- 
tlements. Of instrumental music there was little. Init the quietness and 
isolation of life in the wilderness was favoraljle to the expression of 
feeling by song. The earnest intoning of the old hymns in the first 
churches, the old-time melodies that were flung to the air at the social 
gatherings and the eager interest taken in the singing scIk.miIs. all show 
that the love of harmony was as fundamental here as anmng nlder civ- 
ilization. 

And although there were no pianos and organs, an occasional settler 
possessed a more portable instrument and with this he softened some of 
the asperities of frontier life. Among the settlers wlm came to ]\Iilton 
township in 1829, was a 'Slv. ^Morris, who delighted to play on a fife. 
Surely, as its shrill notes sounded through the forest aisles, the birds 
must have realized the presence of a new fcirm of existence competing 
with them in tlieir solitudes. 

Peter Barnhart, who settled in Howard in 1830, was a fiddler, and 
it was his presence that lent the spirit of rhythm to many a pioneer dance. 
Isaiah Carberr\-. an early settler in the same township, was also skillful 
with the bow and was in demand at the dances. Tliese dances were 
usually held in the evening after logging, husking or quilting bees. The 
democratic character of pioneer society prevented their being exclusive, 
and the fact that thev were held after a da^■ of hard lalior is evidence 



338 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tliat there was little brilliance of costuine or house decoration. The 
dyed liiiinesi)un dresses of the girls and the home-tailored garments and 
rough. Coarse hijots of the men detracted mithing from the \vholes(jnie 
jileasure of the occasion. 

It would not lie out of ])lace in a history of this kind to descril^e all 
the e\ents and institutions of scicial li\'ing which lia\'e been strong and 
endiu'ing enough to give permanence to the organizations which men 
and women form in promoting their cinunuinit)' life. But in reality this 
entire histor\- is given to the description of the forms and institutions 
which ha\e grown u]i in Cass county because of the introduction of civil- 
ization and the increasingly close contact between the social units. Civil 
g»vernment has Ijeen described. The organization of communities for 
civil, Ijusiness and other jnirposes has taken many pages of this volume. 
Business and industry ha\e been described mainly in their relation to 
the people at large. \\'hen ci\il war was raging it called (ov citizens in 
the most ]ierfected form of disciplined organization. Schools, as else- 
where descrilied. ha\e always been the center of the social community, 
and churches are the yer\- essence oi the social life. These subjects 
hnding exjjosition on other pages, it remains for this chapter to group 
together some of the social organizations which have positive influence 
and definite pur])ose and iovm a recognized part in the life of Cass 
county's people. 

women's clubs. 

The Casso])olis Woman's Club, now a member of the great fed- 
eratiiin of woiuen's clubs, was organized in 1898. Among those who 
assisted in the organization and becaiue charter members may be men- 
tioned Mesdames Coulter, Gorjdwin, Sate Smith. Funk. Biscomb, Lodor, 
Mcintosh, Xell Smith. .Armstrong. Cowgill ( n( iw deceasetl), Reynolds 
and .Mlison. The cluli was brought into the federation in 1901, 

The Cassopolis W^oman's Club holds weekly sessions from October 
to April inclusixe. Its work is mainly literary, although it has taken a 
lieneficial interest in certain matters of civic improvement and in beau- 
tifying the \'illage. In its regular sessions tojiics of current and .gen- 
eral importance are taken up according to a program that is arranged 
before the beginning of each season's work. 

The following are the ofPcers of the club for the season of 1905-06 
just closed: President, Mrs. Addie S. Coulter; first vice president. 
Mrs. Catherine Criswell : second \ice iirc^ident. Airs. Helen Reynolds; 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 339 

recording secretary, Mrs. Clara Eliy ; corresp(5n(ling secretary, Mrs. 
Emma Cobb; treasurer. Airs.. Jennie Carman. 

Calendar committee — Mrs. Hattie !\1. Tbickstum ( chairman j, Mrs. 
Rebecca B. Woods, Mrs. .\llie M. Des \'(iignes. Mrs. .May S. Arm- 
strong. 

Members: — Mrs. May S. Armstrong. Miss Katherine Armstrong, 
Mrs. May F. Allison, Mrs. Tliursy .\. Boyd, Mrs. May Bowen, Mrs. 
Addie S. Coulter, Mrs. Emma Cobli, Mrs. Katherine Criswell, Mrs. 
Jane Crosby, Mrs. Jane Carman, Mrs. Allie M. Des Voignes, JMrs. Clara 
Eby, Mrs. Maude \V. Eppley. Mrs. THlen R. Funk, Mrs. Ina M. I'isk. 
Mrs. Helen Francis, Mrs. Lida R. Goodwin. Mrs. Lola Geiser, Mrs. 
Grace Hain, I\Irs. Myra Hughes. Mrs. Ruth T. Hayden. Mrs. Katherine 
Harmon, Mrs. Hattie J. Holland. Mrs. Helen Johnston, Mrs. Blanche 
Link, Airs. Emily Mcintosh, Mrs. Helen Reynolds. Miss Nellie Rudd, 
Mrs. Grace Rinehart, Mrs. Nellie Stemm, Airs. Leni AI. Smith, Airs. 
Sate R. Smith, Mrs. Lucy E. Smith, Airs. Ocenia Sears, Airs. Hattie 
Thickstun, Airs. Alice Voorhis, Airs. Ida Warren, Airs. Ella Waldo 
Gardner. Mrs. Rebecca B. Woods, Mrs. Clara Zeller. 

Honorary members; — Airs. Jennie Lo(l(Tr. Airs. Amelia Biscumb. 

THE .\MBER CLUB. 

The .Amlier Club is composed of some of the most intellectual wo- 
men in Cassopolis. It is unic[ue in its organization, or rather in its lack 
of organization, having neither go\erning rules nor officers, and keep- 
ing no records. 

It sprung into existence in December, 1895, with the following 
members : Airs. Henrietta Bennett, Mrs. Alaryette H. Glover, Airs. 
Ocenia B. Harrington, Mrs. Augusta E. Higljee. Airs. Stella Kingsbury. 
Airs. Elma A. Patrick. Aliss Sarah B. Price, Mrs. Addie S. Tietsort, 
Airs. Ida AI. A'ost, all of whum are living and retain their membership 
in the club, e.\ce]iting the last named lady, who died December 5, 1899. 
Before the death of A'Irs. Yost the club had held annual banquets, and 
that year arrangements were completed for the banquet to be held at 
her home the day she died. Neither that nor subsequent banquets have 
been held. 

Since the beginning of the clu!) three nf the members have moved 
from Cassopolis. but are still recognized as members. The member- 
ship has been increased to seventeen bv the addition of the following 
ladies : Airs. Carrie L. Carr. Airs. Carrie AV. Fitzsimons. Airs. Calista 



340 ■ HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Kelsey, Mrs. Grace M. O'Leary, Mrs. Cora L. Osmer, Mrs. May E. 
Ritter, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Sharpe, Mrs. ]\Iaria F. Thomas, Mrs. Luhi 
Yost. 

Tlic meetings of the club are held weekly Monday afternoons in 
rotation at the hcimes of its nieml)ers. It is purely a reading club. 
While their reading has been along general lines in history, books of 
travel and other literary works, thev have made a study of Shakespeare 
a specialty. 

NINETEENTH CENTURY rLUB. 

The Nineteenth Century Club of Dowagiac was organized in i8Sc). 
the first meeting being held September 5th oi that year. It joined the 
state federation in 1892, being a charter member of the federation. It 
joined the countv federation in U)0_'. The club, whose membership is 
limited to fiftv. meets on Thursdax- of each week from October to June. 
With its mott<.), ".\ woi-kman is made Ijy working," the cluli has pursued 
at various times the studv of history literature and art of European 
countries and America and h;is contril'.uted to ci\-ic betterment bv plant- 
ing trees and i\y alumt the ])u1ilic schools and li1)rary grounds: has do- 
nated paintings to the high school and books to the liljrary, maintains 
a life membershi|) in the Children's Home at St. Joseiih, has contributed 
to the Stone Alemorial Scholarship Fimd at Ann Arbor ; has sent maga- 
zines to the state prison at Jackson, the asvlum at Kalamazoo, the hospi- 
tal at Ann Arbor and the Old People's Home at South Haven ; has sent 
Christmas boxes to the ci mnt}- poor-house and in many ways directed its 
efforts toward practical philanthropy. The club has secured literary and 
musical talent for home entertainments and once a year gives an open pro- 
gram of its own to the ]uiblic. In local and state legislation the club has 
secured the jmssage liy the cit}- council of an ordinance preventing ex- 
pectoration in streets and one jirobibiting bicycle riders from cutting 
corners and riding across ])rivate i)ro])ertv: has sent petitions to the 
legislature in regard to ]ilacing women on boards of control, concerning 
cigarette anrl ju\'enile court laws; and has sent petitions to the ignited 
States Congress asking the passage of the lateh- enacted Hevburn pure- 
food bill, and also concerning the industrial condition of women, which 
was the first federal measure lo which the women's clubs ga\'e their 
attention. 

The following are the names of the charter niemliers of the cluli: 
Mrs. H. W. Richards, IMrs. Susan Van ITxem, Mrs. E. L. Knapp. Mrs. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 341 

Henry Porter, Mrs. B. L. Dewey, Mrs. Theodore Wilbur, Mrs. Willis 
Farr, Mrs. H. F. Co11j\-, Mrs. R. B. Marsh, Mrs. F. W. Lyle, .Mrs. 
Augustiiis Jewell, Mrs. William M. X'moman, Mrs. H. B. Burcli. Mrs. 
John Giniper, Miss h ranees !M. Ross. 

The first officers were: President. Mrs. R. B. Marsh; vice i>res- 
ident, iSliss Ross (Frances) ; secretary and treasurer, Mrs. K. L. Kn.'ipp. 

The present officers are: President. Miss Frances M. Rose: vice 
president, Mrs. T. J. Edwards; recording secretary. Miss Edith Oppen- 
heim; corresponding secretary. Miss Olive M. Marsh: treasurer, Mrs. 

A. E. Jewell : custodian, Mrs. J. FT. Jones. 

Tlie present members are : Mrs. C. E. Avery, Mrs. S. M. Baits, 
]\'Irs. Otis Bigelow. Mrs. Eugene Gilbert. Mrs. B. A. Cromie, Mrs. 
James Harley, Mrs. F. H. Essig, Mrs. C. B. Harris, Mrs. Tliomas 
Harley, Mrs. C. W. Ketcham, Mrs. Roy Jones, Mrs. E. P. McMaster, 
Miss Edith 0])penheim. Miss Frances M. Ross, Mrs. Grace Sweet, 
Mrs. W. M. Vrooman. Mrs. E. E. Alliger, Miss Irene Buskirk, Mrs. 
C. L. Fowle. Mrs. H. J. Bock, Mrs. A. E. Gregory, Mrs. W. C. Ed- 
wards, Mrs. W. F. Hoyt, Mrs. Carrie Frost Herkimer, Miss Elma Kin- 
zie, Mrs. A. E. Jewell, Miss Olive M. Marsh, Mrs. J. H. Kinnane, Mrs. 
H. W. Palmer, Mrs. Fannie Wares, Mrs. Ira Gage, Mrs. M. P. White, 
Miss Mary Andrew, Mrs. Roy Burlingame, Mrs. F. H. Baker, Mrs. A. 

B. Gardner, Mrs. F. H. Codding, Mrs. W. E. Conkling, Mrs. T. J. 
Edwards. Mrs. A. E. Rudolphi, Mrs. E. B. Jewell, Mrs. John Warren, 
Mrs. J. H. Jones. Mrs. J. L. Parker, Mrs. E. N. Rogers, Mrs. C. W. 
Southworth, Mrs. D. W. Van Antwerp. 

The Tourists' Club of Dowagiac was organized January 30, 1896. 
There were, at first, no dues. The only recjuirements for membership 
were a common knowledge of English and a genuine desire to learn bv' 
study. College and high school graduates, former teachers and those 
whose education depended mostly on reading, all met on an equal foot- 
ing and enjoyed together what are called "tours." A country being se- 
lected for a visit and a wall map perhaps manufactured, its geography 
and then its history to the present time is given in topics, next its cities 
visited as realisticall}- as possible, the motto and flag if a country, shield 
if a state, noted, and information and pleasure second only to a bona fide 
visit gained. Beginning at home, the United .States was thoroughly ex- 
plored, then England and France, the countries of southern Europe, this 
vear Holland. Belgium and .Switzerland, the next vear Denmark, Nor- 



342 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

\va\' and S\ve<len, and after Kurupe is thurtjugiily "done," probably 
South America will be "N-isited." 

A supplementary exercise at each meeting is called "Current 
Events," and consists of anything in the line of disco\-ery, invention, re- 
search (if any kind as found in the daily papers, "(jueer, quaint and curi- 
ous," often amusing, al\\a_\-s interesting. The program opens with qim- 
tations from some author of the country studied, or upon some given 
t(jpic, as "lii\e," "h(jpe," "anger." (iood local musical talent, \'ocal s(j1os 
and piaiKi nuniljcrs by memljers or visitors (especially young phu'ers 
needing a kindly audience), a little original music and some mild poetry 
have lirightened the programs. The educating influence of the study, 
the "tra\el," is plainly seen in nianv instances and no mother has neg- 
lected her children! Tlmugh the majority are grandmothers, all are 
udl, and that haq^-string of "neglected families" is evidently liroken. 
Jf housekeeping and other woman's work will not allow two hours of 
recreation and mental uplifting in a week, it is sad indeed for woman! 
Lodges are Ijeneticial and so are chilis. The Tourists' Cluli is pleased 
to ni'te that while the city press at first accepted reix)rts of their meet- 
ings on sufferance, they are imw snught as an appreciated part (jf the 
news. Thus the assurance that the club has been no' drawback to the 
city, but a source of interest and enio\nient to many is a matter for 
gratulation. 

The season begins with the first Thursday in October and closes 
with the last Thursday in May. Some years a reading club of th(ise w^lio 
had time to spare has met e\'er)- Thursday during the vacation and has 
become acquainted with the Iliad, the Odyssey, part of the Anabasis and 
other gems of the classics. The plan of "free-for-all" has been changed 
to dues of one d(illar a year, as the club has joined the county federation 
and has also local expenses in the way of printed programs, flowers for 
funerals of members and often for the sick or "shut-in," and other dues, 
A committee, changed every }ear, arranges the program and material 
for the same is obtained from the city public library and from private li- 
braries — often from illustrated leaflets from agents for railroad excur- 
sions in various directions and from Baedecker's guide Ijooks. Most of 
the ])residents ha^■e serxed two successive years and there is probably not 
a member who would not make a good president if other duties might 
allow. /Vn average of four topics a year is prepared by each memlier 
and if one drops out volunteers take her work. 'A\'ork, not style" seems 
to be the motto of this club. The membershi]) is limited to twentv-fi\'e. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 343 

but a few more are equally welcome. There is a committee ou music 
and a committee on program, the first appointed by the president, the 
second elected. 

The first program from January to June, i8q6, reads : President, 
Mrs. F. J. Atwell ; vice president. Airs. C. H. Bigelow; secretary, Mrs. 
E. R. Spencer. 

Members: — Mrs. Will .Vndvews. Mrs. H. Arthur, Mrs. F. J. At- 
well, Mrs. O. S. Beach, Mrs. J. O. Becraft, Mrs. M. Hungerford, Mrs. 
William Larzelere, Mrs. G. B. Jvloore. Mrs. M. E. Morse, Airs. R, E. 
Morse,- Mrs. A. Benedict, Airs. C. H. Bigelow, Mrs. Otis Bigelow, Mrs. 
H. Defendorf, Mrs. T. J. Edwards, Mrs. B. Elkerton, Airs. AI. Idan- 
ders, Mrs. Will Henwood, Airs. H. H. Porter. Aliss Grace ReslKjre. 
Mrs. T. J. Rice, Mrs. John .\. Root, Airs. C. L. Sherwood, Airs, E. R. 
Spencer, Airs. Susan Thomas, Airs. S. Tryon, Airs. T. F. Wilbur. 

A few have resigned, a few removed from the city and a few 
passed on to. the better countrv. In memoriam : — Airs. AI. E. Alurse. 
Mrs. C. L. Sherwood, Airs. S. Thomas, Airs. S. Tryun, Airs. W. H. 
Palmer. 

Officers elected for 1906-07 are: President, Airs. J. O. Becraft; 
vice president. Airs. .\. Hard}- : secretary, Aliss Julia Alichael ; treasur- 
er, Mrs. R. Van Antwerp. 

Present members: — Airs. Jennie Allen, Aliss Jidia Alston, Airs. C. 
Amsden, Airs. F. J. Atwell, Airs. C. FI. Bigelow, Airs. J. O. Becraft. 
Mrs. I. Buchanan, Airs. AI. Campbell. Airs. L. J. Carr, Airs. W. W. 
Easton, Mrs. A. Hardy, Aliss Julia Alichael, Airs. G. B. Aloore, Airs. 
G. W^ Moore, Mrs. R. E. Alorse, Airs. F. H. Reshore, Airs. J. .\. Root, 
Mrs. C. Schmitt, Aliss Nettie Tryon. Airs. R. Van Antwerp, Mrs. Will 
Wells. 

I,'.-\LLEGKO CLUB OF ]\I.\RCF,I.LUS. 

The idea of a ladies" literary club in Alarcellus originated with Mrs. 
Dora Scott and Mrs. .Anna Walters, who consulted with several others 
and as a result the following notice appeared in the Marcelhis News for 
September 30, 1892: "All the ladies interested in a literar}- club will 
meet at the home of Airs. A. Taylor Tuesday afternoon, October 4, at 
half-past two o'clock to organize. " Fifteen ladies were present and an 
organization was formed under the temporary name of the "Ladies' Lit- 
erar\' Club," with the following" charter memliers: 

Airs. Lydia Taylor, Airs. Allie Des Voignes, Airs. Lizzie Jones, 
Mrs. Susnn Jones, Airs. Cora White, Airs. Lena \A'hite, Airs. Effie 



344 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Gran). .Mrs. Allie Hmlsuii, Mrs. Delia Hall. Mrs. L;iura H.jffnian, Mrs. 
Lena {''landers, Mrs. .\nna Walter. Mrs. Dora Scutt, Mrs. Fannie Mc- 
.Manii;al. Mrs. Anna Davis, Mrs. I'earl Arnold, Mrs. Laura Tanner. 
Mrs. Mary Cooley, [Mrs. ^iae Sclmetzovv. 

Tlie lirsl officers were: 1 'resident, Mrs. Lydia Taylor; vice pres- 
iilenl, Mrs. Allie AL Des Voignes ; secretary atid treasurer, Mrs. Dora 
Scott: critic, Mrs. ]\Iae K. Schoetznw. 

It was decided to read the play, "The Merchant of X'enice;" to 
hold the meetings at the houses of the members and on the Ahmday 
evenings from October i to May i of each year. The time and man- 
ner of holding the meetings has ne\-er been changed. 

The first year se\-eral Shakespearean plays were read, as well as 
some of INIilton's poems. The title of "L'AlIegro," at the suggestion of 
Mrs. Cora White, was adopted as the permanent name of the cluli. The 
first }-ear's work was brought to a close with a bancjuet at the Imme of 
Mrs. Lizzie |ones. gix'en in honnr of the "martM'ed husbands." and at 
which about thirt}'-six guests were [iresent. 

The ()fficers for \o,o<)-j are: 1 'resident, L\(lia Taxlnr: \ice presi- 
dent, Louise Sill : secretary, E\-a Ditzell : treasurer, .\m:nida Harring- 
ton : corresiionding secretarv and lilirarian, Anna Walter: critic, Lux'ia 
Lukcnb.acli : par.. Edna I^a\'is. 

]\Iembers (_)ctol::er, 1906: — Mrs. Fearl Arnold, Mrs. FanclKjn Bailey, 
^liss Alice E>aile_\', ]\Irs. liester Ba_\ley. Mrs. Josephine Beebe, Mrs. 
Merle Burlington, ]\Iiss Ethel C(i\\Iing, Mrs. Edna Davis, Miss Leone 
Dennis, Miss Eva Ditzell. Mrs. Nellie Goodes, Mrs. Amanda Harrington, 
Miss Pearl Hartman, Mrs. Allie Hudson, Mrs. Lizzie Jones. Mrs. Bessie 
Jones. Mrs. Georgia Jones. Mrs. Elida Kmll, Mrs. Luvia Lukenbach, 
Mrs. k'nima McManigal. Mrs. b'annie McManigal. ]Mrs. Edna Latch, 
Mrs. Mae R. Schoetzow, ]Mrs. Louise Sill, ]\Irs. Florence Sill. AL'S. Lydia 
Taylor, Miss Frances Volkmer, Mrs. Anna Walter, Miss Licz \\'illard, 
Miss Lulu \\'eaver. Mrs. Kate Worden, Ah's. Dora Scott (honorary 
member). 

The club work for the first few years was entirely of a literary 
nature and was confined for some time to a study of the leading English 
authors, especially Shakespeare, but the scope of the study gradually 
widened and other departments have been added, including charitable 
work. The \arious committees for the )'ear (1906-07) arc Simsbine, 
l^hilanthni])ic. Civic Improvement ;md Forestry, and Audobon. 

The first printed programs were arranged for the year beginning 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 345 

October 5, 1896. The club joined the state federation in 1900 and has 
been regularly represented by delegates at all succeeding meetings. The 
organization of the County Federation of Women's Clubs was the direct 
result of the issuance of invitations by L'.Mlegro Club to those of Uowa- 
giac and Cassopolis to join with it in the matter. Two cIuIjs in D(jwa- 
giac and one in Cassopolis, also the New Century of Marcellus re- 
sponded by sending delegates and the federation was formed in 1902. 

THE NEW CENTURY CLUB OF MARCELLUS. 

By the persistent efforts and earnest endeavors of two sagacious 
townswomen, Airs. Parmelia Hunger and ]\Irs. Inez Nottingham, who 
felt the need of mental improvement and foresaw the benefits to be de- 
rived by the mothers and housewi\es of Marcellus by special literary 
training and an interciiange of ideas and experiences concerning the 
home and home-making, the rearing and education of children, the help 
that might be gained by an organized body to those around them ; and 
having a deep desire to better know our own country, its history, laws, 
government and resources, its neighbors and its relation to tiiem, the 
Isabella Club of Marcellus was organized October 23. 1895, with the 
following officers and members: President, Mrs. Parmelia Munger; 
\ice president. Mrs. Lovinia Ridgeley; secretary and treasurer. Mrs. Al- 
mira W'elcher. 

Charter members: — Mrs. Libljie Emerv. Mrs. Frances Huber, Mrs. 
Kate Loveridge, Miss Florence Munger, [Mrs. Theresa Poorman, Mrs. 
Eunice Lomison, !\Irs. Jane Shannon, Miss Pearl Poorman, [Mrs. Inez 
Nottingham, Mrs. Sabrina Groner, Mrs. Alice Walker. JMiss F.dna 
\Velcher. After a lapse of eleven years the names of only six of the 
charter members remain upon the roll. Parmelia Munger and Lovinia 
Ridgley are deceased, while others ha\-e found new homes and moved 
from Marcellus. 

The clul> membership is limited to fifteen and the club is barred 
from joining the State Federation of W'omen's Clubs, t\ventv-one mem- 
bers being required. It is a member of the county federation. Early 
in the club vear of 1900 the name Isabella was dropped and "New Cen- 
tuiy" adopted, which name the organization now hears. 

The meetings are held Wednesday, fortnightly, at 2 o'clock in the 
afternoon. The mottO' of the club is. "We plan our work and work our 
plan.'" Tine programs are of a miscellaneous nature, the club maintain- 
ing the determination to studv such subjects as are practical and bene- 



346 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ficial. I'or three years the club has had the benefit of the State Travel- 
ing Library. It has also taken a fuur years' Bay View reading course 
in connection with the program. It has a small library of its own. 
There is a social feature of the program appreciated by the members, an 
annual sncial da}-, to which the husbands and friends of the members 
are invited. In 1904 the club held its first annual "Pioneer Day," and 
gave a reception t(_i the pioneers nf the town and surrounding country. 
This da}- of reminiscences was fully enjnyed by the gray-haired guests, 
and at their request the club determined to gi\'e them one dav in each 
year, and set Wednesday nearest the middle of October as their da\', 
which is to be kno\\n and observed as "Pioneer Day." 

In [)hilanthriipic work the Xew Century Club has kept apace with its 
sister clulis of larger membei'shi]). The club has made a home among 
its members for a friendless child, which has been pmvided with cloth- 
ing and books; it has also provided need_\- children with necessaries, that 
they might attend church and school ; it has cared for sick friends, and 
sent tokens and remembrances to the aged. It jiiined with the other 
clubs of the county in sending relief to the Children's Home nf St. Jo- 
se])h, [Michigan. 

With the L'AllegTo Club last year the school children of Marcellus 
were incited to the remo^•ing nf old rulibish and rank weeds detrimental 
to public health, frtmi the back \ards and alleys, and beautif\ing the 
grounds with summer flowers and pretty vines. Thus many children 
were kept from the streets, and their minds from thoughts which leail 
to vice and crime. To keep the children's minds filled with healthful 
thoughts small prizes were offered, which made them zealous and anxious 
to repeat their efforts. 

The club }-ear of 1906-7 opened September 19th. with the following 
officers: President, Mrs. Frances Huber; vice president, Mrs. Almira 
\\'elcher ; secretary rmd treasurer, Mrs. Ida -\. Parker. 

The other memliers are: Airs. Kate Lo\eridge, Mrs. .\da Bucklin, 
Mrs. Inez Nottingham, Mrs. Bertha Palmer, Mrs. Jane Shannon, Mrs. 
Georgia Jones, Mrs. Edna Davis. Mrs. Alice Streeter, Mrs. Jessie Hill, 
Mrs. Nellie Seigel. Mrs. Alice Mack. y\vs. Sadie Shillito. 

MONn.W EVENING CLTB OF EDWARDSBURG. 

A number of lulwardsburg's literary women met at Mrs. Mary 
Latson's November 19, 1894, for the purpose of organization for a sys- 
tematic studv of literature and current events, and for social improve- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY " 347 

nient. The organization was effected by the adoption of rules, among 
whicli was one hmiting the membership of the dub to twenty members, 
and the election of officers, who were : President, Mrs. Mary Latson ; 
secreiar}', Mrs. Frances E. Sweetland ; critic, 2\lrs. Lucy Reed; assistant 
critic, Aliss Lydia Blair. 

The following ladies became charter members: Mrs. Emma Aikin, 
Mrs. Mary Carlisle, Miss Eva C. Ditzell, Mrs. Ella Haynes, Mrs. M. 
Amelia May, Mrs. Frances E. Sweetland, Mrs. Alice Shanahan, Miss 
Lydia Blair, Mrs. Kate Criswell, ]Mrs. Hattie J. Holland, Miss Minnie 
Jacks, Mrs. Lizzie Parsons, Miss Jennie Sweetland, Mrs. Addie Thomp- 
son, Miss Bell Blair, JNIrs. Lenora Dennis, Mrs. Addie Harwood, Mrs. 
Mary Latson. Mrs. Lucy Reed, Mrs. ]\lary E. Schoch. 

The club meets e\'ery Monday evening from October ist tu April 
30th. A different program is arranged at the beginning of the season for 
each of the meetings, that for October 1, 1906, being: 
Roll Call — \'acation Happenings. 
Our Beginnings. 

Appointing Program Committee for 1907-8. 
Club Song. 

Social Hour, led by Miss Jacks. 

During the year, among other subjects, the following will be con- 
sidered : Pilgrim Mothers. Musical Composers, The Indian. ^len Who 
Have .\chie\ed Eminence, The Xew U. S. Xavy, American Bridge 
Building, \\'hy Gi\e Thanks, Women's Organizations, The Immigra- 
tion Problem, The Sah-ation Army. The Cotton Industr_\', The Origin 
of the Stars and Stripes, The South, Old and Xew, Journalism, Early 
and Late, Inaugiiration Day, Why March 4th. Culia, Opening Up of 
Oklahoma, The American Desert and Its Secrets, San Francisco, Old 
and New. 

At this writing the membership is as follows: Aliss Alfreda Al- 
len, Mrs. Frances Case, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Gosling, !Mrs. Mary L. Har- 
mon, Mrs. Martha Parsons, ]\lrs. Flelen Rinehart, Mrs. Addie Tliomp- 
son, Mrs. Elizabeth Bean, Airs. Irene Dunning, Mrs. Addie Harwood, 
Miss Minnie Jacks, Mrs. Julia Redfield, Mrs. Laura Snyder, ^Nlrs. Bertha 
Van Antwerp, ]\Iiss Bell Blair, ]\Irs. Lenora Dennis, Mrs. Ella Haynes, 
Mrs. Mary Latson, I\Irs. Alyrta Reese. Mrs. .Mice Shanahan. 

The present oiffcers are : President, Mrs. Alice Shanahan : vice 
president, Mrs. Elizabeth M. Gosling; secretary, Mrs. Addie Hanvood : 
assistant secretarv. Miss Minnie jacks: treasurer. Airs. Helen Rinehart. 



34S HISTORY Ol' CASS COUNTY 

Fraternities of \ariuus kiiuls and for various puriwses have such 
vogue among- the people tliat U wuukl be diflicult to name all the organ- 
izations of that nature which can be found in a single county, and an}-- 
thing like a history of each one would be quite impossible. Of the old 
orders, the Odd Fellows were the first to get a hold in this county. 
Cass County Lodge No. 21, 1. O. O. F., was organized February 18, 
1847, and has been in continuous existence nearly sixty years. The 
village of Fdwardsburg obtained a lodge of the same order in 1850 by 
the institution of Ontwa Lodge No. 49 on July 18th. The Odd Fellows 
were also the first secret order to be established in Do\vagiac. Dowagi- 
ac Lodge No. 57, I. O. O. F., was instituted September 12, 185 1. Ful- 
lowing these three pioneer lodges the Odd Fellows have been organized 
in various other centers in the county, and both encampments and 
auxiliary Rebekah lodges have been formetl. 

The Masons were not far behind the Odd Fellows. The first meet- 
ing of members of this fraternity was held at the old Union Imtel in 
Cassopolis June 12, 1852, and so<in afterward Backus Lodge No. 55. [■'. 
& ,\. M.. was organized. Dowagiac Lodge No. 10 was organized Jan- 
uary II, 1855, and at Fdwardsburg, St. Peter's Lodge No. 106, V. & 
A. M.. was instituted January 14, 1858. The Masons have also increased 
in jjower antl number, and bnth Cassopolis and Dowagiac ha\'e chai)ters 
of the Roval Arch, while there are several lodges in other parts of the 
ciiunt\-, thei'e being une in Cah'in wlmse membership is of the colored 
men. 

These two orders are the oldest an<l perhaps the strongest in tntal 
memljership in the ccjunty. The Ancient Order of United Workmen 
has been active in the county for thirty years or more. The Maccabees 
are prubablv as energetic in fraternal work as any other order, and their 
numbers are steadily increasing. There are bnth Knights and Lady IMac- 
cabees in the two principal towns of the county. Besides these there 
are the Knights of Pythias, the Mmlcrn Woodmen of America, the In- 
dependent Order of Foresters, the Tribe of Ben Hur, the Catholic 
Knights and Ladies of America, the Royal Arcanum, and various lesser 
known orders. 

Dowagiac is the home ofiice of the International Congress, a purely 
fraternal beneficial order, vvhich has several branches in other villages 
of the countv. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 340 



CHAPTER XXV. 
CASS COUNTY PIONEER SOCIETY. 

Octoljer 9, 1873, about twu hundred early settlers of the cminty 
met at the Court House in Cassopi.lis. for the purpose of organizing- 
a society. Hon. George Newton was called to temporarily preside, and 
Hon. A. B. Copley was chosen as secretary. All the townships, ex- 
cepting Howard, were represented. The chairman appointed a com- 
mittee consisting of one from each township on organization. .\ recess 
was then taken until afternoon. 

Upon reassembling, Uzziel Putnam, Sr.. the first white settler in 
the county, was elected ])ermanent chairman, and C. C. Allison and 
W. H. Mansfield, editors of the local ]>apers, appointed secretaries. A 
constitutiiin was adopted and the fulluwing officers elected: 

Uzziel Putnam, Sr., President. 

George Meacham, Vice President. 

A. B. Copley, Secretary. 

John Tietsort, Assistant Secretar}', and an executi\'e committee 
of one from each township elected. Forty-one pioneers signed the 
constitution at this meeting. 

The executive committee met at Cassopolis January Ji, 1874. and 
adopted the Ijy-laws and adjourned to May 22nd, when Daniel S. Jones, 
G. B. Turner, John Nixon, George T. Shaffer and Joseph Smith were 
appointed a committee to make arrangements for the first annual re- 
union and picnic, to be held on the Fair grounds in Cassopolis, June 17. 

Since that time the society has held its annual reimion on the third 
Wednesday of June, with a single exception of one year. The last 
was the thirty-third reunion. These meetings have been largelv attended, 
there being present from four to seven thousand people. 

Following is a list of principal officers : 
Year. President. Secretary. Treasurer. 

1873 — Uzziel Putnam, Sr. .A. B. Copley Joseph Smith 

1874 — Uzziel Putnam, Sr. A. P.. Copley Joseph Smith 

1875 — Uzziel Putnam, Jr. John T. Enos Asa Kingsburv 

1876 — Uzziel Putnam, Jr. John T. Enos Jno. Tietsort 

1877 — Uzziel Putnam, Jr. L. H. Glover Jno. Tietsort 

1878 — Uzziel Putnam, Jr. L. H. Glover Jno. Tietsort 



35 U 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



1879 — Geo. B. Turner 
1880 — Geo. B. Turner 
1881 — Joseph Harper 
1882 — Jesse G. Beeson 
1883 — -Gillman C. Jones 
1884 — Gillman C. Jones 
1885— M. T. Garvev 
1886— S. T. Read 
1887— Jos. N. Marshall 
1888 — Henrv Kimmcrle 
1889— Ezekiel Smith 
1890 — Geo. T. Shaffer 
1891 — Chester Morton 
1892 — Abijah Huyck 
1893 — Geo. Longsduff 
1894— M. J. Card 
1895 — David R. Stevens 
1896 — Henry Michael 
1897 — Elias Morris 
1898— James M. Truitt 
1899 — Levi J. Reynolds 
1900 — J. Bovd Thomas 
1901 — Isaac Wells 
1902 — Jon'n C. Olmsted 
1903 — John Huff 
1904 — Geo. J. Townsend 
1905 — Henry A. Crego 
1906 — S. M'. Rinehart 

The principal speakers have been prominent men in the. state. For 
the \arii uis _\ears the speakers have Ijeen as follows : 

1874 — Rev. James Ashley. 
1875 — Ji-iflgs F- J- Littlejobn. 
1876 — Go"\'ernor ]cAm ]. Baglev. 
iSj7_Hon. E. W. Keightle'v. ' 
1878— Hon. S. C. Cnffinbury. 
1879^ — Hon. Levi Bishop. 
t88o — Local Pioneers. 
i88t — Governor David H. Jerome. 
1882 — Hon. Thomas W. Palmer. 
1S83 — Go\-ernor Josiah W. Begole. 
1884 — Ex-Governor Austin Blair. 
1885 — Emorv A. Storrs. 
1886— Rev. A. J. Eldred. 
1887 — Governor Cynis G. Luce. 
1888 — General L. S. Trowbridge. 
1880^ — Hon. George L. Yaple. 
1890 — Judge Thomas R. Sherwood. 



L. 


H. 


Glover 


J no. Tietsort 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


jno. Tietsort 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


Jno. Tietsort 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. H. Kingsbury 


S. 


s. 


Harrington 


C. H. Kingsbury 


C. 


\v 


. Clisbee 


Jas. H. Stamp 


C. 


w 


. Clisbee 


Joel Cowgill 


C. 


w 


. Clisbee 


Joel Cowgill 


C. 


w 


. Clisbee 


C. C. Nelson 


C. 


^^^ 


. Clisbee 


C. C. Nelson 


c. 


w. 


. Clisbee 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover. 


C. C. Nelson 


A. 


M. 


Moon 


C. C. Nelson 


A. 


M. 


Moon 


C. C. Nelson 


R. 


Sloan 


C. C. Nelson 


R. 


c. 


Sloan 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Cilover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 


L. 


H. 


Glover 


C. C. Nelson 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



85 i 



189 1 — Local Pioneers. 

1892 — Governor Edwin D. W'inans. 

1893 — Governor John T. Rich. 

1894— Hon. R. R. Pealer. 

1895 — Local Pioneers. 

1896 — Hon. Thomas j\larrs. 

1897— Rev. A. J. Eldred. 

1898^ — Rev. Reason Davis. 

1899^ — ^Hon. William Alden Smith, M. C. 

1900 — Rev. A. J. Eldred. 

1901 — Hon. E. L. Hamilton. 

1902 — Hon. Thomas O'Hara. 

1903 — Hon. Henry Chamherlin. 

1904 — Rev. Nimrod F. Jenkins. 

1905 — Governor Fred M. \\'arner. Judge O. W. Coolidge. 

1906 — Hon. William Aiden Smith, M.'C. 



The' membership of the Pioneer Society, from date of organization 
to the present, with place of residence at time of joining the Society, 
and date of settlement and place of birth, is given in the following 
columns : 

Name. 
George Redfield 
Uzziel Putnam, Jr. 
George Meacham 
Peter Shafifer 
Henry Tietsort 
John Tietsort 
William Jones 
Elias P). Sherman 
John Nixon 
Reuben Henshaw 
Abijah Henshaw 
Mrs. C. ]\'Iessenger 
George T. Shaffer 
E. Shanahan 
Toseph Smith 
"L. D. Smith 
D. S. Jones 
G. B. Turner 
Julia Fisher (wife of 

Henry Tietsort) 
H. Meacham 
J. R. Grenell 
Correl Messenger 
A. J. Cannichael (wife 

of Geo. T. Shaffer Calvin Ohio 1836 





Date of 


' coming 


Residence. 


Birth Place. to 


county. 


Ontwa 


Connecticut 


1834 


Pokagon 


Pokagon 


1826 


Porter 


New York 


1826 


Calvin 


Virginia 


1828 


La Grange 


Ohio 


1828 


Cassopolis 


Ohio 


1828 


Penn 


Ohio 


1829 


Cassopolis 


New York 


1829 


Penn 


North Carolina 


1830 


Volinia 


North Carolina 


1830 


Penn 


North Carolina 


1830 


La Grange 


Indiana 


1831 


Calvin 


Ohio 


1832 


Jefferson 


Delaware 


1832 


Cassopolis 


Virginia 


1832 


Cassopolis 


Cass County 


1832 


La Grange 


Ohio 


1833 


Jefferson 


New York 


1836 


La Grange 


Ohio 


183 s 


Porter 


Cass Countv 


1834 


Newberg 


New York ' 


1834 


La Grange 


Connecticut 


1833 



352 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Charlotte Turner 
Esther Nixon 
.Miss Hannah Ritter 
James Boyd 
Lafayette Atwood 
Sarah Miller (wife of 

Chas. Kingsbury) 
Charles W. Clisbee 
R. V. Hicks 
Philo B. White 
A. D. Northrup 
Amos Northrup 
Moses H. Lee 
Henry L. Barney 
James E. Bonine 
^laria C. Jones 
Samuel Graham 
John Struble 
James H. Graham 
Silas Harwood 
A. B. Copley 
Joseph Harper 
D. M. Howell 
Tchabod Pierson 
G. \\'. Jones 
Lucinda Atwood 
Abijah Huyck 
Sila Huvck 
T. ^I. Tinkler 
Robert Watson 
N. Bock 
Arthur Graham 
Silas A. Pitcher 
Adam Suite 
Justus Gage 
Tacob Hurtle 
T. A. Barney 
"S. T. Read ' 
Orson Rudd 
\\'illiam Sears 
James Oren 
Pleasant Norton 
Rachel Norton 
Ricliard B. Norton 
Tames Townsend 
Ezra B. Warner 
S. D. Wright 
Nathan Jones 
Isaac Bonine 
Lowell H. Glover 
Thos. J. Casterline 



Jeflerson 

Penn 

La Grange 

La Grange 

Wayne 

Cassopolis 

Cassopolis 

Milton 

Wayne 

Calyin 

Calyin 

Ontwa 

Cassopolis 

Penn 

Penn 

Cassopolis 

A'olinia 

Mason 

Newberg 

Yolinia 

Cassopolis 

Penn 

Jeflferson 

"^larcellus 

Wayne 

^Nlarcellus 

Marcellus 

Wayne 

Dowagiac 

Dowagiac 

Dowagiac 

Wayne 

Silver Creek 

Dowagiac 

Dowagiac 

Dowagiac 

Cassopolis 

Cassopolis 

Cassopolis 

Calyin 

Jefferson 

Jefferson 

Jefferson 

Penn 

La Grange 

La Grange 

Penn 

Penn 

Cassopolis 

Penn 



Taunton, Eng. 
Ohio 
Indiana 
New York 
New York 

Ohio 

Ohio 

England 

New York 

^'ermont 

\'ermont 

New Hampshire 

Ohio 

Indiana 

New York 

Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio ' 

New York 

New York 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio ' 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Michigan 

New York 

Pennsylvania 

New York 

Ohio 

Belgium 

Scotland 

Ohio 

New York 

New York 

On the ocean 

Pennsylvania 

New York 

^'e^•nont 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio ' 

Mrginia 

Tennessee 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Xew York 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Indiana 

New York 

New York 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



353 



Asa Kinu;sbur_v 
Eli Green 
Samuel Squires 
Leonard Haskins 
IMaria M. White 
L. S. Henderson 
Theodore Stebbins 
Mrs. Theo. Stebbins 
John S. Gage 
Mrs. John S. Gage 
JMrs. Lucretia Gage 
i\Irs. Thomas Tinkler 
Chester C. ]Morton 
Mrs. C. C. Morton 
E. O. Tavlor 
Mrs. E. 6. Taylor 
Ebenezer Copley 
George Whitbeck 
Mrs. Geo. Whitbeck 
Mrs. Elienezer Copley 
William G. Blair 
Jonathan Olmsted 
Horace Vaughn 
Chaimcev Kenned}' 
John S. Jacks 
Horace Cooper 
David Bement 
Charles Haney 
B. F. Wilkinson 
Charles Morgan 
William R. Sheldon 
H. H. Bidwell 
R. D. l\Iay 
Samuel H. Lee 
John M. Brady 
Noah S. Bradv 
John Gill 
\'alentine Noves 
L G. Bugbee 
Elizabeth H. Bugbee 
Aaron Shellhammer 
John Shellhammer 
James H. Hitchcox 
Horace Thompson 
^[rs. Horace Thompson 
Joshua Brown 
Lucius Keeler 
William Trattles 
!\Irs. William Trattles 
Abel Beebe 
Mrs. Abel Beebe 



La Grange 


Massachusetts 


835 


Dowagiac 


Cass Co., Mich. 


834 


\\"a}-ne 


Kentucky 


836 


Dowagiac 


New York 


S34 


Dowagiac 


Ohio 


837 


Dowagiac 


New York i 


850 


Dowagiac 


New York i 


835 


Do>vagiac 


New York 


833 


Wayne 


New York i 


839 


W^ayne 


New York i 


844 


\Vayne 


New York i 


848 


W'aj^ne 


New York 


839 


^^'a}•ne 


New York 


844 


W'ayne 


Ohio 


837 


Wayne 


New York 


S44 


AVa\ne 


New' York 


845 


^Va^■ne 


New York 


844 


Wayne 


New York 


845 


Wayne 


New- York 


835 


Wayne 


New York 


844 


Ontwa 


New York 


8^6 


Ontwa 


New York 


836 


Ontwa 


New York 


844 


Ontwa 


^lassachusetts 


[840 


Ontwa 


Cass Co., Mich. 


831 


Jefferson 


Ohio 


835 


Ontwa 


Connecticut 


[838 


Ontwa 


Baden, (iermany 


1833 


Ontwa 


New York- 


1844 


Ontwa 


Ohio 


1842 


Ontwa 


Connecticut 


835 


Ontwa 


New York 


1836 


Ontwa 


New York 


1837 


Ontwa 


New Hampshire 


1836 


Ontwa 


New York 


1835 


Ontwa 


^lichigan 


1839 


Ontwa 


Isle of ]\Lin 


1835 


Ontwa 


New York 


1835 


Ontwa 


\'ermont 


1835 


(Jntwa 


Dartmouth. Eng. 


1830 


Porter 


Pennsylvania 


1828 


Porter 


Pennsylvania 


1828 


Porter 


New Yorlc 


1 83 1 


Porter 


r^Iassachusctts 


isV 


Porter 


New- York- 


183.S 


Porter 


Lidiana 


[835 


Porter 


New York 


[836 


Porter 


England 


1838 


Porter 


Canada East 


[836 


Porter 


New York 


[840 


Porter 


Pennsylvania 


840 



354 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



James Motley I'ortcr 

Mrs. James Motley Porter 

George Whited Porter 

ATrs. George Whited Porter 

Mrs. Ik'tscy Whited Porter 

Hall r.eardsley Porter 

Mrs. Hall Beardsley Porter 

Henry Long Porter 

Edward Long Porter 

Oscar Long Porter 

Mrs. Oscar Long Porter 

A. H. Long Porter 

Mrs. A. H.^Long Porter 

Jacob Rinehart Porter 

l\[rs. Jacob Rinehart Porter 

Albert Thompson Porter 

.Samuel Rinehart Porter 

Mrs. Samuel Rinehart Porter 

Abram Rinehart Porter 

Mrs. Abram Rinehart Porter 

T. A. Plitchcox Porter 

Gideon Hebron Porter 

j\lrs. Gideon Hebron Porter 

Marcus ATcHuran Porter 
]\Trs. Marcus McHuran Porter 

John M. Fellows Calvin 

Amos Huff \'olinia 

James M. Wright A'olinia 

Mrs. J. M. Wright A'olinia 

Elizabeth Squires \^o!inia 

George Spicer \"olinia 

Mrs. George Spicer \'olinia 

George Newton \"olinia 

Esther Newton \"olinia 

Milton J. Gard \'olinia 

Jay Rudd Penn 

J. K. Ritter Cassopolis 

Henry Sbanafelt La Grange 

RTrs. FT. .Sbanafelt La Grange 

Mrs. D. M. Warner Cassopolis 

C. Z. Terwilleger A'olinia 

Tames M. Truitt Milton 

'iMargaret P. Truitt Milton 

Charlotte Morris A'olinia 

T-Tattie C. Buell A'olinia 

G. J. Townsend Penn 

E. T-f. Townsend Penn 

John FT. Rich ^'olinia 

George Lyon Penn 

Selina Green Penn 

Tobias Riddle Rerrien Co. 



England 

New York 

Michigan 

Cass Co., INIich. 

Cass. Co., l\Iich. 

Cass Co.. jNIich. 

Ohio 

Massachusetts 

Cass Co., Mich. 

Massachusetts 

New York 

Massachusetts 

New York 

Virginia 

Germany 

Indiana 

Virginia 

Ohio 

Virginia 

New York 

New York 

England 

England 

Cass Co., IMicb. 

Cass Co., j\Tich. 

Pennsylvania 

New York 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania 

England 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Ohio 

\^ermont 

Berrien Countv 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania 

Ohio 

Cass Co., Mich. 

Berrien County 

Pennsvlvania 

Cass Co.. ]\Tich. 

Cass Co., Mich. 

Cass Co., Mich. 

Cass Co., 'Mich. 

Ohio 

North Carolina 

^'irc■inia 



1836 
1836 

1842 
1850 

1834 
1838 
1840 
1844 
1843 
1844 

1837 
1838 

1837 
1829 
1842 
1850 
1829 
1830 
1829 
1836 
1 83 1 
183.3 

i84t 

T829 

1833 
T83t 
1828 
1 83 1 
1847 
18.37 
1 83 1 
1 83 1 
1829 
1836 
1829 
1835 
T844 

I8q2 

18.37 
1838 
1836 
1836 
1 83 1 
1833 
1820 

'8.33 
1 83 1 
1832 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



355 



Asahel. Z. Copley 


A'olinia 


New York 


1834 


Leonard Goodrich 


Jefterson 


New York 


1835 


John Squiers 


VoHnia 


Ohio 


1831 


John Rinehart 


Porter 


Virginia 


1829 


Daniel Vantuyl 


Jefferson 


New Jersey 


1835 


Tames East 


Calvin 


Virginia 


1833 


E. C. Smith 


Howard 


New York 


1835 


T\Irs. E. C. Smith 


Howard 


New York 


1835 


David Histed 


Cassopolis 


New York 


1842 


Charles Smith 


Mason 


New York 


1845 


Harriet Smith 


Mason 


New York 


1845 


James Shaw 


Howard 


New York 


1840 


Peter Sturr 


\^olinia 


New Jersey 


184s 


William Bilderbeck 


Silver Creek 


New' [ersey 


1845 


Sarah Bilderbeck 


Silver Creek 


Ohio " 


184s 


Iliram Rogers l^^ 


:\Ii!ton 


New Jersey 


1831 


S. AI. Grinnell 


Calvin 


New York 


1834 


Jane A. Grinnell 


Newberg 


New York 


1835 


J. Fred Merritt 


Porter 


Cass Co., Mich. 


1846 


"Mary A. ?v[erritt 


Porter 


Cass Co., Mich. 


1845 


Martha Warren 


Newberg 


New York 


1836 


Nelson A. Hutchings 


Newberg 


Ohio 


1836 


George Evans 




.... England 


18^6 


James M. Dver 


Newberg 


New York 


1834 


Phebe C. Dyer 


Newberg 


New York 


T849 


Rebecca Jones 


Newberg 


New York 


1837 


]\Iary Driskell 


Newberg 


Ohio 


1828 


Dennis Driskell 


Newberg 


Ohio 


1829 


Edward IL Jones 


Newberg 


New York- 


1837 


Samuel Everhart 


Newberg 


Pennsylvania 


1836 


iNTars^ Everhart 


Newberg 


New York 


1837 


Thomas W. Ludwick 


Newberg 


Pennsylvania 


1845 


Julia A. Ludwick 


Newberg 


Ohio ■ 


1835 


Amos Cowgill 


La Grange 


Ohio 


1830 


Mrs. E. E. Cowgill 


La Grange 


New York 


1836 


:\rrs. M. A. Bucklin 


La Grange 


Ohio 


1836 


Laura L. Henderson 


Wayne 


Vermont 


1834 


Lewis Rinehart 


Porter 


Virginia 


1829 


Anna Rinehart 


Porter 


Ohio 


1830 


Le Roy Curtis 


Penn 


New York 


1837 


Hardy Langston 


Berrien County 


North Carolina 


18^0 


Mary Langston 


Berrien County 


Virginia 


1830 


A\'ashburn Benedict 


La Grange 


Massachusetts 


T846 


Loann Curtis 


Penn 


New York 


1837 


Albert Jones 


Newberg 


New York- 


1837 


H. D. Shellenbarger 


Porter 


Ohio 


1845 


Sarah Shellenbarger 


Porter 


Michigan 


1839 


William Renesten 


La Grange 


Pennsylvania 


1830 


C. C. Grant 


Mason 


New York 


1831 


Margaret Davidson 


La Grange 


England 


1832 


Sarah Hebron 


Penn 


North Carolina 


1830 



3oti 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Xathaiiicl LUackinure 
J(.)hn ] lain, Jr. 
Jesse G. Beeson 
Alary Beeson 
Isaac A. Huff 
Isaac N. Gard 
David Hain 
Leander Osborne 
] larrison Strong 
Fidelia A. Strong 
i\Iargaret Stevenson 
Sanniel Patrick 
Moses N. Adams 
Elenora E. Stephens 
Weslev Hunt 
II. A.' Wiley 
S. C. Olmsted 
W. II. I fain 
Elmira Gilbert 
L. Dickson 
Calesta Stratton 
Lucinda Davis 
David R. Stephens 
Elias Jewell 
T. .\. .Shingledecker 
Barltara Shingledecker 
^^'illianl Weaver 
Elizabeth Weaver 
S. II. Gilbert 
John G. Clark 
Tames P. Doty 
R. J. Dickson 
Hannah B. Dickson 
Elizabeth Gard 
Tohn Hain 
Elizalicth Gilbert 
William Saulsbury 
Peter Ylufi 
C'ool Runkle 
Margaret Runkle 
Merritt A. Thompson 
J. B. Thomas 
]\Irs. J. B. Thomas 
B. K. Jones 
Isaac Wells 
William I. Hall 
B. F. Ru<ld 
Loomis II. Warren 
Orley .Ann Warren 
Susanah Davis 
Reuben Pi. Davis 



Untwa 

La Grange 

La Grange 

La Cirange 

La Grange 

X'olinia 

La Grange 

P'enn 

Mason 

Alason 

Mason 

Jefl'erson 

Ontvva 

Mason 

Calvin 

Ontwa 

Ontvva 

La Grange 

Porter 

Dowagiac 

Dowagiac 

Pennsylvania 

Mason 

Wayne 

La Grange 

La Grange 

Jefferson 

Jefferson 

Porter ' 

La Grange 

La Grange 

Pokagon 

1 \ikagon 

Volinia 

La Grange 

Porter 

Jefferson 

Wayne 

Milton 

Milton 

Vandalia 

Ontwa 

Ontwa 

Niles 

La Grange 

\'olinia 

Xewbcrg 

\'oliuia 

\'olinia 

Jefferson 

Jefferson 



New York 
Michigan 
Indiana 
Pennsylvania 
Kentucky 
Indiana 

North Carolina 
Indiana 
New York 
New York 
New York 
Ohio 
Vermont 
New York 
Vermont 
Ohio 

Connecticut 
La Grange, Mich. 
Vermont 
New York- 
Ohio 
Ohio 

New York 
New Jersev 
Ohio 
Ohio 

New York 
Michigan 
New York 
Ohio 

New York 
Maryland 
New" York 
Ohio 

North Carolina 
England 
Ohio 
Kentucky 
New York 
Pennsylvania 
Michigan 
Pennsylvania 
Ontwa', Mich. 
Ohio 
Ohio 
Ohio 
\'ermont 
New York 
Cass County 
Ohio 
A'ircinia 



1828 

1830 
1830 
1830 

1831 

■«35 
1844 
1844 
1849 
1845 
1837 
1 84 1 
1836 
1836 
1836 
1840 

1835 
1828 
1832 
1820 
1833 
1837 
1846 
1846 
1 84 1 
183.S 
'835 
183S 

184.S 
1828 

■847 
1829 
1829 
1 836 
183.? 
T83! 
1841 
-844 
,847 
1843 
TS40 

'8.S3 
1832 

'833 
■834 

1833 
1834 
1840 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Sol 



John Bar1)cr 


Milton 


Pennsylvania 


i86i 


Mrs. Kate E. Barber 


Milton 


Michigan 


1840 


Leonard Kecnc 


Calvin 


North Carolina 


1832 


Alsey Keene 


Calvin 


Ohio 


1832 


Ebenezer Anderson 


Penn 


New Jersey 


1833 


George Laporte 


\Vayne 


X'irginia 


1833 


Peter Youngblood 


La Grange 


\'irginia 


1832 


John Rosebrough 


Tefferson 


Ohio 


1832 


James W. Robinson 


Xiles 


Ohio 


1833 


Alex. L. Tharp 


Vandalia 


Ohio 


1837 


J. H. Thomas 


Mason 


Vermont 


1838 


G. A. Meacham 


ALison 


New York 


1854 


WilHam Clark 


Calvin 


North Carolina 


1840 


Edwin T. Dickson 


Berrien County 


Indiana 


1828 


Laban Tharp 


Jefferson 


Ohio 


1828 


Lydia Tharp 


Jefferson 


Ohio 


1830 


Sanford Ashcraft 


Penn 


New York 


1837 


Abigail Ashcraft 


Penn 


New York 


1837 


R. Russell 


Penn 


New York 


1863 


E. Russell 


Penn 


Vermont 


1863 


B. Lincoln 


Penn 


New York 


1834 


Acacha Lincoln 


Penn 


Ohio 


1845 


\A'illiam D. Brown ell 


Ontwa 


New York 


1854 


James L. Glenn 


Niles 


Pennsvlvania 


1835 


Henry Kimmerle 


La Grange 


Ohio ' 


1833 


M. J. Kimmerje 


I-a Grange 


Michigan 


1837 


D. A. Squier 


Decatur 


Michigan 


1834 


R. H. Wilev 


La Grange 


Michigan 


i84(, 


H. S. Rodgers '■' 


Vol in i a 


Ohio 


1833 


M. A. Folmer 


Milton 


Pennsylvania 


1836 


Spencer Williams 


Milton 


Delaware 


1831 


T. Wood 


Howard 


New York 


1836 


A. C. Ellis 


Wa)-ne 


New York 


1837 


H. M. Osborn 


Penn 


Indiana 


1847 


Stephen Jones 


La Grange 


Ohio 


1829 


Elias Pardee 


Pokagon 


Ohio 


1844 


C. C. Allison 


La Grange 


Illinois 


1848 


Josiah Kinnison 


Howard 


Maine 


1828 


Henry Michael 


Silver Creek 


Ohio 


1S30 


Hiram Lee 


Calvin 


Tennessee 


1835 


David B. Copley 


Penn 


New York 


1835 


]\lrs. Abbey H. Copley 


Penn 


New York 


1835 


H. A. Chapin 


Nilcs 


Massachusetts 


1836 


P. W. Southworth 


\'nlinia 


Vermont 


1837 


Mrs. J. A. Southworth 


N'olinia 


Vermont 


1836 


Asa Huntington 


Wavne 


Vermont 


1842 


Zera A. Tyler 


AVavne 


New York 


1846 


William Allen 


Porter 


Ohio 


1848 


Lyman B. Spalding 


La Grange 


La Grange 


1839 


Mrs. M. S. Robinson 


Niles 


^'crmont 


T835 


Davifl GawUirop 


La Grange 


■Michigan 


1833 



358 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Henry W. Smith 
Airs. Nancy J. Smith 
Eli ISenjaniin 



John Al. Truilt 
Ann E. Truitt 
Z. Tinkham 
lolm T. Aliller 
"W. 11. Smith 
RobiTt D. Alerritt 
Airs. Robert Alerritt 
Nathan Skinner 
Airs. Nathan Skinner 
W. G. Beckwith 
J. M. Jewell 
Elias Jewell 
Tames S. Odell 
Mrs. J. S. Odell 
Airs. W. H. Smith 
John Williams 
Emmett Dunning 

B. A. Tharp 
Dyer Dunning 
Emily Tyler 

C. AI. Doane 
Emory Doane 
Green Allen 

Isaac Johnson ^ 
Russell Cook ^ 
Airs. Russell Cook '- 
AI. Carpenter 
Airs. Eliza Carjicnter 
Peter Truitt 
T. S. Shaw 
W. \V. Smith 
H. C. Parker 
C. 1'. \\'ells 
Tames P. .Smith 
Susan C. Smith 
J. E. Garwood 
Airs. J. E. Garwood 
Joseph Kirkwood 
Harrison Adams 
Airs. Harrison Adams 
Solomon Curtis 
Airs. Louisa Curtis 
Ann Coulter 
Ann H. Hopkins 
^Irs. Norton Ihirklin 



A'olinia 
X'olinia 
Untwa 

NAMES ADDED IN 1877. 

Alilton 

Alilton 

Polcagon 

Jefferson 

X'olinia 

Porter 

Porter 

Porter 

Porter 

Jefferson 

Wayne 

^¥a)'ne 

Porter 

Porter 

X'olinia 

Jefferson 

Howard 

Calvin 

Alilton 

\\''ayne 

Howard 

Porter 

Calvin 

La Grange 

Pokagon 

PokagcMi 

Aliltoii 

Alilton 

Alilton 

\'olinia 

La Grange 

Pokagon 

Pokagon 

Ontwa 

Ontwa 

Pokagon 

Pokagon 

Wai,'ne 

Jcft'erson 

TetTcrson 

Penn 

Penn 

Howard 

Ontwa 

AInrcellus 



Ohio 


1832 


Ohio 


1836 


Massachusetts 


1854 



Delaware 


831 


Delaware 


835 


New York 


852 


Pennsylvania 


8^0 


Ohio ' 


83-; 


Michigan 


1838 


Michigan 


837 


Ohio 


84.5 


Ohio 


845 


New Y'ork 


836 


Ohio 


856 


New Jersey 


837 


Michigan 


1837 


Ohio 


842 


Ohio 


836 


Michigan 


1835 


Pennsylvania 


83.S 


Ohio ' 


843 


Pennsylvania 


834 


New York 


846 


A'lichigan 


1847 


Michigan 


1845 


North Carolina 


848 


Virginia 


S37 


New York 


837 


New Hampshire 


837 


Delaware 


837 


Delaware 


837 


Delaware 


831 


Ohio 


831 


Michigan 


'837 


Ohio 


851 


New York 


83.S 


New York 


840 


New York- 


840 


ATichigan 


832 


Ohio ' 


839 


Scotland 


836 


Alaine 


816 


Alichigan 


836 


New York 


839 


New Y'ork i 


833 


Ohio 1 


836 


Delaware 


842 


Pennsylvania 


847 



HISTORY or CASS COUNTY 



359 



,Mrs. j. J. Riiter 


La Grange 


Michigan 


1849 


William K. Ak-rritt, Jr. 


Porter 


Ohio 


i«34 


William Robbins 


I'orter 


Alichigan 


1837 


Matilda P. Griffith 


Milton 


Delaware 


1832 


Lizzie E. Tewksbury 


Untwa 


New York 




W. I. Griffith 


Alilton 


Indiana 


184s 


Mrs. W. I. Griffith 


Milton 


Michigan 


1846 


Thomas J. b'oster 


.St. Joseph Co., Ind. 

NAMES ADDED IN 1 8/8 


Michigan 


1842 


Amos Smith 


Penn 


Pennsylvania 


1848 


\\'illiam Condon 


Jefiferson 


Ireland 


838 


Airs. L. Goodspeed 


Volinia 


New York 


836 


Daniel Blish 


Dowagiac 


New Hampshire 


839 


Mrs. Julia Blish 


Dowagiac 


New York 


1839 


Catherine Roof 


Porter 


Pennsylvania 


836 


Hugh C. McNeil 


Mason 


New York 


835 


Joseph Spencer 


W'ayne 


New "N'ork 


837 


Laura Spencer 


Wa}ne 


New York 


837 


Samuel DeCou 


Penn 


New Jersey 


849 


Isabella Batchelor 


Milton 


New York 


835 


A. A. Goddard 


Mason 


Connecticut 


836 


C. \V. Morse 


Dowagiac 


Vermont 


8si 


L. B. Patterson 


Pokagon 


Michigan 


838 


Hannah M. Patterson 


Pokagon 


Cass County 


845 


William Hicks 


Milton 


England 


8^6 


Jacob Tittle 


Milton 


Ohio 


830 


Henry Fredricks 


Porter 


•Pennsxlvania 


836 


Henry Harmon 


Porter 


Ohio ' 


840 


Henry Eloodsjood 


Cassopolis 


New York 


838 


Asa B. Wetherbee 


Newberg 


New York 


833 


Abrani Fiero 


La Grange 


New York 


853 


Hannah Henshaw 


Volinia 


Indiana 


830 


Eli Bump 


Penn 


Ohio 


836 


lames Pollock 


Penn 


Ohio 


830 


Leander Bridge 


Marcellu.s 


New York 


845 


Harriet A. Bridge* 


Newberg 


New York- 


835 


Ira J. Putnam 


Pokagon 


Cass Count\- 


827 


lolin F. Dodge 


Newberg 


New York- 


835 


Avril Earl 


La Grange 


New York- 


836 


Gamaliel Townscnd 


La Grange 


Canada West 


826 


Tohn Hain, Sr. 


La Grange 


North Carolina 


831 


P. P. Perkins 


Howard ' 


New York 


834 


E. P. Cli.sbee 


Dbcrlin 


Ohio 


8:;8 


Orlean Putnam 


La Grange 


New York- 


82 1; 


Amelia Putnam 


La Grange 


New York 


828 


James A. Lee 


Dowagiac 


New York 


838 


Patience Lee 


Dowagiac 


New York 


838 


John Bedford 


Dowagiac 


England 


852 



* The first white child horn in X'ewberg township. 



3(>U 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Nathan Phillips 
George Rogers 
Abraham Rinchart 
Hannah E. Rineharl 
John L}'brook 
J oscpli L.vbrook 
Ellen P. 'Hihrey 
Adelia T. Merritt 
Daniel Mcintosh 
Hugh P. Garrett 
John McPherson 
William Young- 
John A. Jones 
Zora E. Jones 
Roderick L. \'an Ness 
Julia E. \"an Ness 
Joseph L. Jacks 
Dr. A. J. ijoughton 
Matthew T. Garvey 
Sarah E. Garvev 



I'okagon 


New York 


1844 


(. )nt\va 


New York 


1849 


Porter 


X'irginia 


1829 


Porter 


New York 


1836 


La Grange 


\'irginia 


1823 


La Grange 


Cass County 


1846 


Cassopolis 


Wales 


1835 


Bristol, Ind. 


New York 


1830 


Pcnn 


Maryland 


1820 


La Grange 


Ohio 


1848 


Jefferson 


Ohio 


1829 


Ploward 


Vermont 


1831 


Cassopolis 


Pennsylvania 


1846 


Cassopolis 


Cass Countv 


1853 


Cassopolis 


Howard 


184 s 


Cassopolis 


Vol in i a 


1852 


Edwardsburg 


Pennsylvania 


1829 


W'akelee 




T836 


Jefferson 


Ohio 


1846 


Jefferson 


Massachusetts 


1848 



NAMES ADDED IN 1879. 



Amos Jones 
W'illiam Reames 
Charles R. Poe 
John C. Carmichael 
Samuel Morris 
David Beardslev 
Mrs.. Mary Dewey 
Valentine Noyes 
I'ricl Enos 

Polly M. Shellhammcr 
James W. East 
Frank Savage 
Archibald Dimn 
Henrv Aldrich 
George Smith 
Milton Hull 
William Lawson 
T'4)hraim Hanson 
Jonathan Colyer 
Sarah Atwood 
Catherine Colver 
Arthur Smith 
Mary Jane Smith 
Salicia Emmons 
Uzziel Putnam 
James P.. Treat 
Elizabeth Grubb 
Martha Norton 



La Grange 


Ohio 


1830 


Jefferson 


North Carolina 


1828 


Newberg 


Ohio 


1835 


lulwardsburg 


Ohio 


1836 


Wilinia 


Ohio 


1828 


Mason 


Ohio 


18^2 


Pokagon 


Indiana 


1829 


Edwardsburg 


New York 


1835 


Milton 


Vermont 


1833 


Porter 


Ohio 


1834 


Calvin 


Indiana 


1832 


Marcellus 


Marcellus 


1846 


Newberg 


New York 


1835 


Milton 


Rhode Island 


1834 


Milton 


Delaware 


1828 


Calvin 


North Carolina 


18-.3 


Ontwa 


New York 


1835 


Jefferson 


North Carolina 


18-, I 


Dowagiac 


Pennsylvania 


18V 


Teffcrson 


Ohio " 


1832 


Dowagiac 


Penns\lvauia 


i8s8 


Dowagiac 


New "^'ork 


1837 


Howard 


New York 


1822 


Polcagon 


New York 


1825 


Silver Creek 


New York 


T834 


Calvin 


Ohio 


18^0 


Calvin 


Ohio 


1832 



HISTORY OF CASS COUiN'i Y 



;;()! 



John A. Reynolds 
Laura J. Rc)nolds 
Joshua Leach 
A. F. Northrup 
Charity Rich 
N. B. Goodenough 
Cjeorge Longsduff 
Margaret Seares 
George L. Stevens 
Fhas Morris 
Charlotte Morris 
Elijah Gohle 
Eliza Gohle 
Levi Springsteen 
Braddock Carter 
Caroline Carter 
Anselm Jessup 
Richard C. Ross 
Mehitable Ross 
William Hitchcox 
Elizabeth Hitchcox 
George Bement 
Mrs. Betsy Gardner 
David T. Truitt 
A. J. Gardner 
David Beardsley 
Mrs. Belinda Miller 
Ann C. Aliller 
Lewis H. Miller 
Virgil Turner 
Arietta Van Ness 
Elizabeth D. Keeler 
Joshua Richardson 
Eveline E. Richardson 
Thomas Stapleton 
Mrs. C. J. Greenleaf 
Maryette H. Glover 
Thomas Odell 
Henry J. Brown 
Sadie Huyck 
Jacob B. Breece 
Sarah M. Breece 
Aaron J. Nash 
Margaret R. Nash 



Jcrrerson 

JclTerson 

i'enn 

Calvin 

Volinia 

Volinia 

V'andalia 

La Grange 

:\ Jason 

Volinia 

Volinia 

Dowagiac 

Dowagiac 

Wayne 

Porter 

Porter 

Calvin 

Mason 

Mason 

^Mason 

Mason 

Untwa 

Mason 

:\rilton 

Mason 

Mason 

Mason 

Mason 

Mason 

Ontwa 

Howard 

Porter 

Porter 

Porter 

Cassopolis 

Dowagiac 

Cassopolis 

Porter 

Porter 

Marcellus 

Jefferson 

Jefferson 



NAMES ADDED IN 1880. 



William H. Olmstead 


Milton 


Sarah A. Olmstead 


Milton 


Jacob Suits 




Mary Reames 


Jefferson 


John E. Reames 


Jefferson 



New York I 


848 


New Wivk 1 


cS4y 


Vermont 1 


833 


Vermont 1 


838 


CJhio 1 


829 


New ^'urk 1 


846 


Pennsylvania 


847 


Pennsylvania 


[840 


Mason 


847 


\'an Buren Co. 


832 


Pennsylvania 


832 


Ohio ' 


828 


Ohio 


1831 


New York ] 


836 


New York 


844 


Vermont ] 


844 


Indiana 


833 


Ohio 


832 


New \'ork- 


829 


Michigan 


1835 


Indiana 


848 


Mason 


841 


New York 


832 


Delaware 


83 i 


New York 


832 


Ohio 


833 


New York 


835 


New York 


835 


New York 


835 


New York 


854 


New York 


845 


New York 


835 


Ohio 


846 


Michigan 


1830 


Ireland 


851 


Dowagiac 




Cassopolis 


846 


Porter 


831 


Michigan 


830 


Michigan 


1839 


Pennsylvania 


[838 


Pennsylvania 


838 


New York 


854 


New York 


1854 


New York 


846 


New York 


835 


New York 


835 


Ohio 


828 


Ohio 


833 



3G2 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Loviiiia Reames 
Samuel Ingling 
Jane D. Ingling 
Jos. H. Burns 
Ann I£. Burns 
John Pjilderback 
Cynthia Bilderback 
Eleazer Hammond 
Reason S. Pemherton 
Margaret Pemherton 
Erastus Z. Morse 
Israel P. Hutton 
John H. Hutton 
Anne Moorlag 
Sarah Ann Moorlag 
William Loupe 
Mar_v Loupe 
Jantha Wood 
^Villiam H. Doane 
Lois A. Doane 



Jefferson 


Kentucky 


1833 


Dowagiac 


Kentucky 


1845 


Duwagiac 


Xew York 


1845 


Mason 


New York 


1847 


Mason 


New York 


1854 


Silver Creek 


Ohio 


1845 


Silver Creek 


r^Iichigan 


1843 


Milton 


New York 


1844 


X'andalia 


Indiana 


1836 


\ andalia 


Germany 


1842 


Porter 


\'ermont 


1845 


Berrien County 


Pennsylvania 


1846 


I'orter 


Pennsylvania 


1846 


I'enn 


Holland 


1844 


Penn 


Indiana 


1870 


Porter 


Penns>dvania 


1833 


Porter 


Michigan 


1843 


Howard 


New York 


1841 


Howard 


New York 


1835 


Howard 


New A'ork 


1837 



NAMES ADDED IN 1 88 1. 



Gabriel Eby 
Caroline Eby 
Hiram N. Woodin 
Martha C. Woodin 
H. II. Poorman 
Henrv E. Hain 
William M. Hass 
Nancv Simpson 
J. M.' Huff 
Josephine B. Smith 
Porr\' Curtiss 
G. W. Smith 
Alfred Shockle\' 
11. 1'.. Shurter ' 
^ilartin Stamp 
.\. I). Thom])son 
C. Al. Odell 
Kimmey Shanahan 
Samuel W. Breece 
Jacob Reese 
Marcus Sherrell 
IT. D. Bowling 
Mrs, Marv Childs 
A, 1. Ditz 

Willi-im XX'. Carpenter 
Georsre W. Williams 
Insper K. .\ldrich 
Mrs. EniiK Curtis 



Porter 


Ohio 


1837 


Porter 


Germany 


1848 


Mason 


New York 


1846 


Mason 


New York 


1847 


Marcellus 


Pennsylvania 


i8s8 


Edvvardsburg 


Michigan 


1836 


La Grange 


Illinois 


1853 


Pokagon 


X'irginia 


1827 


X'olinia 


Ohio 


1834 


Milton 


Delaware 


1834 


Silver Creek 


Xlichigan 


1838 


Milton 


Delaware 


^ 1S54 


Milton 


Delaware 


1833 


Jefferson 


New York 


1856 


Penn 


Michigan 


184^ 


Milton 


Delaware 


18^6 


Howard 


Michiiian 


1837 


Ontwa 


Michigan 


1854 


Newberg 


Michiean 


1842 


]\Tilton 


New York 


1834 


TelTerson 


Jefferson 


1840 


Pokagon 


Ohio 


1847 


California 


Indiana 


1847 


Vinson 


New York 


T847 


Milton 


Delaware 


1830 


1 [owanl 


Delaware 


1838 


^lilton 


^richigan 


1849 


Xewberg 







HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



303 



Enos Rosebrough 
George Tharp 
Peter Fox 
John Fless 
Henrv D. Goodrich 
John O. Pollock 
William D. Fox 
Elias B. Lowman 
John A. Parsons 
Nathaniel B. Crawford 
Byron H. Casterline 
George S. Bassett 
David D. Brady 
Horace Warren 
Harvey Depuy 
George B. Crawford 
Asher J. Shaw 
Robert N. JNIartin 
John R. Everhart 
Sarah Driscol Everhart 
John Manning 
Richard M. Williams 



Cyrus Tuthill 
Nicholas Haller 
Catherine Haller 
Samuel Stevens 
John F. Burnett 
Marcus L. Morton 
jNToses Crosby 
Sarah Stanard 
James ^l. Chapman 
Mary Chapman 
Simon B. Poor 
Henrv B. Wilson 
Ira Stephenson 
J. H. Beauchamp 



James G. Havden 
Jacob Allen, \l. D. 
Henrv Thompson 
Edmund D. Bement 
Sarah H. Simpson 
Harriet Benedict 
William H. Smith 
Melissa J. Smith 
Hannah "L. Hall 
Charles Ferrell 



Jefferson 

Jefferson 

Howard 

Jefferson 

Jeft'erson 

Penn 

Howard 

Jeft'erson 

Milton 

^^"a\■ne 

Penn 

Dowagiac 

Penn 

Newbcrg" 

Penn 

La Grange 

Howard 

Penn 

Porter 

Porter 

Porter _Co., Ind. . 

La Grange 

NAMES ADDED IN 1882. 

Dowagiac 

\'olinia 

A'olinia 

^ifason 

Pokagon 

Wayne 

\'andalia 

Dowagiac 

Newberg 

Newberg 

Cassopolis 

Calvin 

Jeft'erson 

^lilton 

NAMES ADDED IN 1 883. 

La Grange 

Riverside. Calif. 

IV fa son 

Ontwa 

Pokagon 

I^a Grange 

Howard 

Howard 

Cass Co. 

\^'avne 



Michigan 


1839 


]\Iichigan 


1842 


Delaware 


1839 


( )hio 


1841 


Illinois 


1843 


Ohio 


1830 


Delaware 


1846 


Ohio 


1854 


Michigan 


1848 


New Jersey 


1855 


Michigan 


1847 


Ohio 


1842 


Ohio 


1835 


Michigan 


1837 


New York 


1851 


Ohio 


1855 


Michigan 


1847 


Ohio '" 


1 86 1 


Pennsvlvania 


1832 


Ohio ' 


1829 


Michigan 


1834 


Ohio 


1 85 1 


New York 


1855 


Prussia 


1837 


Ohio 


i8si 


New York 


1830 


New Jersey 


1853 


^^'ayne 


i8so 


New York 


1837 


New York 


1845 


Ohio 


1844 


New York 


1844 


New York 


1827 


North Carolina 


T854 


Ohio 


i8,S4 


Milton 


1847 


Calvin 


i8?4 


New York 


US34 


A'erniont 


1838 


Ontwa 


i8s2 


New Hampshire 


18:56 


New York 


1857 


Howard 


1837 


Howard 


1844 


New York 


1 84 1 


Ohio 


1833 



:i(i4 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



NAMES ADDED IN 1 884 AND 1885. 



Lengiiel Smith 
Hiram Jewell 
Alnnzo Garwood 
Sewell Hull 
luhvard Chatterdon 
I'.enj. F. Tleeson 
Nancy Osborn 
Ellen Jackson 
Turner B^'rd 
Jonathan Hill 
"Jacob Hill 
William J. Abbott 
Flias M.'lngling 
Alice K. Shanahan 
Damarius Allen 
Rtifus W. Landon 
Jarius Avers 
James A. Williams 
Fliza l\r. Weatherby 
Sarah Fox 



Milton 


Delaware 


1833 


Cassopolis 


New Jersev 


1832 


Cassopolis 


Ohio " 


1 8 so 


Pipestone 


Vermont 


1836 


Howard 


New York 


1836 


Calvin 


Indiana 


1833 


Penn 


New York 


1837 


Calvin 


Calvin 


1835 


Calvin 


North Carolina 


1847 


Elkhart, Tnd. 


Cass Co. 


1832 


Fa\'ette Co., la. 


Pennsylvania 


1839 


Milton 


Delaware 


1843 


Dowagiac 


Ohio 


1848 


Ontwa 


Ontwa 


i8qi 


Mason 


Massachusetts 


1835 


Nilcs 


Connecticut 


1832 


Penn 


New York 


1837 


Fdwardsburg 


Milton 


1845 


Ncwbcrg 


New A'ork 


1845 


Howard 




1844 



NAMES ADDED IN 1 886. 



Pleasant Arnick 
Abram Hutchins 
Roxaua Bement 
Jane Jenkins 
Harriet Patterson 
Mary A. Houghtalinc 
Ilcnrv S. Quick 
F.li/'a Smith 



Chicago 


Diamond Lake 


■834 


Newberg 


New York 


1835 


Ontwa 


New A^ork 


T837 


Pok-agon 


Ohio 


1848 


Newberg 


Pennsylvania 


i8^8 


Newberg 


Ohio ■ 


l8q8 


La Grange 


New Jersey 


1833 


Milton 


Delaware 


1828 



NAMES ADDED IN t88; 



lohn Keegan 
Thomas Kirkwood 
Melissa Kirkwood 
lyiicajah P. Grennell 
Margaret Pearson 
Anna W. Shurter 
Mrs. Curtis 



Jefferson 

Wavue 

Wayne 

\'avidalia 

Cassopolis 

Jefferson 

Cassopolis 



Ontwa 


1845 


Ohio 


T836 


Ohio 


1849 


New Jersev 


18.34 


Ohio " 


1828 



NAMES ADDED IN t888. 



Hcnrv Stevenson 
Henrictte Stevenson 
S. H. Morse 
lanies L. Simpson 
David Thomas 



Penn 
Penn 



Polcagon 
Indiana 



T840 
1842 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



NAMES ADDED IX 1889. 



James Griffis 
Parmelia N. Griffis 
Eliza F. Hunt 
Phineas Nixon 
Grace S. Pound 
^fary A. Dunn 
Harriet A. Root 
Henry D. Arnold 
Alary Dunn Arnold 
Joseph W. Sturr 
Levisa Sturr 
Stephen A. Nichols 
Mary A. Nichols 
Nelson Hedger 
Samuel JMcKee 



Joudan P. Osborn 
Rhoda M. Huey 
Smyra Spencer 
Abner Brown 
Betsey J. Stephenson 



Lovina Allen Haithcock 
Eennet Allen 
H. Alarquis Gibson 
Percilla Casey Ford 
Richmond Lake 
Fred A. Hadsell 
Flenry A. Crego 
Flenry W. Harwood 
Joseph Foresman 
\\"iniam H. Owen 
Robert C. Sloan 
Byron Fiero 
Tva Wrieht Fiero 
William R. Sheldon 
:\rilton Wright 
Elizabeth ]\Tvers \\Vis:ht 



Ulvsses S. Eby 
Willis Haithcock 
George H. Curtis 
]\Iercv Wood Zelner 
E. A\'. \Vagor 



Wayne 


Pokagon 


18^1 


^^'ayne 


Geneva 


1831 


Calvin 


Calvin 


1833 


Penn 


l^enp 


1839 


New berg 


Volinia 


1839 


Newberg 


ATason 


1840 


La Grange 


Cassopolis 


1841 


Newberg 


Mason 


1837 


Newberg 


Flillsdale 


1840 


^^'ayne 


New Jersey 


1840 


Wayne 


Ontario 


1840 


Newberg 


Ohio 


183^ 


Ne^vberg 


England 


1843 


Jefferson 


New York 


1823 


Newberg 


Newherg 


1848 


S ADDED FROM 


1889 TO 1895. 




Cassopolis 


Indiana 


1842 


Penn 


New York 


1844 


Cass Co. 




1852 


Volinia 


New York" 


1837 


AFason 


A'lason 


1844 


NAMES ADDED 


IN 1896. 




Calvin 


Ohio 


1848 


CaKin 


Ohio 


1847 


Calvin 


North Carolina 


J 854 


Calvin 


North Carolina 


i8so 


Penn 


New A'ork 


1844 


Jefferson 


Massachusetts 


185.=; 


\'olinia 


Newberg 


1842 


Ontwa 


Alilton 


1846 


La Grange 


Pennsylvania 


1844 


Calvin 


Mason 


18^8 


Cassopolis 


New York- 


1842 


La Grange 


La Grange 


i8^3 


La Grange 


A'olinia 


t868 


Fdwardsburg 


Alichigan 


1833 


La Grange 


Wayne 


1833 


La Grange 


A'olinia 


1837 


NAMES ADDED 


IN 1897. 




Porter 


Porter 


186^ 


Calvin 


North Carolina 


1846 


Calvin 


Indiana 


i8q6 


Dowagiac 


Kent Co.. Mich. 


1878 


Jones 


New York 


1844 



8()('l 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Rachcjl Shanafelt Um- 
herfield 



La Grangfe 



.Xiidrcw C. Foster 


X'olinia 


Reason Freer 


Cassopolis 


j . J I . W' arner 


\'olinia 


James A foreland 


A'olinia 


William Laporte 


La Grange 


Elmore F. Lewis 


Ncwbcrg 


William Pegg 


Penn 


J. J. Cables 


\'olinia 


Cynthia Allen Cables 


\'olinia 


William FI. Beeson 


La Grange 


Nimrod Muncy 


Dowagiac 




NAMES ADDED IN 


Mary A. Hass 


La Grange 


Daniel M. Fisher 


Howard 


Tames H. Abbott 


Milton 


Tohn r.cdford 


I Toward 


I'liillip Ware 


Calvin 




NAMES ADDED IX 


Hi ram Cobb 


Hntwa 


Nellie r,eardsle\- Cobb 


( )nt\va 


William Butts 


Alilt.m 


Leverett E. Mather 


Howard 


Nathan G. Stanard 


Pnrtcr 


Lora Beardsley Stanard 


Porter 


Ida Springsteen Benedict La (Grange 


Timotiiv B. Benddict 


T^a Grange 


Silas II. Thomas 


Pt'nn 


William J. Primrose 


Tefferson 


David ludie 


Volinia 


Tohn D. Williams 


Cassopolis 


Ilenrv L. Case 


ATason 


C\iitliia Tyler Case 


Alason 


Clara Mead Zeller 


Cassopolis 




NAMES ADDED IN 


Thomas ^1. Scares 


I^a Grange 


Perry A. Ca>-s 


I>a Grange 


El wood East 


Calvin 


Mortimer O. Iladden 


\'olinia 


Susan Foresman 


La Grange 


Harriet Stephens 


Calvin 


Emily Wheeler 


Dowagiac 


George Scott 


X^olinia 


Olive Parmenter Scott 


\'olinia 


Sanniel Hawks 


Calvin 



1898. 



1890. 



1900. 



Ohio 

Ohio 

New York 
New York 
Volinia 
La Grange 
Newberg 
New York 
New York 
Penn 
Indiana 
La Grange 



Indiana 

Howard 

Delaware 

England 

Ohio 



1838 

1845 
1866 

1837 
1840 

1834 
1847 
1832 
1850 

1849 
1832 

1833 



i860 
1837 
1844 
1862 
1866 



Ohio 


1844 


Michigan 


1 89 1 


]VTichigan 


1854 


Connecticut 


i8s6 


Porter 


1847 


Porter 


i8so 


La Grange ' 


1864 


I^a Grange 


1859 


Indiana 


1842 


Delaware 


1844 


Penns}-lvan:a 


1867 


Tefferson 


1837 


Ohio 


i8s6 


New York 


1848 


Ontwa 


i860 


La Grange 


T840 


La Grange 


1836 


Calvin 


1843 


New York 


1842 


New York 


1847 


New York 


1866 


\"irginia 


i860 


New ^'ork 


T837 


Ohio 


i860 


A'irginia 


uSw 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



M6T 



NAMES ADDED IN I9OI. 



Margaret Hedger Olmsted Jefferson 



R(j}al Salisbury 
Edmund Landen 
I'aulina Allen Landen 
Abram H. Haff 
\V. C. Griffith 
Wm. H. C. Hale 
Thomas M. Areux 
Luc}- Regnall Areux 
Elizabeth Hulse Stevens 



Luther J. Pray 
Bruce Beebe 
Joseph Parker 
George Green 
Franklin T. Wolfe 
David A. Squire 
Myron F. Burney 
Robert Patterson 
Calvin A. Collev 



Howard 

Jefferson 

Jeft'erson 

N'lilinia 

Milton 

Calvin 

Jefferson 

Jeft'erson 

Mason 

NAMES ADDED IN I902. 

Dowagiac 

jMarcellus 

La Grange 

Yandalia 

Wakelee 

Decatur 

Newberg 

FloUy 

J\Lason 

NAMES ADDED IN I9O3. 



Philo Brown Calvin 

Herbert E. Moon Cassopolis 

Israel Flartsell Penn 

Charles B. Zeller Cassopolis 

John R. Carr Cassopolis 

Edwin AMiite Porter 

George F. Holliway Cassopolis 

Edwin W. Beckwith Jeft'erson 

Warren W. Reynolds Cassopolis 

George B. McNiel Cassopolis 

George I\L Rivers Cassopolis 

Harsen D. Smith Cassopolis 

Charles Harlfelter Cassopolis 

Allen M. Kingsbury La Grange 

William Hartsell Penn 

Franc A. Lamb Cassopolis 

John J. Fisher Cassoiiolis 

Eher Revnolds Cassopolis 

Edward Keegan Jeft'erson 

Timothy B. Kingsbury La Grange 
Gertrude Ferris Kingsbury La Grange 

Giarles Tietsort La Grange 

Charles A. Ritter Cassopolis 

Joseph Graham Cassopolis 

Qiarlcs E. \'oorhis Cassojiolis 
Emeline Crandall A'oorhis Cassopolis 



Uhio 


1844 


Howard 


1852 


A'ermont 


1851 


New York 


1835 


\'olinia 


1831 


Indiana 


1839 


Indiana 


1864 


Canada 


1867 


England 


1867 


Mason 


1843 


Kalaniazoo Co. 


1852 


Ohio 


1848 


Icft'erson 


1853 


Ohio 


1833 


Germany 


1854 


^'oliuia 


1834 


Ohio 


1 841 


Lenawee Co. 


1865 


Mason 


1845 


New York 


i860 


Penn 


1852 


Pokagon 


1850 


Ohio 


1866 


Nova Scotia 


1865 


Porter 


1854 


Ohio 


1850 


Cassopolis 


1848 


Jeft'erson 


185 1 


New York 


1835 


New York 


1864 


New York 


1870 


Ohio 


i860 


Cassopolis 


1856 


Ohio 


1845 


Indiana 


1868 


Pokagon 


1870 


La Grange 


1841 


New Jersey 


1840 


Georgia 


i8=;2 


Berrien Co. 


1868 


Cassopolis 


1843 


Cassopolis 


i8s8 


Pennsylvania 


1844 


Pennsvlvania 


1833 


New York 


1853 



;!(;s 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Wilbur F. Pollock 
lulia Mice Pollock 
"Marshall L. Howell 
David L. Kingsbury 
Samuel Anderson 
Alamandal J. Tallerday 
Sterling B. Turner 
Jacob H. Osborn 
Lewis Freer 
William Green 
(")mar J. East 
David Long 
Frank W. Lambert 
Alice Osborne Lambert 
Fred G. Pollock 
William Hcaton 
Wm. H. H. Pemberton 
Delancie Pemberton 
Narcissus Lewis 
Jennie Mulrine Keene 
Harry J. Keene 
Flernian S. East 
Flora James East 
Charles W'. East 
Ellen Curtis East 
Charles W. Chapman 
Clarence L. Sherwood 
loscph R. Edwards 
Frank W. Lvle 
P.arak L. Rudd 
Pert Clasky 
Tra Tietsort 
Orvillc W. Coolidge 
Perrv A. Tietsort 
Charles C. Philbrick 
Andrew F. Caul 
Rnliert H. Wilev 
Clitus W. Martin 
Isabel Grimm IMartin 
Sarah Piunberrv Shaw 
Asher J- Shaw 
Maria Shaw Kennedy 
Catherine Cullen 
i\Tarearet Runkle Kingslev 
^^'illiam A. Wright 
Clara M. Wright 
Charles O. Haefner 
John H. Root 
Simeon Htiff 
Penjamin F. Graham 
Lincoln P. Card 



Cassopolis 
Cassopolis 
Cassopolis 
Cassopolis 
Cassopolis 
Jefferson 
Cassopolis 
\'anda!ia 
Vandalia 
\'andalia 
A'andalia 
\'andalia 
\'andalia 
N'anclalia 
\'andalia 
A'andalia 
\'andalia 
A'andalia 
\'andalia 
Vandalia 
A^andalia 
\"andalia 
Vandalia 
\^andalia 
A'andalia 
A^andalia 
Dowagiac 
Dowagiac 
Dowagiac 
"Forest Plall'' 
Dowagiac 
Detroit 
Niles 
Detroit 
Grand Rapids 
Marcellus 
Dowagiac 
Casso]3olis 
Cassopolis 
Howard 
Howard 
TToward 
Howard 
Ontwa 
Volinia 
X'olinia 
Volinia 
\^olinia 
A^olinia 
A'^olinia 
A'olinia 



Cassopolis 

St. Joseph Co. 

Cassopolis 

I-a Grange 

Berrien Co. 

Elkhart Co. 

Cassopolis 

Cass County 

New York 

Ohio 

Calvin 

Indiana 

Rhode Island 

Cass Co. 

Pcnn 

Indiana 

Indiana 

Cass Co. 

Cass Co. 

A^andalia 

Kalamazoo Co. 

Cass Co. 

Calvin 

Calvin 

Penn 

Ohio 

Pennsylvania 

New Jersey 

Dowagiac 

Newberg 

La Grange 

Cassopolis 

Edwardsburg 

Cassopolis 

Cassopolis 

Pcnn sylvan i,n 

Cassopolis 

Brownsville 

Berrien Co. 

Howard 

Howard 

Howard 

Milton 

\'olinia 

A'olinia 

\'olinia 

\'olinia 

Pennsvlvania 

Cass Co. 

Volinia 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



30!) 



M. Blanche Mcintosh Link \'ohnia 

Charles E. Osborn Cassoiiolis 

James H. Leach Penn 

Xathan Marsh Cassopolis 

Sarah Hunt Marsh Cassopolis 

Adaline Robinson Tietso rt Cassopolis 

Florence M. Tietsort Cassopolis 

Adaline M. Philbrick Crand Rapids 

C. Fred Hoover Porter 

Iliram R. Schutt T '" 

Ezra Pearson ( 

Lydia Langsduff Carter i 

Joseph H. Wctherbee Xc\vberi,^ 

Nancy Honts Wetherbce X'cwIv.tl; 
Abel Hamilton 
Adelbert M. Smith 
Justin A. Dunning 
John Bedford ! 

keziah Tngling McOm'' JiC 

Sarah Ingling Parker 
Allison B. 'J"hompson 

Charles C. Aikin l,- . .iiii-iii'i;; 

Emma Spraguc Aikin Edwardsburg 

;\Iar_\- E. Solomon Schoch Edwardslnirg 

John C. Schoch Edvvardsl)urg 

Daniel S. Stryker Edwardsburg 

Kate Milliman T'dwardsburg 

Richard J. Hicks I'dwardsburg 

Marcus S. Olmstead Edwardsburg 

Marv Ketcham Olmstead Edwardsburg 



George A. Tuesley 
Cassius M. Dennis 
Andrew J. Tuesley 
George A. Siietterly 
Jesse Title 
T-Tenrv Andrus 
James H. Andrus 
Edward Hirons 
Julia Tietsort Gates 
Charles W. Tietsort 
Abraham L. Clendenen 
Thomas J. Mealoy 
Cvnthia Fisher Mealov 
Alfred J. F.ast 
W'illiam T. Oxenford 
Dema Brody Oxenford 
Jacob Mcintosh 
W. W. Flollister 
Frank Swinehart 
Silas H. Thomas 
Elvira Bogue Thomas 



Ills. 



Edwardsburg 

Edwardsburg 

Edwardsburg 

Edwardsburg 

Edwardsburg 

Edwardsburg 

Edwardsburg 

Edwardsburg 

Detroit 

Mendora 

\'andalia 

\"andalia 

\'anda!ia 

\'andalia 

\'andalia 

\andalia 

Pciin 

A'andalia 

A'andalia 

Penn 

Penn 



1 'crni 


1875 


CasSupolis 


1849 


Penn 


1847 


Ohio 


1854 


Ohio 


1854 


\crniont 


1864 


Cassopolis 


i8^8 


Cassopolis 


1839 


F.lkhart, Ind. 


1877 


New York 


1843 


Ohio 


1862 


.\\v\' Yorlc 


1876 


r'nii.sylvania 


1876 


]'i ii;i;\lvania 


1 8 36 


Mi:; n 


[859 


Aliili.M 


1847 


F':j!:'nd 


i8=;2 


Xen yr.rk 


i8:;6 


Xew York 


,836 


Delawai-e 


18VS 


Ob in 


i8^6 


Im liana 


1 8^6 


Onlwa 


1842 


I'ni-i-ylvania 


1861 


l\ii;isylvania 


1863 


['(■:;ns\lvania 


.863 


Mib(.n 


1847 


Oniwa 


1857 


l\iin-\lvania 


1S77 


Howard 


1866 


St. Jos. Co., Ind. 


1847 


lefTerson 


1862 


bntwa 


1865 


\'an Buren Co. 


1857 


Kansas 


1863 


Ontwa 


1837 


Milton 


1836 


Cassopolis 


18^0 


Cassopolis 


1837 


N'ewberg 


T8r.t 


Cass Co. 


1838 


Cass Co. 


1843 


Calvin 


i8/d 


Penn 


1867 


Penn 


1870 


Penn 


1840 


Penn 


1855 


Indiana 


T872 


Indiana 


1842 


Penn 


1836 



370 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Emih- A. Smith ( )\vl-ii 
James H. Beaucliamp 
Samuel B. Hadden 
Davis W. Ball 
Edwin G. Loux 
Mary E. Shanafelt-Wol 
Josephine Shanafelt-Mc 
Adelbert Kram 
Bishop E. Curtis 
John Hildebridle 
Sarah Lutz Hildebridle 



NAMES ADDED IX I904. 

(_ aUin 

Milton 

Ontwa 

N'oiinia 

N'andalia 

cott La Grange 

rwin La Grange 

Edwardsburg 

Calvin 

Penn 



Herbert Solomon 
\'incent Reames 
Eliza Grubb Harmon 
John C. Harmon 
"Fred B. Wells 
Harmah Crane Dibble 



C. H. Kimmerle 
Gorden G. Huntlev 
C. E. Lyle 
Marquis D. Withercll 
Elmer W. Griffis 
Jerman S. Draper 
Henry Springsteen 



NAMES ADDED IN I9O5. 

Jones 

Penn 

Cassopolis 

Cassopolis 

La (Grange 

Howard 

NAMES ADDED IN I906. 

Cassopolis 

Howard 

Dowagiac 

Volinia 

Volinia 

Volinia 

Wavne 



Cah'in 


1840 


Edwardsburg 


1847 


Xew York 


1867 


Ohio 


1835 


Jefferson 


1842 


La Grange 


1850 


La Grange 


18=^7 


Edwardsburg 


1855 


Indiana 


1858 


Pennsylvania 


1865 


Pennsylvania 


1865 


La Porte Co.. Ind. 


1850 


Jefferson 


1832 


Brownsville 


1837 


Porter 


1847 


W'ayne 


1 861 


New York 


1854 


LaGrange 


1859 


Howard 


1850 


Dowagiac 


1855 


\^olinia 


1845 



Wayne 
New York 
New York 



1837 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY S71 



CHAPTER XX\T. 
RELIGION AXD THE CHURCHES. 

In the preceding cliajiters we lia\e descn'lied many phases of Cass 
count\''s histnrw and ha\e endeaxnred so far as imssilile U> sji\"e a 
compi"ehensi\'e account of its institutions and its people from the first 
settlement to the iM'esent date. I*"or the last we ha\e reserxed an ac- 
count of religious influences and. church organizations and ])ersoualities. 
It concludes the historical narratix'e with a certain hap]iy ])ropriety. 
For religion has well heen called the ca])Stone of the arch of life, land- 
ing together and gi\ing staljilit\' to the other parts — the culmination 
of the hopes and experiences of the human race. 

Though last to be descrihed. religion was h}- no means last among 
the stages of de\'elopnient in the ci\-ilized life of Cass county. 'Idie 
pioneers did not lea\e their religion behind when they settled here, but 
brought it with them. In the first settlements that were formed there 
were ]3robaI)lv not a suthcienl number of any one sect to form a church 
bv themsel\-es. and so the\' worshiped together. The ]ioints of doctrine 
or practice which <li\ided them were hehl in abeyance, persons of each 
sect vielded a little for the good of the whole, and in a spirit of union 
and Christian toleration the}- came together and each one tried to 
derive all the good he could from the meetings, exercises and chscourses. 
For a time there were no church buildings, but schoolhouses were soon 
erected, or private houses ser\-ed for the purpose, and there in the 
winter, or in the open air in summer, the people assembled The jiioneer 
religious meeting was spontaneous, necessarily had little formalism, 
and the first meetings, unrecorded in history, were of the kind told 
about in the Rible, where "two or three met together" to give expression 
to the rich and sincere feeling within them. This kind of worship was 
largely individual, was inherent in the nature of the i>ioneer man and 
woman wherever he was, and was not necessarily dependent on the 
organized religion known as the church. 

CATHOLIC CHURCHES. 

Of the first representati\-es of organized religion in this county 
there is. unfortunately, no definite record. As we have made clear in 
an earlier chapter, the fir^t Christian influence to penetrate the wilder- 



37:3 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ncss of soutliern Aiichigan was ihat emanating from the devoted priests 
wlio, of their own initiative, or close in the train of those who conquered 
the land for the King of France, sought to win to their religion the 
souls of the heathen red men. The names of the early fathers who 
may have passed over this region are not accessible, and the only monu- 
ment they ha\e left is the zeal and self-sacrifice with which they under- 
took their cause. l*"rom the letters of the Jesuit Father, Joseph Marest, 
we get some of the earliest descriptions of 'the St. T'>-i-:i'i riuintry and 
its Indian inhaljilants. It is known that the Jcsu: nission on 

the banks of the St. Joseph at the present site of AllL•^. vMaulished in 
the early }ears of the eighteenth centur)-. But this disappeared \ears 
before the permanent settlement of this region. 

The work of the F'rcnch Catholic missionaries left a permanent 
record for the historical times of Cass county. When ' ! liis 

associates founded the C'arey Mission tliey found tlui the 

Pottawottoniies still clung to the Catholic ritual and mode of worship. 
A knowledge of some of the religious holidays, such as Christmas, was 
found among them. After'the removal of the Indians from liiis coun- 
try, Pokagon and liis band of Roman Catholics located, as we kui'w. 
in Silver Creek, and there formed the first organized Catholic cni- 
inunity in the county. I'orty acres of tlie lands purchased by them w<is 
deeded to the church, and on this tract, in 1838, wa.s built tlie first 
churcli in the township. I'likagon, it is related, met \' 
cultics in the construction of tliis edifice. ' His white i: 
rather o]3poscd to the religicjn espoused by the Indians. The Jntiians 
were unequal to the ta.sk of raising and joinini^- the liuilding which 
the)' had planned, ;md without the assistance of the white man's skill 
they could not ha\-e iiroceeded with the construction. John G. .\. 
Rarncy. the well known ])ioncer of the township, was appealed to. and 
at once promised bis assistance. \\''hen the timbers were in readiness 
be rmd his three hired men quickly raised and framed the building. 
The church, of hewn logs, was twenty by thirty feet, standing on the 
noi-fb shore of la.'iig lake. It was destitute of any floor but tlie earth, 
and the scats were roughly cut benches. Eut ser\-ices were held here 
bv \arious priests iov five or six x'ears. 

This was the beginning of the Church of the Si'cred lleart nf 
Mary, which might well be con.sidered the \-isible monument to the 
work bcgmi 1)\' the Jesuit jiriests almost two centuries licfore. 

In 1844 the first regular priest was assigned to this congreg'Ation. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 373 

About the same time a school was estabhshed and conducted by Father 
Mari\auh, and later by the Catholic sisters. This school was supported 
fro)n the government annuities of the Indians. 

Aljout 1S47, wlien l'"ather Baroux was stationed here, the church 
was remodeled and was supplied with pews. This church, established 
by the Indians, was the nucleus of the Catholic settlement in this county. 
One- of the first white settlers to become a communicant of this churcli 
was Dennis Daly and his brothers, Patrick and Cornelius. \Vi 
T)aly soon afterward attended the services he and one other 
were the only white worshippers, all the rest being Indians. This was 
the beginning of white influence in the church, and with the siiI>^c(|-H-iit 
removal of many of the Indians and other causes of decline 
of the Sacred Heart came in time to be the place of ^^ ■ i- 
Roman Catholics almost entirely. 

In 1858 a new church edifice was erected, .\uguM!iic 1. 1 ■;.;-n 
being foremost in the work which brought about its construction. Ex- 
tensive additions were made to this building, and in September, 1861, 
the building was completed practically as it stands today. The church 
organization became almost inacti\e for some years, and when Father C. 
J. Roeper began his pastorate in 1S75. it was necessary to undertake 
many repairs and restorations. 

The church membership has remained about tin- s.-mu- ;!',r :;sdi 
various periods, it being now al;out fifty families. 

The Dowagiac Catholic cliurch began its organi/^ ; ...11^,1, .-.i.-ut 
1858, although the first house of worship was not erected until 187-'. 
This, the first edifice of the Church of the Holy i\fa: 
cated August 30. 1876. The same priest has alway 
.Silver Creek and Dowagiac churches, the present ; 
John G. Wall. In 1892 the present beautiful brick » 
Front street, was erected. The first chiu'ch had been located at the 
upper end of Orchard street, and for some time was the smallest church 
in the city. To Re\-. Joseph Joos. who assumed the pastorate in 1891. 
was due much of the credit for constructing the new church. Pt a cost 
of $15,000, and liringing the membershiii from fifty to about one hun- 
dred and fifty families. 

METIIOI/ISl Kl'ISCOPM. 0RGAXIZ.\T10XS. 

The Methodists ha\-e always been pioneers of e\'angelism. Through- 
out the middle west their circuit riders and missionaries have aiipeared 



374 HISTORY OF CASS COUXTV 

usually iirst, an<I always anmno the lirst ti i (le\el(i|> the rehgious side 
nf tlie scattered c imiinuiities. 

Of the lies^inuings of AIethn(hsni in Cass cmiuty a ciintril)utiir to 
the cnlleetiiins nf tlie Michigan i'inneer Society lias this to sav ; 

l\e\-. hj-astus h'elton. who was appointed September 29, 1829. by 
the ( )hiu conference to tlie St. Joseph Mission, labored in Cass, Berrien 
and St. Ji'^eijh counties, and in the following vear returned to the same 
field with Leonard I!, (iurlev as assistant. Classes were prohablv 
formed this \ear > ai the .south side of Beardsley's ])rairie and on \'oung's 
jM'airie (I'enn townshi])). In iS^i h'ehon was a]i])ointed to the Krda- 
mazoii missidU, and Rex. T. J. Kolie to the Wavne circuit, the latter 
being prominent am<ing the Alethochst workers in this section. Traxel- 
ing from Kalamazoo "on liorseback and witli the traditional saddle- 
hags," Rew Robe established preaching at Little Prairie Ronde ( Vo- 
linia), ^'oung"s ])rairie, I )iamond lake. Cassopolis, LaGrange and 
Pokagon and Beardsley's [jrairies. There were twent}--fi\e missions in 
all, arrangetl so he could reach each once in four weeks. 

Octoljer 12, 1834. at the conference in Wayne count)-. Indiana, 
the St. Joseph circuit was represented b_\- S. R. Robinson ruid the Cass:j- 
polis circuit by R. C. Meek. In the same vear Rev. Robe forme(l a class 
in Siher (_'reek. Xathaniel Weed being the class leader. At the organi- 
zation of the Pokagon Prairie chinch, in 1832, Edward Powers was 
ap])ointed class leader, and the first meetings were held in Powers" 
log bouse on Pokagon creek. 

The ^licbigan conference was organized in 1836, but it was not 
until 1840 that the southwest part of the state was attache<l to its juris- 
diction. At the first conference in ^Marshall the Edwardsburg charge 
was represented b\' Re\-s. J. B\ron and D. Knox. 

From this descrijiiion of the general status of Methodism in the 
count\', we may piroceed to menti(jn the indi\i<lual organizations, lid- 
wardsburg e\'identh- had the first, or certainh- one of the first, classes. 
But the legal organization was not effected by election of trustees until 
February 13. 1837, when the corporate name was adopted and the 
following members elected as trustees; Hiram Rogers, Clifford Shana- 
han, Henry A. Chapin, Leonard Hain. .\sa M. Smith. The Edwards- 
burg church has had two brick buildings during its history. The 
Methodists and Preslnterians in Edwardsliurg are now about on a par 
in ]ioint of strength and membership. 

At Cassopolis the Methodists were earl}- acti\-e. as noticed in the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 375 

preceding paragraplis. But fur n number of ^•ears the circuit riders 
held their meetings in the cimrthduse and sclioolhnuses. and it was not 
until 1855 that Joshua Lntland and William Shanafelt ga\c t<i the 
denomination a house erected on Rowland street in 1846 liv Jacoh Sih'er 
and Joshua Lnfland as a churdi edifice open to all dennminatinns. This 
building now forms the front i^art of F. ;\f. Fisk's drug store. On the 
lot, on Rowland street, from \\hich the nld huikling.had been remo\-ed. 
the society built in 1874 the present Methodist church ami ]);irsnnage, 
at a cost of about $S,ooo. The building committee were W. W. Feck. 
^^'illiam L. Jakways, D. B. Smith and John Boyd. Rev. F. A. B.aldwin 
is the ]iresent jjastor of the si^cietv, and the trustees are Jnhn .Vtkinsnn, 
Wm. B. Hayden. W'm. H. Coulter, E. Ja>- Brown. William Berkey, 
Horace Cobb. John Hiltnn. Har^•e_^• Xoecker. There are abnut i.^n 
names on the church rrill. 

The ]\Iethodists \\ere ;icti\e in the vicinity of Dowagiac befire 
any village had been platted. The "Cataract House" Avas the iilace 
of early meetings under the direction of the circuit rider, R. C. Meek, 
already mentioned. A'arious lay preachers directed the work here for 
some years. In T84Q the church was organized, and was known as the 
Wayne circuit until 1852. \\'hen the name Dowagiac first a])pears on 
Methodist minutes. The trustees appointed in that year were Strawtlier 
Bowling. ,\aron Henwond, Robert AA'atson. Samuel Bell, Benjamin Bell. 
John Huff. Fli Beach, showing who were some of the earl\- leaders in 
Methodism in Dowagiac. The church building, in which the Metlio- 
dists have worshiped for nearly half a centurA*. was erected in 1839 
while Rev. F. H. Day was pastor. 

The earl\- establishment of a Methodist class on Pokagi"in prairie 
has been described. The ]Methodi.st church at Sumner\ille originated 
in a verA- successful reyi\'al meeting held on the ]irairie in 1840. The 
meetings were held in a schonlhouse for more than ten years, and in 
1854 the first building was completed. 

La Crange was also a field of labor for the early ]\Tethodists. The 
church at La Grange \'illage was organized Xo\-ember to, T858, at the 
hous-e of Charles Van Riper, who was one of the first trustees, the 
others being John ,\. Ymi Riper, Washburn Benedict, Abram Van 
Riper, Jacob Zimmerman, John S. Secor, Joshua Lofland, Joseph W. 
Sturr. The house of worship was erected soon afterward. The church, 
like tlie village, has been on the decline for many years, and its mem- 
bership is reduced to twenty-seven. Rev. F. .\. Bablwin. of Cassopolis, 



STG HISTORY Oi' CASS CO UN TV 

has charge uf ihc society, and preaches fur them each Sunday aftei- 
nuun. The present trustees are; Tnnothy B. Benedict, James W . 
:5pringsleni, James Curtis, x\lrs. Ida Benedict, Mrs. Samantha Curtis, 
i'red B. \\ chs, Clarence T. Wells. 

ihe Aieihodist meeting held on Voung's prairie in i'enn township 
b) Re\'. Teltun in 183 J, had a regular house ot worship, but for many 
years in the interim the meetings were held at private homes or school- 
houses, 'ilie hrst legal organization ot the church took place June 17, 
1858, its trustees being M. P. Grcnncll, David J. Whitney, iiarrison 
Launburg, Josepli Jones and William Russey. The church was re- 
organized in 1870, and in 1877 the church, edifice at Vandalia village 
was erected. The trustees at the time were John Lutes, .V. Bristol, 
\\ illiam t. Bort, Isaac Reiff, L. Osborn. 

The iSorih Toiler Methodist Episcopal church was organized in 
18.46, with fourteen members, if ugh berguson, G. W. Black and Nathan 
Skinner being the first trustees. Services were held in a sciiooihouse 
until 1858, when a church was elected on section 12. 

1 he Afethodist church builuing at Union village, now used prin- 
cipally by the b'rec iJaplists, \\as erected in its first form in 1858. 
Ow ing to a revi\al of that }ear the Aietiiodists of this vicinity were very 
strung and built the church without outside assistance, in 1877 the 
church \\as relmilt at a cost of $1,300. 

Coulter's Chapel, the Methodist organization in Tioward, was 
erected in 1858 at a cost of $1,300, being located on section 13. The 
charter members were James and A-nn Coulter, who gave the site and 
lil.;crally toward the buiUling; Dennis and Cynthia A. Ir'armelee, Eliza 
Sniitli and i'llizalielh Young. 

l\e\'. i'cllon, above mentioned, held religious meetings in Aiilton 
township in 1830, and the lirst society of this denomination was insti- 
tuted ill 1832. Concerning the organization of the first society the 
following miscellaneous record dated July 1, 1839, tells: "in accordance 
to pre\ious notice gi\eii according to statute providing for organization 
(if religious societies, a meeting of members and hearers of the M. E. 
church convened at the sciiooihouse near Cannon Smith's in the town- 
ship of AIilt(jii for the purpose of organizing a society by name and 
title the First Society of the M. E. Church in the Township of Milton." 
The three trustees elected were James Lowery, Thomas Towell ■ and 
Xathaniel O. Ijowman. .\ church edihce was erected on land tloiiated 
by Cannon Snnth in section 14, and has been called Smith's Chapel 



HISTORY OV CASS COUNTY «' ' 

because of ihe li!,erality of Mr. S.nilh. The churcli was repaired in 
l8s6 and 1877, and was rebuilt in 1879. 

The town liall in AliUon was ongmally built by a Protesta.U Metho- 
dist society. 

The Silver Creek M. E. cliurch dates back to 1843, when Leroy 
L Curtis Erastus Stark and Delanson Curtis and wives formed the hrst 
society, the first named bcmg leader of the class which was held at us 
home.' The schoolhouse at Jn<lian lake also was the meeting place for 

some years. , 

In Calvin t-nvuship are two M. E. churches supported by the col- 
ored people the Bethel A. M. E. church being located at Calvni Center. 
and Mount Zion in section 23. Mount Zion is the oldest and the parent 
African Meth<,dist Chmxh in the county, having been organised m 
,849 bv Mattb<->v T X,.vson. Meetings were hrst held n. pnvate 
houses/then m : U on the present site, and then a neat frame 

building. The nv. nu..es were Richard Woods. Beujamm Ha^^le^. 
L Archer Lawsnn Howell, William Scott, Joseph Allen. 

The Bethel church congregation, which is an offshoot from that at 
Mount Zion. was organized in ,8.6. and their church at Calvm Center 

was erected in 1870 at a c , 1 1, , t 

The Vohnia Chapel A vh. colored, was anodier .anch ot 

the Mount Zion church, and their church on section 3^> of \ ohu.a, was 

bluU in 187.. The first tnistee. uce R. Jeffers, Wilham VValden and 

Henry Eucas composed of 

Ouinn Chapel, another ^> P^i c""^'' ^ 

colored people, is located at Ca ^^ side of O l- te > u 

west, near the Air Line depot, ihe socc.)- was organized m 1898 y 
Rev J I. Hill, its first pastor, with J. R. Stewart, Wilham 1. Haipe 
.s trustees The society-s church edifice cost ?i,ooo. It now has a 
mele h p of nineteen, and a Sunday school with an average attend- 
ZoftwU-five. us preset pa...R^^^^^^ 
trusteeship has been redur ■ ■ «vctm^ mui.u , j 

""'^T^'^^Z^o.^. .erv.e neid in Marce.Uis towr^hip was con 
ducted at the house of Joseph Bair in :838, and the ^-t class ws 
o'lnled in ,842. and a second the next year. These soon became m- 

;;: Id no diss was organized until 186., -'- . ^^^ ^^^ 
at Bl ■•« schoolhouse. The brick church in Marcellus village .as built 



378 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

in 1S74, largely tlimuyli the wurk nf Rev. Jolin Byrnes, the energetic 
pastor. 

'J"he Alethudist church at Jones originated at a meeting of the 
-MethiHlists in the Baptist church at Poe's Corners, or the town center, 
in 1872. The meetings were held in the Baptist church tliere. later at 
David Fairfield's store in Jones, and later in the puhlic hall ;it Jones. 

The chaiter members of this society were: Da\'i(l l-'airfield. Louisa 
]'"airfield. M. E. Tharp. Phoebe ]3yer, Flizabeth Pound, Sarah Rumsey, 
J. E. \'an Buren. Esther Brooks, Elsey B(3ws. Mrs. .\le.\ander, Jacob 
kumsey. .\ndrew Correll, S. Todd. Margaret Todd. Catherine Cook. 

There are also Methodist societies at Corey and at Wakelee. 

B.\PTIST CHURCHES. 

On the authority of the Rev. Supply Chase, there was in 183(1 a 
Baptist association known as La(jrange in the southwest part of the 
state, which had lieen organized about 1834-35. growing out of the 
immigration to that part of the state. No doubt reference is matle 
to the church at \\'hitman\ille. to which the founder tA the \illage 
had donated a lot when he platted the village. .\ church was built on 
this lot. but both the liudding and the orgamzati(_in crumbled awa\' in 
time. 

At Edwardsl.iurg the Ba])tist church must ha\e Ijeen organized as 
soon as. and perhaps before, that of LaCirange. Mr. J. C. Olmsted is 
authority for the statement that the church was organized at the house 
of Dr. Dunning on the prairie about 1835. This is affirmed Ijy the 
legal record, which is as follows; "At a public meeting of the male 
members of the Pleasant Lake Baptist Church and Society, held at 
Edwardsburg. May 14, 1835. * '' * Isaac Dunning and Myron 
Strong were chosen presiding officers, and H. B. Dunning, clerk. 
Myron Strong. Luther Chapin and Barak Mead were cliosen trustees. 
it was resolved that the society lie known as the Pleasant Lake Baptist 
Society." The Baptists ^vere the most flourishing of all the ciiurch 
societies during the first ten or fifteen years of Edwardsburg's history, 
but for man\- )-ears there has been little m' no activity among them. 
They have a frame house of worship, but no regular ser\'ices. 

The Dowagiac Baptist church was organized in 185 1, the first 
trustees Ijeing 1. S. Becraft. D. AL Heazlett, Archibald Jewell, A. IT 
Reed, E. Ballenge, Jacob) Allen, .S. E. Dow. Isaac Cross, H. B. Miller. 

The present building was erected in 1852. Present membership is 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 37y 

132. Pastors since 1880: E. R. Clark. N. R. Sanborn, H. A. Rose, 
G. M. Hudson, H. F. Alasales, Ross Matthews, A. M. Bailey and .M. 
I''. Sanborn, present pastor. In 1900 a $1,600 parsonage was erected 
on the church property. In 1905 the church building was remodeled 
and enlarged at an expense of $2,000. At present there is no indebt- 
edness and the work seems to be advancing. 

The Baptist chtirch at Cassopolis was organized INlarch 8, 1862, 
with the following charter members : Elder Jacob Price, Sarah B. 
Price, Sarah B. Price, Jr., Ellen Price, Mary Price, Carrie Price, P. 
A. Lee, Barak Mead, Harriet E. Alead. Elizabeth .\. ^Nlaginnis. Robert 
H. Tripp, Jemima Smith. The present building, which was the first 
owned by the society, was not built until 1808, the detlication taking- 
place ^iarch 16, 1869. It was built at a cost of about fi\'e thousan<l 
dollars. The membership is nr)w al)0ut eighty-fi\e and the present 
trustees are Erank M. Fisk, Chas. O. Harmon, \\'illi;un PL Berkey and 
Rev. R. L. Bobbitt, pastor. 

Volinia Baptist church, at the northwest corner of section 28, was 
erected about twenty years ago, but the society had existed in that 
township since 1858, ha\'ing been formed as a branch of the Dowagiac 
church. James Churchill, Levi Churchill, Isaac Cross and Josiah Bond 
and their families were the constituent members of the society, Init in 
a short time the niemljership had increased so that they were formed 
into an independent Ijodv. 

Re\'. Jacob Price, who organized the Baptist church at Cassoprilis, 
also organized the Baldwin Prairie Baptist church at Union, in Feb- 
ruary, 1857, with six charter members. The church edifice was built 
in the early seventies, at a cost of $5,500, and a parsonage was erected 
later. 

The Baptist church (jf Xorth Porter was organized in August. 
1837, so that it is one of the oldest Baptist societies in the county. Thev 
erected a brick church in 1857. The charter members of the siciety 
were: Alanson McPIuron and wife. Henry Alarsh and wife, [NLla 
Sherrill, Almira (h'lljert. Catherine Plebron. James Hadow and wife. 
• Rebecca Davistm. Orstjn \'irgil. Ozial Storey, Mr. Godfrey and Mr. 
Hubbard. 

The Free Ba]3tist society of Porter township worship in the ]\Ieth- 
odist church building at Union. This society was organized in 1866 
with a membership of si.xteen. 

A record in the county clerk's office states that the First Baptist 



3S0 IirSTORY OI'' CASS COUNTY 

Churcli rind Society of Jefferson Townsliip was organized December 7. 
1843, ^''fi meeting lieing lield "at the Baptist Liberty meeting house in 
Jefferson township." The trustees elected were Joseph Smith, Pleas- 
ant Norton, Dav'd T. Nicholson, William Zane, Isaac Hull. This 
organization was preliminary to the building of the church on section 
12. in the following year. The society had been in existence, however, 
for some years, their worship having been conducted in a log house, 
which was the "T.il^erty meeting house" mentioned. The first officers 
of the societ\- had been Andrew Crubb, deacon; Adam Miller. rni;d" 
erator; Isaac Hulse. clerk and treasurer. 

The First Regidar Baptist church of Newberg was organized June 
8, 1841, and after worshiping in private houses and schoolhouscs the 
societ}- erected in 1858 a church on section 28 at Pce's Corners. 

'l"be colored people of Calvin have the Chain Lake Baptist church 
on section 13. This society wa,s organized January 4, 1848, with eight 
charter members, Harrison Asli and Turner Byrd being the first of- 
ficers. .\ log church was erected -i' ■■* '^'-'■, ' •■■ ■'-''■■-• -- ''■■■inie 

edifice, co.sting $1,200. 

The Free Baptists support se\cra; cluuclics m the county. The 
one at Union has been mentioned. Tliey also have a building and serv- 
ices at Erownsvil'c. Their ministers were among the first to preach 
the gos])cl in Wayne township and all along the Chicago road they 
held meetings. A church was constituted in Mason township in pio- 
neer times, and in the fifties a house of worship was erected in Adams- 
ville. Idiis burned down and in the late sixties a church was built on 
section 5. There is also a congregation of Free Baptists in Pokagon, 
which was organized in 1854 witli the following charter members: Z. 
Tinkham, J. H. Darling and wife, Meli.ssa and Martha Tinkham, and 
Miss Potter. A church costing $1,500 was dedicated in Februarv, 
1861. 

FKE-S1:1V]I''.RT.\N CIirRClIES. 

The beginnings of Presbyterianism in Cass county have been well 
and accurately narrated by J. C. Olmsted. At the seventy-fifth anni- 
versar\- of the Fdwardsburg l^resbyterian church, which was celebrated 
March 6-7, 1906, he prepared and read a sketch of the church which 
abounds in historical data not only with reference to the founding of 
this church and the work of its first missifjnaries, but concerning many 
other features of pioneer life in this county. The following pertinent 
cjuotations ba\c been e.xcerpted from his article; 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY -si 

"The pioneer missionary and founder of the church was Rev. Lu- 
ther Humphrey. I became acquainted with him in 1836, when 1 came 
with ni}' parents to this place. He was still can-ying on missionary 
work here and in the vicinit)'. Born in Connecticut, a descendant of 
Pilgrim ancestry, and a graduate of a Methodist Episcopal college, he 
was a typical Xew England clergyman, and always .said grace lx)th 
before and after each meal. In his sermons on sins of omissitm and 
commission, the rewards of the righteous and future punishment he 
gave no uncertain sound. He was a great friend of the Indians and 
roundly denounced the treatment they received at the hands of the 
Governor, saying that they were constantly driven front their homes 
further west. When Iowa opened for .settlement 1 heard him remark 
that he hoped no wliite man, at least no Christian white' man, would 
go there to disturb them in their rights. So radically opposed to liquor 
was he that he would not officiate at any communion service unless sure 
that the wine was the pure juice of the grape. An abolitionist and an 
anti-slavery man of radical type, he would use no products ^^f slave 
labor, no cotton in his clothing and no sugar except tha; n 

the maple tree, also no molasses but that made at home fr^ ; 
stalks of corn. I often assisted him in the making of his 11 
helping to strip the blades from the' stalk and driving the horse ; 
the mill that crushed them. His molasses partook i ' 1 

stalk flavor to be entirely agreeable. The making oi s 

or molasses from sorghum vvas then unknown. 

"The records shoAv that he was commissioned as missionary by 
the American Home Missionaiy Society September 30. and was given 
as his field Southwestern Michigan, then comparatively a wilderness. 
He arrived at the site of Edwardsburg October 2. and I have heard him 
describe it as consisting of a few log cabins built of poles or small logs 
standing among the bushes and hazel brush that covered the town 
site. So well pleased with Beardsley's prairie was he that he decided 
to make it the center of his tnissionaiy work here. He accordingly 
jiurchased a farm and erected about the first frame house on the prairie, 
and the fine tree now standing in front of B. F. Thompson's house was 
jilanted by his hands. His first sermon was preached two days after 
his arrival in the log house of Jacob Smith, and all his first sermons 
were preached in the log cabins of the settlers, not even log school- 
houses having then been built. 

"Some time later it was desired to form a church, and a meeting 
was called March 4, 1831, Rev. Humphrey and Rev. William Jones 
preaching the sermon, and a call was then made for all persons wishing 
to organize a church to come forward. Three came — Sylvester 
Meacham and wife Hannah, and Sarah Humphrey, wife of Rev. Hum- 
phrey. They adopted this resolution : 'That we shall admit to our 
commAuiion as members only such persons as shall agree to abstain 
wholly from the use of ardent spirits as articles of drink, manufacture 



3.S2 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

lii' traftic. and that tliis Ic the ^tamh'np- rule in this church, shuuhl < are 
be formed.' March 6, 1S31. these three constituted a cliurch of Christ, 
two infants were baptizeii and tlie Lord's supper administered. The 
records show three more members were received in 183 1. four in 1832. 
three in 1833, six in 1834, three in 1835, and nine in 1836. the year in 
which I came. In 1843 '' revised list shows sixly-eight members. 

"Rev. Humphrey did not confine his work to tliis churcli. When 
I came here in 1836 lie was engaged in missiimary wurk. preaching in 
scattered settlements both in this and \'an Buren county. .\n Oberlin 
college student named Jeffreys preached several times during the sum- 
mer of 1836. Rev. Mr. Coi>k was stationed as supply in 1836-30. He 
resided on Harris prairie. dri\-ing to this charge once in two weeks. 

"In 1837 the first inihlic school liuilding was erected, and in the 
fall lit the same year the frame of the Baptist church was raised, but 
was not completed and occupied until 1840. The Presbyterian meet- 
ings, froiu private houses, were held first in the schoolhouse and after- 
warcls in the Baptist church in the afternoons, the Baptists occupying 
it in the nmrning. In the siuumer of 1840 Rev. Boughton. of X^iles. 
preached twice a month, and in 184] and a part of 1842 Rev. Xoah 
Wells, of Alishawaka. preached once in two weeks. In 1842 the lot 
where this church now stands was purchased and the building for church 
purposes commenced. It was a plain chapel building, 25x30 feet, and 
was raised and inclosed that summer. Init no more was done at that 
time. In November. 1842, Rev. .\. S. Kedzie was employed as stated 
supply. He said that the church should ha\-e mcirning ser\'ice e\-ery 
.Sunday, and as no other place could be found it was held in the school 
building. This caused the work on the chapel to be resumed. The 
original plan being thought too small, fourteen feet was added, also 
the lielfry, and all was completed during Kedzie's ministry, he being 
the first to occupy the pulpit. Rev. Alfred Bryant was the pastor after 
Kedzie. he mo\-ing to the village in 1844. Rev. L. C. Rouse came in 
the fall of 1847, ^iif^ "1 1849 'le was installed as pastor bv the Presby- 
tery, being the first minister to be installed. 

"The old building was long and narrow, with low ceiling. Re\'. 
Rouse urged the erection of a new building, and in 1853 it was decided 
to rebuild. In the summer of 1854 the present building was raised and 
inclosed, but was not completed until January, 1856. Rev. E. B. Sher- 
wood was the jia.stor in the fall of 1855. and dedicated the new church 
February 7, 1856." 

The Cassopolis Presbyterian church was organized IMarcb iq, 1842, 
with ten charter members, of wdiom Mrs. Joseph Harper was the last 
survix'or. Har\ey Bigelow and Samuel F. Anderson were elected rlea- 
cons, and Rev. .-\. S. Kedzie was the first regular minister, beginning 
in November. 1842. The building of a house of worship was com- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 3S3 

inenced in 1845 '"''^^^ dedicateil in Xovemljer. 1846. This hnildinj^^ was 
occupied until the present handsome Ijrick church on the corner of 
State and O'Keefe streets was completed Decemher 10, 1893. ■^^ <> "^"^^^ 
of about fi\-e thousand dollars. Tlie church is now free from delit. 
There is an acti\-e meniliershin of ahout 70. with thirty or forty on the 
retired list. Rev. E. C. Lucas just closed a two years' pastorate ]\lay 
I, IQ06. The trustees are J- R- Carr. D. L. French, L. H. (Hover, 
\\'. L. Jones. Frank ^filler. J. FT. Epplev, and the ruling' elders Dr. 
T. ^\^ .\nderson. J. R. Carr. James ^NlcXab, L. H. Glover. .\ Sundav- 
school and a Christian Endea\'or organizations are also maintained. 

coxCtReg.vtioxal churches. 

As is well known, the Cono-regationalists and Preshvterians for 
manv vears met on common grdund and worshiped on the "plan of 
unicni," which has influenced the relations of the denominations even 
to this time. The Ed\\ardshurg Preshvterian church was formed on 
this ]i]an. The onlv acti\'e Congregational hod\' within the countv at 
this time is at D(iwagiac. 

The movement to organize the Dowagiac Congregational church 
was started by a missionary- from the Connecticut Domestic iMissionaiy 
Society in 1849, 'I'lf' i" ^^h^ following year the organization was accom- 
plished at the house of Patrick Hamilton, on July 9. .\mong those 
prominent in the church at that early time were H. C. Hills, Harvey 
Bigelow, L. R. Raymond, F S. F)ecraft, Cilman C. Jones. Patrick Ham- 
ilton. Milton Hull, Asa Dow. X, B. Holhster, William K. Palmer. The 
first meetings were held at private homes or in tlie old schoolhouse 
which stood on the site of the present ]\lethndist church. The societ\' 
erected its present honie. a frame Iniilding. in iS^Ti. 

CHURCHES OF CHRIST OR DISCIPLES. 

The Church of Christ at Dowagiac was organized in 1874. the 
charter members being : James Finley. Eunice Finley. Jasper P. \^'ar- 
ner, I'rilla Warner, Samuel Ingling, Jane D, Figling, F'riali F. Ing- 
ling, .\melia G. Suits. Charles Smith, Frances Smith. Kate E. Brun- 
ner, Sarah Wixan, Thomas J. Casterline. Rachel M. Casterline, Theo- 
dore T. Winchell. Louisa yi. Winchell, Elias yi. Ingling. Rachel Ing- 
ling, ^lary Stofif. Lambert B. Dewey. Amy Dewey, Eliza Clark. Jennie 
Buckley. Charles Gardner. Mary Miller, and Reason Williams. 

The present building, which is a very substantial frame structure 



3S4 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

',vith stcine fnunclation and iDasemeiit wall, was built in 1876. It is 40 
liv 65 feet, with basement room of 34 l;v 36. Tlie Irisement lias been 
recently remndeled and contains beside tlie main room the furnace room, 
kitchen and flressing' rooms. With main entrance at front, with a stair- 
way leading from the baptistry, which is situated at the rear of the pul- 
pit in the main audience room. The ladies' parlor is a room over the 
entrance to the main auditorium. 16x28 feet, so situated that it can be 
o]3ened into the main room in the form of a gallen'. The present mem- 
bership of the church is 250. The simple plea of the disciples is Xn 
Creed but the Christ: No Guide but the Bible: No Name but the Di- 
^•ine. The present minister is G. G. Home. 

Oak Grn\-e Christian church, located two miles west of Cassopolis, 
inherits the history of the Oak Grove Baptist church, which was or- 
ganized in 1843 under the full name of "The Old School Regular Priin- 
itive Baptist Church of LaGrange by the name of Concord." The first 
meeting was held at the house of Yorkely Griffin, and the Roberson, 
Grii'l'n, Huff and Ball families were represented by the charter mem- 
licrs. The society erected a building at Oak Grove about 1848. and 
\^';^s a ilourisliing church for some years, but died down in the earlv 
sixties. 

In July, 1881, the property was turned over to the Christian 
church. 

The Silver Creek Church of Christ was organized in 1861, and the 
chnrcli was built in 1865. The charter members w'ere : J- F. Swisher^ 
Millie Swisher. Da\-id Dewey, Anna Dewey, Betsey Dewey, AVilliam 
Pray, Mrs. William Pray, Henry Moore and wife, Alva Tuttle and 
wife, Andrew Barnhart and wife, Elias B. Godfrey and wife, Avery 
Smith and wife, Henry Keeler and wife, Horace Grinnell and wife. 

'i1ie first s^xicty of the Church of Christ in the county was formed 
in Penn township in the early forties and for many years held services 
in h<inics and schoolhouses. The legal organization was effected Alarch 
il;, 1S55, with Fphraim Alexander, John Hurd, Stephen Jones, John 
Hollister. Reason S. Pemberton. and John Alexander as trustees. In 
the preceding year the church edifice bad been built in Vandalia and 
the church i)ut on a substantial footing under tlie direction of Rev. 
David Miller. 

A society of the Church of Christ was organized by the people of 
Glenwood in Wayne township in 1874. the society being incorporated 
September 29. 1874. with the following as trustees: Oscar F. Hall, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 3cS5 

Alfred H. Turner, Craigie Sharp, Josiah B. l>i;i}-lin, John W. Burns 
and M. D. L. AIcKeyes. 'J^ie house of worship was built about the 
same time. 

A Church of Christ society was first orgariized in Jefiferson town- 
ship in November, 1847, the nine charter members being: Henry W. 
Smith, Sabrina Smith, Peter Smith, Sarah A. Smith, Edmond Thatcher, 
Phoebe Thatcher. Reuben B. Davis. Susannah Davis and Mary Cooper. 
Meetings were conducted in a schoolhouse until 185 1, in which year a 
frame church 30 to 43 feet was erected. 

A Christian church society was formed at Dailey about 1878, the 
meetings being held in a schoolhouse at first. 

"friends" societies. 

With all pitineers, after comfortable homes comes the wish for 
schools and churches, and Cass county pioneers were no exception to 
tliis rule. When we speak of comfortable homes meiutiry takes us back 
to the neat hewed log house and barn of the year 1840', when the 
"Friends" of Cass county began to consider the time ripe for the estab- 
lishment of a church of their own faith. For some time they ipet and 
worshiped and then by direction of a Northern Ouarterlv meeting held 
near Marion. Indiana, Birch Lake monthh' meeting was established and 
the opening session held August 7, 1841. 

Francis Sheldon was appointed clerk and Joel East, treasurer. 
Other officers were Stephen Bogue, Richmond Marmon, Ishmael Lee. 
Joel East and Josiah Osborn and an apportionment was made at this 
time tO' raise five dollars to defray the expenses of the church. 

A branch meeting w-as granted the few Friends who resided at 
Door Prairie, near La Porte, Iml, later in the year 1841. ami the 
I'riends in Cass county thuught it no h;irdship to dri\e across the cnuntry 
tn mingle with these "brethren" and give counsel in the Lcird's wnrk. 

In those days it was no uncommon thing for members of Birch 
Lake meeting to ride on horseback to Marion, Ind., to attend the Quar- 
terly meeting at that place. This was frecpiently done by Stephen 
Bogue, and sometimes his daughter, Mrs. James E. Bonine. accompa- 
nied him, riding the entire distance in tlie saddle and over corduroy 
roads much of the way. 

About this time a few of the members of Birch Lake meeting be- 
came so conscientious in regard to the use of goods produced by slave 
labor, that thev withdrew and organized a societv known as "Anti- 



386 HISTORY Ol' CASS COL'NTY 

Slavery" Friends. They would nut use cotti.in cloths, sugar or any- 
thing they knew to be made by sla\es. There were a number of these 
societies in diiterent parts of Indiana. The meeting in Cass coimty 
was held in a log building in the grove on the farm of the late James 
E. Bonine in Penn township, and known as the Elk Park. The pastor 
was the Rev. Charles Osborn, a renow^ned minister among Friends, and 
hereinbefore mentioned in this chapter, and father of the late J. P. 
Osborn of Cassopolis. His onl\- siu'vix'ing child is Mrs. Ann East of 
Buchanan, Mich. 

in the .same lug building the Anti-Slavery I'riends had a school 
for their children, James Osborn, son of Charles, being one of the first 
teachers. 

This little company oi devoted Christians soon found they could 
not cope with such a munster as slavery and their self-denial did not 
prevent one stroke of the lash <ir cure <ine heartache of the black liurden 
bearer, so they returned to the mother church after a few years of fruit- 
less effort. 

In 1848 an "Alternate" meeting was established at "Prairie Grove,"' 
one mile south of Penn and continued until a church was built at that 
place about the year 1S80. 

Having plenty of mone}' and more zeal with a strong desire for 
a better house of worship, James E. Bonine and others began the work 
of building the brick church at Vandalia in 1879. 

James E. Bonine, Stephen A. Bogue, Silas H. Thomas, W. E. 
Bogue and Hem-y Coate were the first trustees and the church was 
dedicated the 28th of December, 1879. Robert W. Douglas of Wil- 
mington, Ohio, preached the dedicatory sermon and Rev. Henry Coate 
became the first pastor and was probably the first minister in the Friends 
church to receive a salary, it being one of the tenets of the church that 
the Gosi)el should be free to all. Now there are many salaried ministers 
in the society. 

There were branch meetings established, one at Long Lake, near 
Traverse City: one at Log Chapel. These branch meetings, with Penn 
and Birch Lake, constitute A'andalia Quarterl)- meeting and are loyal 
subjects of ln(hana Yearly meeting, the largest body of "b'riends" in 
the world. 

At Birch Lake a neat little house has taken the place of the prim- 
itive log of years ago, and though not one of the first members lives to 
tell its history, a goodlv number of their descendants meet on the same 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 387 

spot to worship, living in tlie same faith, upliolding tlie same prin- 
ciples. 

FIRST UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY OF DOWAGIAC. 

This society was organized December i8. 1858. In the following 
year a building was erected and the regular departments of church work 
instituted. The Univer^alist society is no longer active, but its ranks 
contained some of the foremost citizens of Dowagiac. Among the 
foundries of the society may be mentioned Justus Gage. C. P. Prindlc/ 
Mrs. A. S. Prindle, W. P. Bucklin, Mrs. ^lary Ann Bucklin, Gideon 
S. Wilbur, G. C. Jones, Azro Jones. .Vt a later period the official list 
comprised G. C. Jones, Hiram Bowling, C. T. Lee, P. D. Beckwith, 
Richard Heddon and Gideon Gibbs. 

EVAXGELICAL CHURCHES. 

An Evangelical church was organized in ]\Iarcellus township 
March 25, 1868, with twenty-two members. .\ church building was 
erected in Marcellus village ami dedicated December 29, 1872. 

Evangelical Paradise church, situated on the north side of Chicago 
road in section 15 of Mason, was built in 1874. The church was or- 
ganized in the same year by Jacob Young, there being twelve charter 
members. 

UNITED BRETHREN CHURCHES. 

In 1853 ^ societv nf this deuDuiination was organized at the P)ly 
schoolhouse in Marcellus township. Ha\"ing' increased sufficiently, in 
1876 they erected a church in Marcellus village. 

Rev. Heniy Luse was the instrument in forming a church of the 
United Brethren among the people of Mason township, seventy-nine 
members constituting the first church that \\as formed in March, i86q. 
The church edifice at Sailor in section 14 was erected in 1874. Some 
of the prominent members of this church in the past were the Luse 
family, Moses McKissick, Dr. H. E. \\'oodbridge, J. Worth. D. Fisher 
and others. 

Newberg township has a United Brethren church at Bald Hill. 

GERMAN LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

Tlie German Lutheran church at Dowagiac was built in 1892. At 
present its membership is only se\-en. The pastor is Rev. F. Rahn and 
his predecessor was Rev. Schoen. The secretary of the church is Au- 
srust Abendroth. 



388 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL. 

Dowagiac maintains tlie iinl\- regular Episcopal organization, al- 
though the rector frnm that cliurch has served a mission in CassoiX)lis 
at irregular intervals. The congregation of St. Alban"s Episcopal 
church was organized in 1897, and the first resident clergyman was 
Rev. H. P. Vicborn, appointed in 1S99. The society was gi\-en the 
use of the old Universalist church building for its services. The first 
officers of this society were R. W. Sheldon, warden : R. R. Elliott, treas- 
urer ; W. G. Elliott, clerk. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 3fS9 



CHAPTER XXVn. 
OFFICIAL LISTS. 

STATE SENATORS FROM CASS COUNTY.* 

1842-43-44, George Redfield; i84<S-49, Alex. FT. Redfield; 1853. 
Jesse G. Beeson; 1855. James Sullivan; 1857-58, Alonzo Garwood; 
1859, George Meacham; 1861-62. Gilman C. Jones; 1863-64. Emmons 
Buell; 1865. Levi Aldrich ; 1867, Charles W. Clisbee; 1869-70, Amos 
Smith; 1871-72. Uzziel Putnam. Jr.: 1875, Matthew T. Garvey; 1879, 
James M. Shepard ; 1905, James G. Hayden (resigned 1906). 

STATE REPRESENTATIVES FROM CASS COUNTY. 

1835-36-37, Joseph Smith: 1S35-36-38, James O'Dell : 1837-38, 
Wilham Burk; 1839-40. James Newton; 1840, Henry Coleman: 1841. 
Myron Strong: 1841, George Redfield; 1842-43, S. F. Anderson; 1844. 
James W. Griffin: 1845-47, James Shaw: 1846-47, James L. Glenn: 
1848-49, George B. Turner: 1848, Milo Powell; 1849, Cyrus Bacon: 
1850. Ezekiel C. Smith: 1851, George Sherwood: 1851. \A'illiam L. 
Clyhurn: 1853. E. J. Bonine: 1850-53. Plea.sant Norton: 1855. Frank- 
lin Brownell: 1855, Uriel Enos: 1857-58, B. W. Schermerhurn : 1857- 
58, Edwin Sutton: 1859, George Newton: 1859. E. AV. Reynolds: 
1861-62, Edward H. Jones: 1861-62, Edward Shanahan: 1863-64. H. 
B. Denman: 1863-64, Levi Aldrich: 1865, Lucius Keeler: 1865-71-72, 
Alexander B. Copley: 1867, Henry B. Wells: 1867, Leander D. Os- 
born: 1869-70. Uzziel Putnam. Jr.; 1869-70, James Ashley: 1871-72, 
John F. Coulter; 1873-74, Alexander Robertson; 1873-74. Tlmmas 
O'Dell; 1875. John Struble; 1875. John B. Sweetland: 1877-79, Sam- 
uel Johnson: 1881-82, James H. Hitchcox; 1883-85-87. Robinson J. 
Dickson; 1889-91-92. Edward R. Spencer: 1893. Joh" Kirkwood : 1805, 
Lucien E. Wood: 1897-98, ^lillard F. Phillips: 1899-00-01. James L. 
Robinson: 1903-05, Thomas T. Higgins. 

The Cass county members of the first constitutional convention 
which assembled at Detroit in May. 1835. where James Newtnn. James 



* Note — The dates designate the session years. 



390 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

( )"Dell, Baldwin Jenkins. In the first convention of assent, at Ann 
Arbor. September 26. 1836, -were James Newton and James O'Delb 
And in tlie second convention of assent, at Ann Arbor, December 14. 
183(1. were Fdwin N. Bridge, Jacob Silver, Joseph Smith and Abiel 
Siher. The convention held at Lansing in 1850, which resulted in the 
liresent fundamental law of Michig-an, was attended from Cass county 
by George Redfield, Mitchell Robinson, James .Sullivan. 

Of the more prominent state officials, Cass county has furnished 
a state treasurer — George Redfield, 1845-4(1: an attornev general — An- 
drew J. Smith, 1875-77; Abiel Silver (1846-50), and Gen. George T. 
Shafer (1891-92), comnu'ssiduers of State Land Office. 

COUNTY OFFICI.^LS. 
JUnOES OF THE NOW OBSOLETE COUNTY COURT. 

T83T. Joseph S. Barnard, chief justice, and William Burk and John 
.Agard, associate justices; 1834. William A. Fletcher, chief justice: 
Abiel Sih-er and ^^''illiam Burk, associates; 1846 (on the re-establish- 
ment of the cotn"t), Joseph N. Cbipman. first, and Mitchell Robinson, 
second; (1849. Ezekiel S. Smith, vice Chipman, resigned) ; 1850, Cyrus 
Bacon, first, and Ezekiel S. Smith, second. 

Tl'DGES OF THE CIRCIUT COURT. 

1837, Epaphroditus Ransom, presiding judge, and James Cava- 
naugh and Richard V. Y. Crane, associate judges; 1839, Myron 
Strong, vice James Ca\-anaugh, resigned: 1841. Epaphroditus Ransom, 
presiding judge, John Barney and Thomas T. Glenn, associate judges; 
T845. F.. Ransom, chief justice. Sanuiel F. .\nderson and William H. 
Bacon, associates. Beginning with 1848 onlv tlie circuit iudges are 
named; 1848. Charles W. Whipjile: 1856, Nathaniel Bacon; 1864, 
Perrin M. Smith: 1866. Nathaniel Bacon; 1870, Daniel Blackman ; 
1872, Henry H. Coolidge; 1878, Charles W. Clisbee, appointed vice 
Judge Coolidge. resigned; 1878, Andrew J. Smith (elected tO' fill va- 
cancy) ; 1882. A. J. Smith; 1888, Thomas O'Hara ; 1894. O. W. Cool- 
idge; 1899 (on formation of 36th judicial circm't), H. D. Smith, ap- 
pointed to fill out the term; 1900, John R. Carr; 1906, L, B. Des 
Voig-nes. 

JUDGES OF PROBATE. 

183T. Elias B. Sherman; 1S37-40, Horace B. Dunning; 1841-64, 
Clifford Shannahan; *T 864-68, Matthew T. Garvey ; 1869-96. William 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY H91 

P. Bennett; 1896 (ap])()inted t(i \-acancy). L. B. Des Voignes; 1897- 
1906, Chester E. Cone (appointed to vacancy caused by resignation of 
Des Voignes). 

CIRCUIT COURT COMMISSIONERS. 

1853. Elias B. Sherman: 1855, Henry H. Gxihdge: 1857. James 
M. Spencer; 1859-60, Charles ^^^ CHsbee; 1861-64. Uzziel Putnam, 
Jr; 1867-8, George Miller; 1869-70, Joseph B. Clarke; 1871-2, John 
R. Carr and X. B. Hollister; 1873-4. Joseph B. Clarke and Cieor.ge L. 
Linder; 1875-80, George Ketcham and Joseph B. Clarke; 1881-82, 
George Ketcham and John F. Tr\-on ; 1883-84, John F. Tryon, Percy 
L. Edwards; "1885-86, John F. Tryon*, Coy W. Hendryx; 1887-90. 
Charles E. Sweet, Randolph T. Edwards; 1891-92. Cassius 'SI. FJjy. 
E. Esli Harwood ; 1893-94. Cassius M. Eby. Joseph R. Edwards; 1895- 
96. Cassius M. Ehy. Joseph R. Edwards; 1897-98. Cassius Al. Eliy. 
Joseph R. Edwards; 1899-00, Joseph R. Edwards. Walter C. Jones; 
1901-02, Chester E. Cone, George INI. Field; 1903-04, C. F. Cnne. 
Joseph R. Edwards; 1905, C. E. Cone, Joseph R. Edwards. 

COUNTY CLERKS. 

1830 (appointed by gmernor). Joseph L. Jacks; 1833. Alartin C. 
Whitman; 1835-40, Henly C. Lybrook ; 1840-41, H. B. Punning; 1842- 
43, H. C. Lybrook; 1844-49, George Sherwood; 1851-52, William 
Seares; 1853-56, E. B. ^^'arner; 1857-58, Benj. F. Rutter; 1859-62, 
Charles G. Lewis; 1863-66, L'a Brownell ; 1867-78, Charles L. Mor- 
ton; 1879-80-82, Joseph R. Edwards; 1883-86, Samuel ^\'. Breece; 
1887-90, Barak L. Rudd : 1891-92. Abner ]\1. ]\hion ; 1893-96, Rnliert 
C. Sloan; 1897-98. V. S. Eby; 1809-co. John B. Harmon; 1901-02, 
C. O. Harmon; 1903-04, Jesse ]\L Palmer; 1905-. C. \\'. Rinehart. 

PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS. 

1831. Elias B. Sherman; 1840-42. Ezekiel S. Smith; 1843-52, 
James Sullivan; 1853-54. H. H. Coolidge; 1855-62. .Vntlrew J. Smith; 
1863-64. Charles W. Clisbee; 1865-68. Andrew J. Smith; 1869-70, 
George Miller; 1871-72. XA'illiam G. Howard; 1873-74. Spafford 
Tryon; 1875-76. Marshall L. Howell; 1877-80. Harsen D. Smith; 1881- 
83, Joseph B. Clarke; 1883-86. John R. Carr; 1887-90, Freeman J. 
Atwell; 1891-92, L. B. Des Voignes; 1893-96, Charles E. Sweet; 
1897-igoo, C. M. Eby; 1901-02. LT. S. Eby; 1903 — , George M. Fields. 



* NoTE^Died before beginning the term and L. H. Glo\er filled \acancy by ap- 
pointment. 



392 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



1S30-32. George }ireacham : 1S3J-34. Henry H. Fowler; 1835-31'). 
Eber Root- 1836-40:, ^L \'. Hunter: 184042, Walter G. Beckwith: 
1842-44, James L. Glenn; 1844-46. Walter G. Beckwith: i846-4(j. 
Barak .Mead: 1831-52, Andrew Wc-ods; 1853-54. Walter G. Beck- 
with: 1855-56, Joseph Harper; 1857-nO', Josejih X. Marshall: 1861- 
62, B. W. Schermerhorn ; 1863-66, William K. Palmer; 1867-70, 
Zacheus Aldrich: 1871-72. Levi J. Reynolds: 1S73-74, William J. ]\ler- 
vin ; 1875-76, J. Boyd Thomas; 1877-80, James H. Stamp; 1881-82. 
John A. Jones: 1883-86, Frank M. Sanders; 1887-90', Jacob Mcintosh; 
1891-92, William Reag-an : 1893-94, William H. Coulter; 18x55-96, N. 
J. Crosliy: 1897-00, William Reagan: 1901-04, Fred A. Hadsell : 
1905 — , E. J. Russey. 

COUXTY TREASURERS. 

1831. Andrew Gruhb (apijointed) ; 1833. Jacob Silver ( ap]ioint- 
ed) ; 1836, Eber Root; 1837, Joseph Harper; 1838, Isaac Scares; 1839, 
Joseph Harper; 1840^43, Amos F'nller ; 1844-45, -"^sa Kingsbury: 1846- 
49. Joshua Lofland ; 1850-51, Henry R. Close: 1852-53, Henry Tiet- 
sort: 1854-57, JeiTerson Osborn : 1858-59, \A'illiam W. Peck: 186x3- 
61. Ira Brownell ; 1862-65, J. K. Ritter; 1866-69. Isaac Z. Edwards; 
1870-73. Anson L. Dunn: ^^yyyS. Hiram S. Hadsell; 1S79-82, R. L. 
Van Ness: 1883-86. John Planning; 1887-90. James G. Hayden ; 1891- 
94, Thomas J. Edwards; 1895-98, Norris Richardson: 1899-02, Alonzo 
P. Beeman ; 1903-06, George W. Card. 

REGISTER OF DEEDS. 

1833. T. H. Edwards: 1835, Alex. H. Redfield : 1836-37, Will- 
iam Arrison; 1838-42. Joseph Flarper; 1843-54, David M. Howell; 
1855-64, Ariel E. Peck: 1865-68. William E. Jackways; 1869-72, Joel 
CoAvgill ; 1873-76, Henrv L. Barney: 1877-82, Stephen ' L. George; 
1883-88. William M. Bunbury; T889-92. Charles O. Hannon ; 1893- 
96. Zehedee Beverly; 1897-1900. Edwin ]\T. Eindslcy: 190T-04. Her- 
mann Roelieck ; 1905 — . Warner D. Jones. 

COUNTY ST'R\'EYORS. 

183 T. E. R. Sherman; 1834. John Woolman ; 1838. J. C. Saxton ; 
1840. Henry Walton; 1842-48. David P. A^^^rd : 1849-50. Charles G. 
Banks: 1851-54. I^avid P. Ward; 1855-56, Amos Smith; 1857-60, 
Amos Smith: 1861-62, H. O. Banks: 1863-64, Amos Smith; 1865-70, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 3;»3 

H. O. Banks; 1871-74, John C. Bradt; 1875-76, Austin A. Branier; 
1877-82, Amos Smith; 1883-86, Char4es G. Banks; 1887-88, John C. 
Bradt; 1889-1902, Fred E. Smith; 1903 — , John S. Haines. 

COUNTY SUPERINTENDENTS Of SCHOOLS. 

April, 1867, Chauncey L. \\hitney, elected. He resigned in Oc- 
tober of same year and tiie vacancy was filled by the appointment of 
Albert H. Gaston, who held the ofiice during 1868; 1869-70, Irvin 
Clendenen ; 1871-72, Lewis P. Rinehart; 1873-74. Samuel Johnson. 
(For other county schoni officers see chapter on Education in State 
and County.) 

TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS. 

It will be n(jticed that in the case of the townships which were 
organized previous to 1838 the period of 1839-40-41 shows the office 
of supervisor not filled. This was due to a change from the township 
supervisors' board t(j a bijard of countv commissiduers as the govern-^ 
ing body of the count}-. In each township during that time one or more 
assessors were elected, whose duty it was to assess the prop^rtv. a 
duty before and since performed l)y the supervisor. Wdiere the names 
appear in the list of super\-isors it should be remembered that they 
were the assessors. The county commissioner ])lan did ncit long re- 
main in favor. In this connection it will be of interest to quote from 
an old southern Michigan paper dated February 18. 1842: "The legis- 
lature has abolished the office of county commissioners. The commis- 
sioner system was first projected by Mr. James O'Dell of Cass county. 
Mr. O'Dell labored hard in 1836 to get such a law passed and in 1838 
the system was established." The act creating the board of cnunty cnni- 
missioners was repealed Febniary 10. 1842. and on the second ?vlcinday 
in April following the boards of supervisors in the counties through- 
out the state began performing their duties. 

In the book of miscellaneous records at the county clerk's office 
appears the following, which will explain the change from the town- 
ship supervisor to the county commissioner system ; "On the 20th of 
November, 1838, the county commissioners who were elected at the 
general election held in Cass county on the 5th and 6th of Novem- 
ber, inst.. met at the county clerk's office in Cassopolis. were sworn in 
and drew for their respective terms of service, which resulted as fol- 
lows: James W. Griffin, three years; Henry Jones, two years; and Da- 
vid Hopkins, one year. Hereafter there vill be one county commis- 



394 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



sioner to be elected annually." The tirst meeting of the conmiissioners 
for transaction of official business was held in January, 1S39. 

Those who sen'ed in this office dinging its continuance were: Will- 
iam Burk, who succeeded David Hopkins in 1840. James O'Dell suc- 
ceeded Henry Jones, entering office in January, 1841. William H. 
Bacon was elected for the three }ear term beginning in 1842. The 
last meeting of the commissioners was held March 9, 1842, and in the 
following July the board of supervisors began their sessions. 



Marcclliis. 



1843 
1844 
1845 
1846, 

I 847: 

1848 

1849, 
1850, 
185 1 
1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 
1856 

1857 
1858 
1 8^9 
i860, 
t8(.t 
1862, 
1863 
1864 
1865, 
1866 
1867 
1868 
1869 
1870 
1871 
18-2 



igg- 



Daniel G. Rouse. 
Daniel G. Rouse. 
E. C. Goff. 
E. C. Gof¥. 
Joseph Haight. 
D. G. Rouse. 
D. G. Rouse. 
D. G. Rouse. 
Henry McOuit 
Henry McOuis 
Henrv INIcOuigg. 
Henry \\'."Bhr 
William P. Bennett. 
William P. Bennett. 
H. Dykeman. 
William P. Bennett. 
M. E, Messenger. 
William P. Bennett. 
William P. Bennett. 
William P. Bennett. 
William P. Bennett. 
\\'illiam P. Bennett. 
John C. Bradt. 
John C. Bradt. 
William P. Bennett. 
William P. Bennett. 
John C. Bradt. 
John C. Bradt. 
John C. Bradt. 
Thomas McKee. 



1873, John C. Bradt. 

1874, A. F. Caul. 

1875, A. E. Caul. 

1876, A. F. Caul. 

1877, A. F. Caul. 

1878, A. F. Caul. 

1879, A. F. Caul. 

1880, A. E. Caul. 

1 88 1, A. F. Caul. 

1882, A. F. Caul. 

1883, Frank Savage. 

1884, A. F. Caul.^ 
1 88s, A. F. Caul. 

1886, James B. Fortner. 

1887, James B. h'orlner. 

1888, James B. F.irtner. 

1889, J. B. Fortner. 

1890, J. B. Fortner. 

1 89 1, Edward Ketch am. 

1892, J. B. Fortner. 

1893, J. B. Fortner. 

1894, Clark H. Beardslee. 

1895, Clark H. Beardslee. 

1896, C. H. Beardslee. 

1897, T. B. Fortner. 

1898, J. B. F(jrtner. 

1899, J. B. Fortner. 

1900, J. B. Fortner. 
1901-06, C. H. Beardslee. 



Newher: 



1838, James Aldrich. 
1839-40-41 

1842-45, Hiram ^^^~lod. 



1846-49, Barker F. Rudd. 

1850, Hiram Harwood. 

185 1, B. F. Rudd. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



3'J5 



1852-54, J. M. Chapman. 
1855-56, S. Harwood. 
1857-58, Edward H. Jones. 
1859, James j\I. Chapman. 
i860, B. F. Rudd. 
1861-62, S. Harwood. 
1863-68, J. M. Chapman. 
1869-70, Anson L. Dunn. 

187 1, J. M. Chapman. 

1872, W. H. H. Pemberton. 

1873, Silas Harwood. 

1874, J. S. Tompkins. 



1833, Othni Beanlsley. 
1834-35, Caleb Calkins. 

1836, George Meacham. 

1837, Caleb Calkins. 

1838, George Meacham. 

1839, Oscar X. Long. 

1840, George Meacham. 

1841, Jonas Hartman. 

1842, Milo Powell. 

1843, \'V'illiam R. ?\Ierritt. 
1844-45. Oscar X. Long. 
1846-47, Rufns K. Charles. 
18+8, John N. Jones. 
1849. Jai'ins Hitchcox. 
1850-51, O. X'. Long. 
1852-55, Rufns K. Charles. 
1856. Milo Powell. 
1857-59, A. H. Long. 



1833-36. James X^ewton. 

1837, David Hopkins. 

1838, Hubbell ^^"arner. 

1839, Amos Huff. 
1842-44. Hubbell Warner. 
1845, Joseph Warner. 
1846-48, David Hopkins. 
1849-50. James Fulton. 
1851-52. George Newton. 
1853-54, Hubbell Warner. 
185 T. Emnms Buell. 



1875, ■^'- Harwood. 

1876, F. M. Dodge. 

1877, Anson L. Dunn. 
1878-79, Lemuel Chapman. 
1S80, B. F. Rudd. 

1880, (by apixiintment ) \\". 
H. Pemberton. 

1 88 1, Xathan Skinner. 

1882, Benjamin F. Wells. 
1883-85, James M. Chapman. 
188O-99, A. P. Beeman. 
1900-06. Frank Dunn. 



H. 



Porter. 



1860-63, Lucius Keeler. 
1864, T- H. Hitchcox. 
1865-66, Thomas O'Dell. 
1867, Lucius Keeler. 
1868-69, Thomas O'Dell. 
1870-74, Hiram Meacham. 
1875, Nathan Skinner. 
1876-78 Nathan Skinner. 
1879-81, Edward T. Motlev. 
1 88 1, Thomas O'Dell (by 

pointment). 
18S2, Abram D. Seager. 
1883-85. lohn B. Hamion. 
1886-87, Edward T. Motlev. 
1888-98, J.'B. Harmon. 
1899-1900, Ed. T. Motley. 
iqoi-05. Samuel F. Skinner. 
1906, Daniel Eby. 



Volinia. 

1856- 
1859- 
1861- 
1864. 
1865- 
1867, 
1868- 
1S71, 
1872. 

1S74 



-58, Alex. B. Copley. 
•60, Milton J. Garci 
•63. W. L. Dixon. 

A. B. Coplev. 
66. Milton j' Card. 

A. B. Copley. 
70, John Huff. 

John Struble. 

A. B. Copley. 

John .Struble. 
yj, John Kirby. 



ap- 



3 06 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



1878-92, John Huff. 
1 893- 1 900, G. W. Card. 
1901-04, John H. Root. 



1831, John Agard. 
1832-36, James O'Dell. 
1837, Alpheus Ireland. 
1838-39, Daniel Kelsey. 

1840, James O'Dell. 

1841, Henry Jones. 
1842-45, Ira Kelsey. 
1846-48, Elias Carrier. 
1849, Isaac L. Seely. 
1850-51, Alpheus Ireland. 

1852, R. S. Pemberton. 

1853, Barker F. Rudd. 
1854-55, R. S. Pemberton. 
1856-58, George D. Jones. 
1859. E. Alexander. 
i860, Amos Smith. 

1861, R. S. Pemberton. 

1862, E. C. Collins. 

1863, C. C. Nelson. 
"1864-65, Nathan Jones. 

1866-67, Amos Smith. 
1868, R. S. Pemberton. 
1869-70, John Alexander. 



i''^35-36, Pleasant Grubb. 
1837-38, William T. Reed. 
1841, Joel East. 
1842-43, John V. Whinnery. 

1844, Peter Shaffer. 

1845, Elijah Osbom. 
•1846-47, Jesse Hutchinson. 

1848, S."T. Reed. 

1849, Johnson Packard. 

1850, Leander Osborn. 
1851-54. Jefferson Osborn. 
1S55, Daniel W. Gray. 

1856, Johnson Patrick, 

1857, Elijah Osborn. 
1S58-59. Beniah A. Tliarp. 



Pet 



Cah 



905, William R. Kirby. 

906, Carl A. Morton. 



871, Reason S. Pemberton. 
872-74, John Alexander. 
875-76, James H. Stamp. 

877, Stephen Jones. 

878, John H. East. 

879, Lucius D. Gleason. 
S80, Joseph H. Johnson. 

881, Charles F. Smith. 

882. George Longsduff. 
883-84. Charles E. Carrier. 

885, George Longsduff. 

886, Barak L. Rudd. 
887-88, Martin V. Stamp. 
889, William Green. 
890-91, Martin V. Stamp. 
892-93, Ehr.ore F. Lewis. 
894-96, Wilber Van Slyke. 
897-99, Jasper White. 
900, Elmore F. Lewis. 
901-02, Lot J. Bonine. 
903-05, S. Jennison Lincoln. 
906, Francis E. Gleason. 



860-61. James Oren. 

862-66, B. A. Tharp. 

867-70, Levi J. Reynolds. 

871-72, B. A." Tharp. 

873-75. Lei'<iv Osborn. 

S~6-77, B. F^ Beeson. 

878-79, Levi J. Reynolds. 

880. Levi J. Revnolds. 

881-83, B."F. Beeson. 

884-85, Levi J. Revnolds. 

886-88. Benj.'F. Beeson. 

889-99, J. L. Robinson. 

goo-04, Cornelius Lawson fcol'dV 

905. William F. Puterbaugh. 

906, Cornelius Lawsun. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



3U7 



836, Moses Stafford. 
838, Saxton P. Kingsley. 
839-40, Reuben Allen. 
841, S. P. Kingsley. 
842-44, John S. Bement. 
84 > George Arnold. 
846-48, Ezra Hatch. 
849-51, John S. Bement. 
852, George Arnold. 
853-54, Ezra Hatch. 
855-56, George Arnold. 
857-60. E. W. Reynolds. 
861-63, Henry Thompson. 

864, George Arnold. 

865, W. H. Stevens. 
866-67. T. H. Graham. 
868, William Allen. 



Masoti. 

1869, 
1870. 
1871- 

1879, 

1879- 
1883- 



T889- 
1893 
1895- 
1900 

1905 
1006, 



J. H. Graham. 

Lewis H. Miller. 
J2, Heniy Thompson. 
78, J. H. Graham. 

Henry Thompson (failed to 
qualify). 
82, J. H. Graham. 
85, J. \\-. Snyder. 
87, J. H. Graham. 

J. W. Snyder. 
92, J. H. Graham. 
94, J. ^\'. Snyder. 
■99, Charles A. Thompson. 
■04, J. H. Graham. 

Jasper J. Ross. 

J. L. Stevens. 



835-36. Cornelius Higgins. 
837-38, Abraham Weaver. 
839-41, 

842. Abraham Weaver. 

843, Cyrus Gage. 
844-45, Tohn S. Gage. 
846. JoefC. Wright. 
847-48, Ebenezer Gage. 
849-50. AVilliam G. Wiley. 
851-53 M. V. Hunter. 
854.\Tohn W^ Trotter. 
855-56, Ebenezer Gage. 
'^v-S9- Svlvanus Henderson. 
860-65. Henrv B. Wells. 
866-69. Tsraef Ball. 

870, William O. Van Hise. 

871, Francis O. Van Antwerp. 

872, Samuel Johnson. 



Wayne. 

1873. Hiram H. Tavlor. 

1874, Heniy B. Wells. 
1875-76. Samuel Johnson. 

1877, Wesley Ely. 

1878, Thaddeus Hampton. 

1879, Frank P. Lee. 

1880, Hiram Nowlin. 

1881, Henrv B. Wells. 
1882-86. Halbert R. Taylor. 
1887, John Kirkwood. 
T888. Edward R. Spencer. 

1889. John Kirkwood. 

1890. John P. Fiero. 
,1891-92. John Kirkwood. 

1893-1901. Frank Atwood. 
1902-04. James Ferrell. 
1005-06. John J. Hare. 



830. Joseph S. Barnard. 
831-33, James Kavanaugh. 

834. Jesse Palmer. 

835. John Fluallen. 

836. Jesse G. Beeson. 
'^37-3'8. John Fluallen. 



La Grange. 
1839-41, 

1842. E. B. Sherman. 
1843-46, Eli p. Bonnell. 
1847. George B. Turner. 
1848-49. Henry Tietsort, Jr. 
i8^o, Simeon E. Dnw. 



3 its 



HISTORY OF CASS COUN'l Y 



i8si- 
1853- 

1855, 

l8::;6. 

T857. 

i8c8- 
1861, 
1862- 
1867. 
1868, 



52, Henry Tietsort, Jr. 
54, Daniel S. Jones. 

C. B. Tietsort. 

Henry Walton. 

William G. Wiley. 
60, Daniel S. Jones. 

William R. Fletcher. 
66, Daniel S. Jones. 

William T. Tinney. 

Daniel S. Jones. 



1833, Robert Painter. 
1834-38, Pleasant Norton. 
184T, Maxwell Zane. 

1842, Joseph Smith. 

1843, Marcus Peck. 
1844-45, Joseph Smith. 
1846, jjarton B. Dunning. 
1S47, Joseph Smith. 
1848-50, Pleasant Norton. 
1851, "N. Aldrich. 

1S52, Pleasant Norton. 
T853, Henry W. Smith. 
18^:4, Nathaniel Monroe. 
1855-56, J. N. Marshall. 
1857-58, Marcus Peck. 
1859-60. Joseph Hess. 
1 86 1. Hiram R. Shutt. 



1 83 1, Ezra Beardsley. 
1832-34. Dempster Beatty. 
1835, George Meacham. 
1836-38, Joel Brown. 
T 839-41. 

1842, \\'illiain Bacon. 

1843. INJyi'on Strong. 
T844, James W. Griffin. 

1845. George Redfield. 

1846, Myron Strong. 
1847-48, Cyrus Bacon. 

1849. Joseph L, Jacks. 

1850. James W. Griffin. 

1851. N. Aldrich. 



1809, L. H. Glover. 
1870, Abram l^'iero. 
1871-73, Daniel S. Jones. 
1874-78, Robert Wiley. 
1S79, Daniel S. Jones. 
1880-83, Robert H. Wiley. 
1884-91, C. H. Kimmerle. 
1892-94, Robert H. Wiley. 
1895-1906, C. H. Kimmerle. 



Jefferson. 

1862- 
1864, 
1865- 
1867, 
1868, 
1869, 
1870- 

1874- 
1877- 
t88i- 
1889- 

T 900- 
1902, 
1903- 
1906, 



-63, Marcus Marsh. 

C. S. Swan. 
■66, G. W. Westfall. 

AndreAN' Woods. 

Marcus Marsh. 

S. C. Tharp. 
■72, John S. Jacks. 

S. W. Breece. 
76, Andrew Woods. ■ 
80, Harlev E. Bement. 
88, H. B.' Shurter. 
99, Robert Dool. 
01. Henrv C. Davis. 

Henry B'. Hicks. 
04, H.. C. Davis-. 

Henrv B. Hicks. 



Ontwa. 

1852 
1853 
1855 
1856 

1857 
1858 
1861 
1862 
1865 
1866 
t868- 

t87,T 
1876 
1878 



, Cyrus Bacon. 
■54. Charles Haney. 

A. Longstreet. 

Charles Haney. 

Aaron Lisk. 
-60, Charles Haney. 

Moses H. Lee. 
-64, Charles Haney. 

George F. Silver. 
67, Charles Haney. 
■y2. J. B. Thomas. 
■75. Moses H. T^^ee. 
-77. Nnah S. Brady. 
80. \\'illiam K. Hopkins. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



3'i)'i) 



88 1, Davis S. Minier. 
882-94, Noah S. Brady. 
895-98, Hiram Cobb. 



1899-1905, George Bement. 
1900, D. S. Striker. 



Silver Creek. 



837, Tiniolh}' Treat. 

838, P.' B. Dunning. 

«39-4i, 

842-43, John W'oohiian, Jr. 

844-45, John G. A. Barney. 

84O-53, Daniel Blish. 

854-56, B. W. Schermerhorn. 

857-58, Gihnan C. Jones. 

859-60, B. W. Schermerhorn. 

861, Justus Gage. 

S62-63, Daniel Blish. 

864, B. W. Schermerhorn. 

865, Gilman C. Jones. 
866-67, William M. Frost. 
S68-72, William K. Palmer. 
873, Gilbert Conkling. 

831, Squire Thompson. 

832, John Clark. 

833, Samuel Marrs. 
834-36, Lewis Edwards. 
837-38, Henry Houser. 

839-41, 

842-43, Squire Thompson. 
844, William Burk. 
845-46, Henry Houser. 

847, W^illiam L. Clyborn. 

848, M. Robinson. 
849-50, William L. Clyborn. 
851-52, M. T. Garvey. 

853, Frank Brownell. 

854, M. Robinson. 

855, Lewis Clyborn. 

856, M. T. Garvey. 

857, William L. Clyborn. 



1874-76, Arthur Smith. 

1877, VVilliam M. Frost. 

1878, Adam Suits. 
1879-81, VVilliam M. Frost. 
1882, John Bilderback. 
1^83-84, J. H. Buckley. 
1885-86, William H. Swisher. 
1887-90, Jerry Rourke. 

1 89 1, C. L. Lybrook. 

1892, Donahue. 

1893-99, Jerry Rourke. 
1900-01, John AL CuUinane. 
1902-03, William H. Swisher. 
1904, Edd Easton. 

1906, John F. Clendenen. 



Pokagon. 



185S, :\L T. Garvey. 

1859, D. H. Wagner. 

i860, M. Robinson. 

1861, M. T. Garvey. 

1862-69, Alexander Robertson. 

1870, David W. Clemmer. 

1871-76, B. W. Schermerhorn. 

1877, M. V. Gray. 

1878, Joseph Walter. 
1879-80. H. W. Richards. 

1881, Alexander Robertson. 

1882, Henry W. Richards. 
1883-84, VVilliam Adams. 
1885-86, William H. Garwood. 
1887-92, Isaac Williams. 
1893-98. Thomas C. Rogers. 
1899-06, John H. Phillips. 



Howard. 



834, Samuel Marrs. 

835, George Fosdick. 
836-37, Henry Heath. 
838, Thomas Glenn. 



1842-43. Ezekiel C. Smith. 

1844, James Shaw. 

1845, Oscar Jones. 

1846, James Shaw. 



400 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



1847-48, J. N. Chipman. 

1849, Oscar Jones. 

1850, Elam Harter. 

1851, Oscar Junes. 
1852-53, Ezekiel C. Smith. 
1854, Elam Harter. 
1855-56, Ezekiel C. Smith. 
1 85 7-58, Benj. Cooper, Jr. 
1859, William Curtis. 
t86o, Ezekiel C. Smith. 
1861-70, William H. Doane. 



1871-74, H. S. Hasdell. 
1875-76, Benj. O. Vary. 
1877, William H. Doane. 
1878-79, Walton W. Harder. 
1880-82, Asher J. Shaw. 
1883-85, Samuel C. Thomson. 
1886-92, G. Gordon Huntley. 
1893-98, Samuel C. Thomson. 
1899-1900, G. G. Huntley. 
1901-03, Loren A. Allen. 
1904-06. S. C. Thomson. 



Milton. 



1838-40, James Aldrich. 

1841, George Smith. 

1842, G. Howland. 

1843, J. O'Dell. 

1844, James Taylor. 

1845, Charles P. Drew. 

1846, James Taylor. 
1847-40, Henry Aldrich. 
1850. Janies Taylor. 
1S31, Henr\' Aldrich. 
1852. N. O. Bowman. 
1853-54, Uriel Enos. 
t8:;;, Henry Aldrich. 
1856, N. O. Bowman. 
i8t7, Henrv Aldrich. 
1858. -R. V. Hicks. 

Note. — During the years 1839-4041 the coimty was under the 
County Commissioner Act, and the duties of the assessing officers of 
the several assessing districts were confined to making the assessments. 
There were no meetings nf the Supen'isors for the purpose of equal- 
izing assessments or auditing accounts. 

City of Dowagiac. 

1877-84. Arthur Smith. 1880-QO, Mvron Stark. 

1S85, Joseph R. Edwards. 189 1. Cvrus Tuthill. 

1886-87. Cvrus Tuthill. 1802, William D. Jones. 
1888, William H. Vrooman. 



1839, H. Aldrich. 
t86o, Isaac Bahcock. 
1861, Henry Aldrich. 
1862-64, Uriel Enos. 
1865-72. William H. Olmstead. 
1873-78, Richard V. Hicks. 
1879-81, William H. Olmstead. 
1882-86. John A. Parsons. 
1887-90. Henry B. Hicks. 
1891-93, William E. Parsons. 
1894. W. H. Olmstead. 
1895-96, W^illiam E. Parsons. 
1897-1900, John H. Breece. 
1901-05, Oren V. Hicks. 
T906, Herman Roeheck. 



1893-96. Charles D. Butler. 
1807-99, John A. Lindsley. 
1900, W. H. IJndslev. 



First Ward. 

1001-03. AAmiiam M. Vrooman. 
iOoa-03, Albon C. Taylor. 
1006, Jay P. Higgins. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



401 



Second Ward. 



1893-95, Myron Stark. 
1896-1900, AMllard \\'ells. 



1893, James Willis. 

1894, Davis Van Hise. 

1895, Daniel Smith. 



[901-06, Jdhn Bilderback. 



Third Ward. 



!8()(), Dax'is \'an Hise. 
1897-T906, Daniel Smith. 



Village of Cassopolis. 



President 
864 — Joseph Smith 
S65 — Hiram Brown 
866 — Isaac Brown 
867 — Isaac Brown 
868 — Joseph Harper 
86g — Joseph Harper 
870— \\'ni. P. Bennett 
S71— Wm. P. Bennett 
1872— L. H. Glover 
S73 — John Tietsort 
S74 — John Tietsort 
875— Jordan P. Osborn 
'1875— J. P. Osborn 
876— J. P. Osborn 
877 — Henry C. French 
.878— S. S. Chapman 
S79— H. S. Hadsell 
S80— Hiram H. Hadsell 
881— Henry J. Webb 
882— H. J. Webb 
88.-; — George B. Turner 
8S4 — George B. Turner 
88=; — Alonzo Garwood 
886— W. P. Bennett 
.887— AT. L. Howell 
8&8— I. F. Coates 
889— J. F. Coates 
8qo — J. F. Coates 
8gT — M. T. Garvey 
802— 1\T. T. Garvey 
So^— M. T. Garvey 
804— M. T. Garvey 
Sos— Charles A. Ritter 
806— Charles A. Ritter 
897-Ct. M. Kingsbury 
8q8— G. M. Kingsbury 
890— G. j\I. Kingsbury 
900 — G. M. Kingsbury 
90T — G. M. Kingsbury 
902 — D. L. Kingsbury 
903 — D. L. Kingsbury 
904 — D. L. Kingsbury 
905 — D. L. Kingsbury 
go6 — D. L. Kingsbury 



Clerk 
L. H. Glover 
L. H. Glover 
L. H. Glover 
L. H. Glover 
L. H. Glover 
L. H. Glover 
Ellery C. Deyo 
Ellery C. Deyo 
Eber Reynolds 
Kber Reynolds 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
Thomas W. Smith 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
W, A. Chess 
W. A. Chess 
G. M. Rivers 
G. M. Rivers 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
William Jones 
S. B. Turner 
S. B. Turner 
S. B Turner 
E. Reynolds 
E. Revnolds 
E. Reynolds 
E. Reynolds 
E. Reynolds 
E. Reynolds 
E. Reynolds 
E. Revnolds 
E. Reynolds 
E. Revnolds 
E. Revnolds 



Treasurer 
Chas. H. Kingsbury 
Chas. H. Kingsbury 

C. H. Kingsbury 
J. B. Chapman 

J. B. Chapman 
Barak ?.Iead 
Albert McGinnis 
."Vlbert !\IcGinnis 
Albert McGinnis 
.•\lbert INIcGinnis 
W. W. Peck- 
William W. Peck 
James H. Farnuni 
James H. Farnum 
Romi W. Goucher 
Stephen L. George 
S. L. George 
S. L. George 
Stephen L. George 
William Jones 
William Jones 
Geo. M. King.sbury 
Geo. Tvt Kingsbury 
Geo. j\I. Kingsbury 
Geo. !M. Kingsbury 
Geo. ]\I. Kingsbury 
Geo. M. Kingsbury 
Geo. 1\I. Kingsbury 
Geo. M. Kingsbury 
Geo. yi. Kingsbury 
Geo. M. Kingsbury 
n. L. Kin.gsbury 

D. L. Kingsbury 

D. L. Kingsbury 
W. H. A^oorhis 
W. H. Voorhis 
H. C. French 

C. C. Nelson 
H. P. Thomas 
H. P. Thomas 
C. N. Pollock 
C. N. Pollock 

E. E. Stamp 

F. E. Stamp 



.-Issessor 
Henry Walton 
Henry Walton 
Daniel S. Jones 
Henry Tietsort 
Henry Tietsort 
.\lon7o Garwood 
.\ndrew Woods 
Morris B. Custarcf 
L. H. Glover 
Charles G. Banks 
Joel Cowgill 
D. B. Ferris 

Daniel S. Ferris 
Daniel S. Jones 
D. S. Jones 
Daniel S. Jones 
D. S. Tones 
C. C. Nelson 
C. Carrol Nelson 
C. Carrol Nelson 

C. Carrol Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
H. C. Harmon 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
C. C. Nelson 
W. W Reynolds 
W. W. Reynolds 
C. C. Nelson 

C. C. Nelson 
C. C, Nelson 
L. H. Glover 
U H. Glover 
T. H. Glover 
L. H. Glover 



t L. H. Glover resigned as president and S. S. Chapman was appointed to the 
vacancy. 

* Special election after new charier. 



i02 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

TRUSTEES OF CASSOPOLIS VILLAGE. 

1864 — Daniel Blackmail, Peter Sturr, Barak IMead, Charles G. 
Banks, Charles W. Clisbee, Alonzo Garwood. 

1865 — Daniel Blackman, Barak Mead, William W. Peck, Peter 
Sturr, Isaac Brown, S. T. Read. 

1866 — Daniel Blackman, Salvador T. Read, William W. Peck, 
Ira Brownell, Darius L. French, Elias B. Sherman. 

1867 — Daniel Blackman, S. T. Read, William W. Peck. Elias B. 
Sherman. Charles H. Kingshnrw Darius L. F'rench. 

1868 — W. \Y. Peck. Andrew J. Smith, Elias B. Sherman, Chris- 
topher C. Allisun, S. T. Read. Luuis D. Smith. 

1869 — C. C. Allison, John Tietsort, Jordan P. Oshorn, Daniel 
Blackman, Morris B. Custard, C. C. Nelson. 

1870 — John Tietsort. Morris B. Custard, Andrew Woods. C. C. 
Nelson, Henr)- J. Welih. .Vlonzo B. Morley. 

1871 — C. C. Nelson. Joel Cowgill, John .\. 'J'alliot. Zacheus AI- 
drich, Matthew T. Garvey. 

1872— W. W. Mcllvain, J. P. Oshorn. Fienry ShatTer. Ahijah Pegg, 
John R. Carr, William P. Bennett. 

187^ — M. B. Custard. \\'illiam D. Reames. Marshall L. Howell, 
W. W. ilcllvain, J. P. Oshorn, George W\ Edinger. 

1874 — Orson Rudd. Andrew J. Smith, J. B. Chapman, Morris B. 
Custard, William D. Reames. M. L. Howell. 

1875— W. D, Reames, W. W. Mcllvain. W. P. Bennett. Orson 
Rudd, ,-\ndrew J. Smith, J. B. Chapman. 

*i875 — W. W. Mcllvain. Eher Reynolds, W. D. Reames. Stephen 
Jones, S. C. Van Matre, James Boyd. 

1876 — Samuel Graham, -S. C. Van ^tatre, James Boyd, W. W. 
INlcIlvain, Eher Reynolds, W. D. Reames. 

1877 — A. B. Morley, Aliijah Pegg. W. W. Peck. Samuel Graham, 
S. C. Wan Matre. James Boyd. 

1878' — Samuel Graham. James Townsend, Josejih K. Ritter, A. B. 
Morley, Ahijah Pegg W. W. Peck. 

1879 — S. S. Chajiman, W^ G. Watts. Henry Shaffer. Samuel Gra- 
ham. James Townsend. J. K. Ritter. 

1880 — William Davis. Thomas Stapleton. Isaac H. Wolf. S. S. 
Chapman, \W G. Watts, Henrv Shaffer. 

1881— Hiram S. Hadsell, Darius L. French. W. G. Watts, Will- 
iam Davis. Thomas Stapleton, I. H. Wolf. 

1882— T. H. Farnum, H. S. Hadsell, S. C. Van Matre. D. L. 
French, C. H. Kingsljury, W. G. Watts. 

1883- — C. H. Kingshurv. A. Garwood. I. \\ Sherman, Eher Rev- 
nolds, W. L. Pollock. S. C.'Van INIatre. 



■ Special election after new charter. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY -l"3 

1884— A. Garwood. W, L. Pollock, Otis Moor. A. X. Armstrong. 
M. Z. Norton. E. Burr. 

1885— W. L. Pollock. C. L. Smith, Otis .A[o(,r, L, D. Tompkins, 
A. N. Armstrong, M. Z. Ncjrton. 

1886— G. K Smith. C. A. Ritter. ^\•. L. Poll.-ck. G. White. W. P.. 
Hayden. Lester Graham. 

1887 — C. A. Ritter. Lester Graham. G. L. Smith. W. B. Hayden. 
Otis ]\Ioor. T- F. Coates. 

,88<S— G. L. Smith. W. B. Hayden. S. B, Turner. W. H. Voorhis. 
Frank Feathers, T. W. Anderson. 

1889— S. B. Turner. \\'. B. Hayden. T. A\'. Anderson. Frank 
Feathers. ^^^ H. A'oorhis. H. C. Harmon. 

1890— ^^^ J. Kensey. A. N. Armstrong. ^^^ D. Hopkins, R. Pat- 
terson, Frank Feathers, \V. B. Ha\-den. 

1891 — W. D. Hopkins, R. Patterson, C. B. Zeller, Lester Graham. 
]\L Z. Norton, Frank Feathers. 

1892 — M. Z. Norton, Lester Graham. Frank Feathers, R. Patter- 
son, S. T. Read, H. C. French. 

1893— H. C. French. J. L. Yost. C. A. Ritter. G. M. Kingsbury. 
R. Patterson, Frank Feathers. 

i8q4_G. M. Kingshury. C. A. Ritter, W. H. Vogle. J. L. Yost, 
T. G. Harden, Frank Feathers. 

1895 — W. B. Hayden, Geo. F. Holloway. G. M. Kingsbury, Frank 
Feathers' W. H. Vogle, T- G. Havden. 

1896— G. M. Kingsbury. W. B. Hayden. \V. H. Vogle. J- F. 
Coates, L V. Sherman, Geo. F. Holloway. 

1897 — R. C. Atkinson. D. L. Kingsbury. W. B. Hayden. L V. 
Sherman, H. D. Jones, T. F. Coates. 

1898 — D. L. Kingsbury. R. C. Atkinson. H. P. Jones. W. B. 
Havden. Lester Graham. L V. Sherman. 

i899^D. L. Kingsbury. W. B. Hayden. H. D. Jones, Lester Gra- 
ham, I. V. Sherman, R. C. Atkinsou. 

1900— D. L. Kingsbury. R. C. Atkinson. J. J. Fisher. ^^^ B. Hay- 
den, Lester Graham, H. D. Jones. 

1901 — H. D. Tones, R. C. Atkinson. Lester Graham. D. L. Kings- 
bury, F. M. Fisk, J. J. Fisher. 

T902 — F. M. Fisk. H. D. Jones. William Reagan, D. L. French, 
W. H; Berkev. C. E. Cone. 

J903— F. M. Fisk. G. W. Tallerday. W. B. Hayden. D. L. French, 
W. H. Berkev, C. E. Cone. 

1904— F. M. Fisk. G. W. Tallerdav. \\'. B. Hayden. D. L. French. 
W. H. Berkev. C. E. Cone. 

i90t;_F. M. Fisk. G. W. Tallerday, W. G. Bonine, D. L. French, 
W. H. Berkev, C. E. Cone. 

1906— F. M. Fisk. G. W. Tallerday. W. G. Bonine, D. L. French. 
\y. H. Berkev. C. E, Cone. 



404 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



Village of Dowagiac. 



President 
1858— Justus Gage 
1859 — ^Joel H. Smith 
i860 — James Sullivan 
1861— J. H. Smith 
1862 — Penly C. Lybrook 
1863 — Daniel Lyle 
1864 — Daniel Lyle 
1866— Toel H. Smith 
1867— G. C. Jones 
1868— Philo D. Beckwith 
1S69— Joel H. Smith 
1870 — Elias Pardee 
1871 — Lewis E. Wing 
1872 — Lewis E. Wing 
1873— Alex. H. Mason 
1874— B. W. Schermer- 

horn 
187s— B. W. Schermer- 

horn 
1876— Aldus L. Rich 
1877— Da\id W. Clem- 

mer 



. Clerk 
David PL Wagner 
Strawthcr Bowling 
Strawthcr Bowling 
Strawther Bowling 
Strawthcr Bowling 
Strawther Bowling 
Strawther Bowling 
Strawther Bowling 
Strawther Bowling 

Henry Michael 

David W. Clemmer 

David W. Clemmer 
David W. Clemmer 

Charles 11. Bigelow 

C. IL Bigelow 

Prank W. Jones 



'freiisiircr 
Plenly C. Lybrook 
Prancis J. JNIosher 
Wm. H. Campbell 
Daniel Lyle 
Daniel Lyle 
.Albert N! Alward 
Albert N. AUvard 
Archibald Jewell 



.-Issessor 
Roland C. Denison 
R. C. Denison 
Ira Brownell 
George W. Andrews 
J. H. Smith 
Elias Pardee 
Elias Pardee 
Elias Pardee 



Daniel Lyle Elias Pardee 

John C. Comstock Elias Pardee 

John C. Comstock John Patton 

William G. Howard Elias Pardee 

.•\lex. H. Mason Elias Pardee 

Rollin C. Osborne Elias Pardee 
W. K, Palmer 

BurgcUe L. Dewey G. W. .\ndrews 

B. L. Dewey Ikury jNlichael 

B. L. Dewey 1 knry Michael 



DOWAGLAC VILLAGE TRUSTEES. 



1858^ — Harve_y Bigelow, Azro Jones, Jnel H. Smith. Daniel Lar- 
zelefc, A. Townsend, Ira Brownell. 

1859' — Azro Jones, Daniel Larzelere, Daniel Lyle, Ira Brownell. 
Silas Ireland, Daniel M. Hazelitt. 

i860 — Silas Ireland, Charles B. Foster, Hiiblell Warner. John 
D. Olney, Morris S. Cobb, David H. Wagner. 

1861— Gideon Gibbs, P. D. Beckwith. William Griswnld. William 
k. Sturgis, William K. Palmer, Azro Jones. 

1862 — Abel Townsend, Frederick H. l\n.ss, Har\-e_\- P.igelow, John 
G. Howard, Elias Pardee, Patrick Hamilton. 

1863 — Daniel Sanders, Philo D. Beckwith, Frederick II. Ross, C. 
P. Prindle, Azro Jcmes, Daniel Larzelere. 

1864 — Philo D. Beckwith, Jnel .\ndrcws. Francis J. .Mosher. Evan 
P. Townsend, Daniel Henderson. Frederick H. Ross. 

1865 — No record. 

1866— Austin M. Dick.son, Gideon Gilibs, Daniel McOmber. Alex- 
ander H. Mason, Philo D. Beckwith. Daniel Henderson. 

1867 — No record. 

1868 — George D. Jones, Gideon Gibbs. Henr\- B. ^^'ells, .\ustin M. 
Dickson, Daniel Lyle, Frederick H. Ross. 

1S69 — Alexander H. Mason, Edwin F. .Avery, \^'illard Wells, 
Francis O. Van Antwerp, Mark Judd. Daniel S. Sanrlers. 

1870 — A. H. Mason, Francis O; ;\ntwerp, William C. Gardner 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



405 



(these three elected for two years), Tlioinas W. Adams, Jacob J. \'an 
Riper, George D. Jones (for one year).* 

1871 — Thomas G. Rix, J. J. Van Riper, James Atwood. 

1872 — Zadoc Jarvis (to fill vacancy), Francis E. Warner, B. W. 
Schermerhorn, Frederick H. Ross. 

1S73 — Edwin F. Avery, Eli Green, Willard Wells. 

1874 — F. J. Mosher, Samnel Ingling, Daniel McOmber. 



1 8^ 



-Hiram Scoville, Daniel Henderson, Daniel Smith. 



1876' — Azro Jones, George W. Adams, Philo D. Beckwith. 
1877 — Thomas W. Adams, George D. Jones, Daniel McOmher. 



Mayor 
tl877— Freeman T. At- 

well 
1878— Thos. W. Adams 
1879 — Biirgette L. Dewey 
1880 — Hiram Scovill 
i88t— Philo D. Beckwith 
1882 — Hiram Scovill 
1883— P. D. Beckwith 
i884_p. D. Beckwith 
1885 — Hiram Scovill 
1886— P. D. Beckwith 
1887— P. D. Beckwith 
18S9 — James Heddon 
1890 — F. E. Lee 
1891 — Wm. M. Vrooman 
1892 — W. M. Vrooman 
1893 — W. !\I. Vrooman 
1894— Ira B. Gage 
180s — W. D. Jones 
1896— W. D. Jones 
1897 — G. E. Bishop 
1808— T. G. Rix 
1899— Frank W. Richey 
1900 — F. W. Richev 
igoi— Milton P. White 
1902 — W. D. Jones 
1903 — W. D. Jones 
1904 — C. L. Merwin 
1905 — C. L. KTerwin 
T9o6 — G. R. Herkimer 



City of Dowagiac. 

Clerk 
Frank W. Jones 

Julius O. Becraft 

J. O. Becraft 

J. O. Becraft 

J. O. Becraft 

T. O. Becraft 

T. O. Becraft 

T. O. Becraft 

T. O. Becraft 

j. O. Becraft 

J. O. Becraft 

J. O. Becraft 

A. M. Moon 

Arthur E. Rudolphi 

Arthur E. Rudolphi 

A. E. Rudolphi 

Hiram .Arthur 

Hiram Arthur 

A. M. Moon 
D. E. Connine 
n. E. Connine 
D. E Connine 

B. R. Thomas 
Itarry L. Rutter 
Abner M. Moon 
H. L. Rutter 

H. L. Rutter 
H. E. Rutter 
H. E. Rutter 



Trcmtirer 
Hiram D. Bowling 

Burgette L. Dewey 
Thomas W. Adams 
Thomas W. Adams 
William Griswold 
William Tones 
D. W. Ftirsvth 
Willard D. Jones 
Myron Stark 
Myron Stark 
William M. Vrooman 
Chns T. Amsden 
John Warren 
Ira B. Gage 
Ira B. Gage 
John Schmidt 
Edwin M. Lindsley 
C. W. Bakeman 
Richard Ilolmes 
Richard Holmes 
Qiarles Antisdcl 
Charles Autisdel 
R. Holmes 
Richard Holmes 
Charles Autisdel 
Charles .\ntisdel 
Charles Sterrett 
Charles Sterrett 
A. C. Tavlor 



DOWAGIAC CITY ALDERMEN. 

1S77 — Philo D. Beckwith, George W. Adams, Hiram Scoville, 
Daniel Blish, F. O. Van Antwerp, Alexander H. Mason.* 

1878 — Theodore N. Winchell, Lorenzo Dillinghnm, Thomas J. 
Edwards. 

1879 — Gideon Gibhs, Willard Wells, William P. Grannis. 



♦Three were chosen for one year and three for two years, three being chosen 
at each annual election thereafter. 

t First city officers elected April ."i. 1877. 



406 



HISTORY OF CASS COl'XTY 



J.S8C 

188 J 

1882— 

1883— 

.S84- 

1885 

»8S6— 

1887— 

i888- 

1889. 

1890—, 

1891 

1 892 — 

1893 

1894— 

1895- 
1 896— 
1897- 
1898— 
1899— 
190O' — 
i90'i — 
Hoclgeljoon 
1902— 
1903— 
1904 
1905 
1 906 



Willis M. Fan-, Mark Jiidd, Silas Doolittle. 
Thomas J. Edwards. Myron Stark, I'homas Harwocjd. 
M. D. Jewell, John H. Couklin, I'hilo B. White. 
Harmon Defendorf, James Coleman, Charles H. Bigelow 
Jose])li Keen. J. FI. Conklin, Charles Starrett. 

lames Coleman, Thomas J. lidwarcls. 

Ivichard Holmes. 



II. .\. Farwel 



J. Carr. 
C. W. Bakeman. 



David Blish. 
Joseph Keen. 
Xo record. 
No record. 

W. D. Jones, Wm. Hyslop. L. 
J. A. Lindsley. [as. P. Bond 
X'o' record. 

J. A. Lindsley. Ahijah H. Pegg, Hiram Powell. 
W. D. Tones, Chas. T. Amsden, Frank Richev. 
.\. E. Hilton. Henry Michael, W. H. Taylor.' 
Joseph Keen. Wni. Jndd, Martin .\rnold. 
John Schmidt. Cyrus Tuthill. ^^^m. H. Harmon. 
Marvin Defendorf, W. 1*". judd. .\rtliur K. Beckwiih. 
Joseph Keen. Cyrus ruthill, Elmer l'(illiic]<. 
S. \\'. Emmons. Charles Lanieraux. Martin Fienild. 
C. S. Huhbard, Le\-i Cray, ¥. W. A';in .Vntwerp. 
S. \V. Emmons, Co_\' W. I lendry.x. Joseph Keen. Nicholas 
(vacancy). 

FTank Hartsell, Levi Gra}'. Farnum Reed. 
Albert E. Hilton, Clarence Merwin, Joseph Keen. 
Frank Flartsell, Josej^h Breck, Benjamin Gebhard. 
William Wells. Smith \\. Baits. Malcolm .A. Campljell. 
Frank L, Hartsell, H. E. Agnew, B. T. Cebhard. 



M.vRCELi.us Officers. 





P reside lit 


Clerk 


Treasurer 


Assessor 


1870- 


-David Snyder 


L. B. DesA'oignes 


C. E. Davis 


W. R. Snvder 


1880- 


-David Snyder 


L. B. DesVoignes 


C. E. Davis 


W. R. Snvder 


I88I- 


-David Snyder 


L. B. DesVoignes 


C. E. Davis 


W. R. Snvder 


I8S2- 


-Horace Carbine 


L. B. DesVoignes 


.Adam H. Kester 


N. W. Bucklin 


1883- 


-C. E. Davis 


Geo. R. Clemens 


.Adam H. Kester 


Byron R. Beebe 


1884- 


-C. E. Davis 


R. T. Edwards 


Joseph Cromley 


Geo. I Nash 


i88^- 


-J. Albert Jones 


R. T. Edwards 


G. P. Worden 


Jas. Cowling 


1886- 


-Byron R. Beebe 


R. T. Edwards 


H. C. Lambert 


G. G. Woodmansee 


1887- 


-Edwin P. Avery 


R. T. Edwards 


E. P. Martman 


Wm. G. Roy 


1SS8- 


-W. 0. George 


Isaac 1\L Smitb 


Wm. M'ikel 


Geo. I. Nash 


i88n- 


-Tbos. H. Cooley 


Isaac M. Smith 


C. L. Kester 


Geo. I. Nash 


1800- 


-Geo. I. Nasb 


I'^aac M. Smith 


C. L. Kester 


Wm. G. Rov 


i8qi- 


-H. C. Lambert 


Isaac ■NI. Smith 


Chas. T. Nash 


Chas. Wing' 


1892- 


-H. C. Lambert 


Isaac M. Smith 


Chas. T. Nash 


Geo. A. Paxon 


189.3- 


-.\lexander Taylor 


J. A. Sipley 


D. H. Palmer 


K. E. .Scliall 


1894- 


-.Alexander Taylor 


T. A. Sipley 


D. H. Palmer 


E. P. Uarinian 


189.=;- 


-Alexander Taylor 


J. A. Sipley 


C. H. Hudson 


R. J. Walker 


1S96- 


-D, TL Palmer 


Geo. R. Clemens 


C. H. Hudson 


W. R. Walker 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



407 



Geo. R. Clemens 


H. F. Bent 


F. S. Hall 


Geo. R. Clemens 


H. F. Bent 


S. W. DeCou 


Geo. R. Clemens 


Bert S. Jones 


F. S. Hall 


Geo. R. Clemens 


Bert S. Jones 


H. M. Nottingham 


Geo. R. Clemens 


Clyde Goodrich 


F. S. Hall 


Geo. R. Clemens 


Bert Ward 


F. S. Hall 


W. M. Beadle 


Bert Ward 


F. S. Hall 


W. J\I. Beadle 


LeRoy S. Long 


J. B Fortner 


W. M. Beadle 


LeRov S. Long 


J. B. Fortner 


W. I\I. Beadle 


C. W. Dailey 


LeRoy S. Long 



1897— D. H. Palmer 
uSi^S— M. B. Welcher 
iSgg— AI. B. Welcher 
1900 — J. A. Sipley 
1901 — J. A. Sipley 
1902 — T. E. Warr 
1903— J. J. Nash 
1904— J. J. Nash 
1905 — C. E. Davis 
igo6 — C. E. Davis 

At the first election six trustees were elected, three for two years 
and three for one year. At each election thereafter three trustees were 
elected for two years and to fill vacancies as they occurred. 

1879' — Kenyon Bly. two years; W. O. ]\Iathe\vs, two }ears ; Lean- 
der Bridge, two years; B. R. Beebe, one year; .Alexander Taylor, one- 
year; R. I^. Beebe, one year. 

1880 — Alex. Taylor, F. S. Sweetland, Jo'm Bane. 
1881 — W. O. Mathews, Solomon Stern, \\"m. Lutes. \'acancies, 
L. C. Burney, T. H. Cooler. 

1882— Alex. Taylor, f. AI. Smith. J. A. Jones. X'acancy. W. R. 
Snyder. 

1883 — David Snvder, Chas. Edwards, Isaac Zeigler. 
1884— C. H. Hudson. T. C. Joiner. I. M. Smith. 
1885— Thos. H. Cooley, L. B. DesVoignes, Addison E. Sill. 
1886' — Joel J. Xash, Geo. \\'. Krowl, Jas. S. Cowling. 
1887 — Chas. Edwards. I. O. Apted. F. H. Drummond. 
1888— David Snyder, \Vm. Lutes. C. E. Davis. 
1889— G. P. Worden. E. J\L Ketcham, O. W. Remington. 
1890 — David Snyder, R. D. Snyder, William Lutes. 
1891 — J. A. Jones, Alex. Taylor, H. C. Loveridge. 
1892 — ^^^ O. George, G. \^^ Krowl. Robt. Milliman. 
1*893 — Solomon Stern, Chtrk L. Beelje. Ernest Shillito. \'acancy, 
Peter Schall. 

1894 — C. Lomison, Geo. ^^'. Jones. H. E. Aloon. 
1895 — Solomon Stern. Ernest Shillito, ]. J. Nash. 
1896— G. W. Adams. M. B. Welcher. G. W. Krowl. 
1897 — C. E. Carpenter, I. M. Smith. C. H. Hudson. 
1898— J. J. Fisher, G. W. Krowl. D. H. Palmer. 
1899 — H. F. Bent, S. \\'. DeCou. Clyde Goodrich. Vacanc}-. A. 
A. Nash. 

1900 — Joseph Gearhart. Thos. Warr. .\bram Huff. 
1901— S. W. DeCou. T. W. Holmes, H. F. Bent. 
1902 — T. H. Cooley, C. C. Long. Alex. Ta\!or. Vacancy, C. 
Lomison. 

1903 — C. Lomison. Thos. Warr. Ji. S. Conklin. Vacancy, Solo- 
mon Stern. 



40S 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



1904 — C. E. Carpenter, I. M. Smith, H. J. Hoover. 
1905 — A. E. Bailey, W. O. George, C. C. Long. 
1906 — 1\. E. Yeuells, H. J. Hoover, J. E. Spigeiniyer. 



I'rcsidcni 
187s — Geo. J. Townsend 
iS~6 — Geo, J. Townsend 
1877 — Geo. J. Townsend 
1S78— John II. East 
1879— John Alexander 
1S80 — ^John Alexander 
iSSi — Geo. Longsduff 
1882 — Geo. Longsduff 
1883 — Geo. Longsduff 
1884— H. H. Phillips 
1885— H. H. Phillips 
1886— W. O. Sisson 
1887 — (]co. J. Townsend 
188S— \\'. H. Honeyman 
i8Sg — W. H. Honeyman 
1S90 — W. H. Honeyman 
1891 — L. L. Lovenberg 
1892— W. C. Rinehart 
1893— L. Osboni 
1894 — L. Osborn 
1895 — L. Osborn 
1896 — W . H. Honeyman 
1897— W. H. Honevman 
180S-W. O. Sisson 
1899 — Geo. Longsduff 
1900 — Lot P). James 
1901 — T-ot B. James 
igo2 — J. M. Bonine 
1903 — Wni. Green 
1904 — E. F. Lewis 
1905 — E. F. Lewis 
ii)o6 — E. F. Lewis 





\'andai,i.a. 


* 




Clerk ■ 


.Ississor 


[rcasuicr 


Jos. L 


,. Sturr 






Jos. L 


,. Sturr 


Cico. Longsduff' 


J. .Alexander 


Jo-- L 


.. Sturr 


Geo. Longsduff' 


J. Alexander 


Jos. L 


.. Sturr 


R. S. Pcmberton 


J. Alexander 


Jos. L 


..- Stun 


Al. A. Thompson 


VVm. Green 


AI. A. 


Thompson 


Jos. L. Sturr 


AVm. Green 


Jos. L. Sturr 


Jos. L. Sturr 


AA^m. Green 


Jos. L. Sturr 


Jos. L. Sturr 


AVm. Green 


Jos. I. 


-. Sturr 


Jos. L. Sturr 


AVm. Green 


Jos. L 


-. Sturr 


Geo. Longsduff 


Lot B. James 


Chas. 


F. Johnston 


A. L. Tharp 


AVm. Green 


Leslie 


Green 


Geo. Longsduff 


AA'm. Green 


R. S. 


Pcmberton 


Geo. Longsduff 


J. N. Curtis 


R. S. 


Pemberton 


R. S. Pemberton 


AA'm C<recn 


R. S. 


Pcmberton 


J. Alexander 


Joel Shilling 


C. Fellows 


J. Alexander 


Joe! Shilling 


F. M. 


Dodge 


J. Alexander 


Joel Shilling 


F. M. 


Dodge 


C. L. Pemlierton 


Joel Shilling 


C. II. 


Dod.ge 


J. N. Curtis 


Joel Shilling 


C. H. 


Dodge 


L. L. Lavenberg 


Joel Shilling 


C. H. 


Dodge 


Geo. Longsduff 


S. A. Bogue 


C. H. 


Dodge 


Geo. Longsduff 


Lewie Freer 


F. Al 


Dodge 


Geo. Longsduff 


S. H. Thomas 


F. M. 


Dodge 


Leslie Green 


E. F. Lewis 


1- M. 


Dodge 


H. S. East 


Thos T. Alcalov 


F. A I. 


Dodge 


H. S. East 


Thos j. Alealoy 


F M. 


Dodge 


H. S. East 


F. E. Faulkner 


1'. .Al, 


Dodge 


FI. S. East 


F. E. Faulkner 


Percy 


E. Lutes 


H. S. East 


Geo. J. Townsend 


S. A. 


Bogue 


H. S. East 


T. M. Bonine 


W.H. 


Pemberton 


H. S. Fast 


S. A. Bogue 


W. H. 


Pcmberton 


S. A. Bogue 


(^scar Loupee 



Trustee 



1S75— J- B. Lulz, Geo. Longsduff, G, S, Osborn. J. H. East, Lcandcr Osborn. W. 

F. Bort. After this year but three were elected, three holding over. 
1876 — AVm. F. Bort. John King. John F. Lemon 
1S77— AVm. Green. AV. O. Siss'on. Chas. R. Dodge. 
1878 — H. H. Phillips. Leander O.sborn. James B. Bonine. 
1879 — F. H. Reiff, AVm. Mulrine. Geo. J. Townsend. 
1880 — Peter Snyder. Leander Osborn. Alex. L. Thorp. 
1881— R. S. Peinberton. .Mex. L. Thorp. AVm. Mtdrine. 
1882 — Leander Osborn. H. A. Snyder. Geo. W. Van Antwerp. 
T883— AVm. Mulrine. D. K. Thurston. Peter Smith. 
1884— Peter Smith, AVm, Mulrine, W, O. Sisson. 
1885 — N. J. Crosby, W . H. Honeyman. O. C. Grciuicll. 
1886— B. L. Rudd, Nelson J. Crosby, AV. H. Honeyman. 
18S7— S. AV. Van Antwero, AVm. Mulrine. Chas. R. Dodsje. 
188S— Edwin Elv. E. T. Lundv. Geo. M. AVilson. 
1889— AV. C. Rinehart, E. INI. Alexander, L. T,. Lavenberg. 
1890 — Tames B. Bonine, Edwin Elv, E. M. Alexander. 
189T— AV, Carl Bogue. C. H. Bonine, E. C. Doane 
1892— Geo. Longsduff, D. K. Thurston. O. C. Johnston. 
tS93 — Chas. R. Dodge, L. L. Lavenberg, C, IT. Bonine. 




/^^^U^^ ^ /^Tt^^-tJI^. 




'/^^^^^ 






..jd.^ 





tytr^^nyi^ 



iJl/ 



HISTORY or CASS COUNTY ioy 



1894 — ^^ ■ H. Honeynian, E. F. Lewis, W. Carl Eogiie. 

1895 — Chas. W. East, L. J. Reynolds, Jonas Riiple. 

1896 — L. L. Lavenberg, John N. Bonine, James M. Eonine. 

1897 — Henry O. Deal, Chas. W. East, Lot B. James. 

1898 — Fred W. Williams, John N. Curtis. 

1899— G. L. Flollister, Chas. W. East, Chas. R. Dodge. 

1900 — James M. Bonine, C. F. Fellows, John X. Bonine. 

1901 — Fred G. Pollock, G. L. HoUister, C. H. Eonine. 

1902 — Lot B. James, E. F. Lewis, Edwin Ely. 

1903 — D. K. Thurston, Geo. Longsduff, Harry J. Keen. 

1904 — Wm. Oxenford, Geo. Longsduff, Lot B. James. 

1905 — Harry J. Keene, F. W. Harris, George Longsduff. 

1906 — F. B. Lewis, E. L. Evans, Lot E. James. 



HON. THOMAS T. HIGGINS. 



For many years Hon. Thomas T. Higgins has been regarded as a 
representative and prosperous farmer of Cass county, and at the present 
time he is making a notable record as a member of the general assem- 
bly, being now for the second term representative from his district in 
the Michigan legislature. To the energetic natures and strong mental- 
ity of such men is due the success and ever increasing prosperity of the 
Republican party, in this state and in the hands of this class of citizens 
there is every assurance that the best interests and welfare of the party 
will be attended to, resulting in a successful culmination of the highest 
amljitions and expectations entertained by its adherents. Throughout 
liis life .Mr. Higgins has been a loyal citizen, imbued with patriotism 
and fearless in defense of his honest convictions, and he is now advocat- 
ing in legislative halls and liefore the people the principles which he be- 
lieves will best advance the welfare of the commonwealth. Such is the 
man whose life history forms the theme of this article. He makes his 
home on section 17, Jefferson township, and when not engaged with the 
weighty duties of his office his time and energies are concentrated upon 
the successful conduct of v.-hat is one of the best improved farms in 
Cass county. 

Mr. Higgins was born in Randolph county, Indiana, on the loth 
of February, "1844. and is of Irish lineage, the family having been 
founded in America early in the eighteenth century. The name Hig- 
gins was known in the old Emerald Isle as Higginson, but now is 
known as Higgins. The representatives of -the name in America are 
descended from Thomas Higgins, an early settler of Delaware, and 
the family has furnished to'various states prominent representatives, 
who have' held important public positions. This number includes Gov- 
ernor Higgins. of New York, who is a second cousin of the subject 
of this review. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Higgins, was a native 
of Ireland. His father, James T. Higgins. was born in Wilmington. 
Delaware, at the old honie of the famiiv in 1807. and there spent the 



410 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

clays of his bo}-hnod and }iiuth, wliile in the piibhc schools he acquired 
his education. In 1829, when a young man of twenty-two years. Pres- 
ident Andrew Jackson gave him charge of the mail route from New 
Castle t<.) h'oit Delaware. While still a young man he assumed the 
work of grading the first interurban railroad in the country, from New 
Castle to Chesapeake Bay, working under Joseph Cannon. Much of 
his life. howe\'er, was devoted to agricultural pursuits. He was mar- 
ried in the east l)Ut at an early day tlie spirit of the pioneer led him 
til the wilds of Indiana, and f(ir some time he resided in Randolph 
county, whence in 1S58 he came to Cass county, Michigan, settling in 
LaGrange tdwnship, where he purchased a tract of land and improved 
a tarm. He \(;ted for McClellan in 18(14. but early gave his political 
sujipurt to the Republican party. However, he cast his ballot for Fre- 
mont, its first presidential candidate, and for Lincoln in i86o'. He wed- 
ded Miss Mary Higgin,-,. who was a nati\-e of New Jersey and was de- 
.scended from the same ancestry. She lived to be fiftv-nine vears of 
age, w-hile James T. Higgins, the father, reached the \er\' venerable 
age of ninety-one years. In their family were eight children, three 
sons and five daughters, all of whom grew to manhood or v.omanhood, 
hut only three are now li\-ing: Thomas T.. of this rex'iew ; George: 
and Mary, the wife of \\ illiani Flass. of LaGrange townslii]). 

Hon. Thomas T. Higgins was the eldest son and fifth child in his 
father's family. He was reared in Richmond, Wayne county, and in 
Randolph county. Indiana, and was a vouth of si.xteen \'ears when he 
came with his parents to Cass cmmtv. IVIichigan. His earl\- education 
had been acquired in the schools of Richmond, and he afterward con- 
tinued his studies in what is known as the Mechanicsbufg school in 
LaGrange township. He has largely lieen dependent upon his own re- 
sources from the a^e of sixteen \ears and his inherent force of char- 
acter, his utilization of npjii^rtunity and his unremitting diligence in 
e\-erything that be has undertaken have constituted the basis of his 
success. When about twenty-one years of age he went south and was 
employed as go\-ernmcnt teamster for about three months. This was 
at the close of the war. He then returned to Cass county, where he 
began farming on his own account and throughout his active business 
career he has carried on general agricultural pursuits. 

In 1867 Mr. Higgins was imited in marriage to Miss Caroline 
Ratblium. a daughter of Lucius and Sarah fGlick") Rathbum and a 
nati\-e of Jefferson township, her people having located in Jefferson 
township, Cass county, at a very early day. Mr. Higgins lived upon 
his father's farm for a time and afterward upon his father-in-law's 
property, but in T8r)0 took up his abode upon the farm on which he 
now resides on section 17. Jefferson township. .-\t that tiiiie only 
twenty acres of lanrl had been cleared and cultivated. He at once, 
however, continued the work of development, placed the greater part 
of the land under the plow and has put all of the improvements upon 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 411 

the propert)-, which is imw a splendidly cultivated farm, cuiiiprising two 
hundred acres uf rich and aralile land, from which he annually harvests 
large crops. His first home was a log cahin, hut' this has long since 
been replaced b}- a more commodious and substantial modern resi- 
dence. In all I if his fann work he is energetic and painstaking. He 
thoroughly understands his business, and in fact thoroughness is one 
of his marked characteristics, manifest in all that he ha- undertaken 
in e\-ery relation of life. He is also thurciughlv reliable in his business 
transactions, his name being a synonym for integrity ami straightfor- 
ward dealing. 

Until ^Ir. and Mrs. Higgins have been born five children: J. P., 
who is UdW li\iug in Dowagiac. wedded Miss Mabel Palmer 
and is engaged in real estate: Florence, who is the wife of Fred 
Shurter, a resident farmer of Jefiferson township: Claude, who was 
a mail carrier on a rural route, but now an agriculturist : he wedded 
Leona Gifford : Leila, tlie wife of Fred Whitmore, also living in Jef- 
ferson township; and Flsie. the wife of Heniy AtLee. of the state of 
^\'ashington. 

In April. 1871. ]vlr. Higgins was made a Mason and is one of 
the oldest representatives of Cassopolis lodge. He also belongs to the 
Chapter at Cassopolis and is a prominent representative of the frater- 
nity here. In politics be has always been a stanch Republican, taking 
an active interest in the local work of the party and doing everything 
in his ]5o\\er to insure its success. He lias held various local offices,, 
but still higher jiolitical honors awaited him. for in 1003 be was chosen 
to represent his district in the state legislature Iiy a \-ote of two hundred 
and fifty-two. He proved an active working memlier of the house and 
that his constitutents regarded favorably his efforts in their liehalf is 
shown bv the fact that in 19015 he was re-elected by a largely increased 
niajoritv of nine hundred. He has delivered various campaign speeches 
and i'i a forceful, earnest speaker, and is today accounted one of the 
lirominent representatives of the party in the county. He has also left 
the impress of his individuality upon state legislation. He has never 
pretended to be an orator and the members of the house w'ho at first 
were not inclined to pay much attention to tlte speeches of (he farmer 
representative soon found out that they had to cope with a force on 
"which they had little reckoned. His earnestness and his honestv were 
not alone his strong characteristics, although these traits are most 
commendable. His fellow members found, too. that he had been a 
student of the questions and issues of the day and that he had a keen 
and shrewd insight into matters which came u.p for discussion. A pub- 
lication of recent date said: "He is always steady and honest and 
when he set himself the other day to oppose the attorney general's bill 
to allow the institution in Ingham county of state cases against parties 
of all sections of the state he won a victory. The house voted the bill 
down. His speech on that occasion is regarded as his best address to 



ii-' HISTORY OU CASS COUNTY 

the legislature." Mr. Higgins also won wide attention by a plan for 
the solution of the primary reform problem and his suggestion won 
approval from both wings in the reform fight. In regard to this meas- 
ure the reporter for the work of the house, H. j\I. Nimmo, said: ''Rep- 
resentative Higgins of Cass has come forward with a solution of the 
primary reform muddle that has already found favor with several of 
the opponents of direct nominations, including Governor Warner. His 
compromise proposition is this : Retain the state conventions to name 
candidates to be placed on the party loallots and give the people a chance 
to choose the nominee 1:>y direct vote from among the candidates for 
slate oftices so endorsed. Higgins has also accepted the suggestion that 
each candidate be endorsed by at least twenty-five per cent of the del- 
egates of the state convention before his name can go on the ballot. 
His measure has received the endorsement of manv men prominent in 
the ranks of the Repu1)lican part^■, including Governor Warner, Chair- 
man Stone of the house elections committee, banking commissioner 
Moore and others." As stated, Mr. Higgins has made himself felt as 
a forceful factor in the aft'airs of the commonwealth, and that he has 
won the confidence and support of his fellow citizens is indicated by 
the fact of his largely increased majoritv at his second election. His 
career has been one of activit\-. full of incidents and results, and by 
bis excellent public service and uiiright life he has honored the commu- 
tiitv that lias hdiKired him with official preferment. 

GEORGE W^ JONES. 

Gorge \V. Jones, at one time closely, actively and helpfully con- 
nected with the substantial development and progress of Marcellus 
and Cass county, was l:orn in Prelile c<^unty. Ohii), on the 3rd of 
.A]jril, 1824, and died .-Vpril 29. t8q('). He came to Michigan about 1S30, 
in company with his parents, Henry and Hannah Jones, who located 
nil Young's Prairie. In the spring of 1849, attracted by the di.scovery 
of gold on the Pacific slope, he made his way to California, where he 
turned his attention to mining. After two years, learning that unless 
extraordinarv efforts were made the large possessions of his father — 
nine hundred acres — would be lost, he returned to his home to do his 
share toward saving the property. Six weeks after his return the father 
died, leaving the weight of heavy financial obligations on his shoulders. 
He was appointed administrator of the estate, which, however, was 
much encumbered, and capable financiers said that he would never be 
able to pav off the debts. Nothing daunted, however, and with reso- 
lute spirit and determined energy, he set to woric, nnd with the assist- 
ance of his two younger brothers, E. J. and J. G. Jones, after eleven 
vears, as the restilt of good financiering, economy and unfaltering labor, 
he was enabled to divide twenty-two thousand dollars among the eleven 
hen-s ti. the estate. IT;iving purchased the interest of some of the other 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 413 

heirs in tiie home property, he erected on the farm the present fine res- 
idence now owneti by his heirs. Two _vears subsequent George \\'. 
Jones, in company with Orson Rudd, purchased two hundred and" seven 
acres of land on which is now located the village of Wakelee and in 
1882 he owned three-foiirths of the original purchase. In all of his 
business undertakings he displayed remarkable foresight and sagacitv. 
^^'ith prophetic eye he seemed to see the line of the railroad and recog- 
nized that the present site of IMarcellus would prove an eligible one for 
a village. Accordingly he bought two hundred and eleven acres of 
land at what was then considered the extravagant price of thirteen thou- 
sand dollars. In 1870 he liegan to lay out the village, and the success 
that attended his efforts may be readily learned bv a visit to this enter- 
prising and prosperous town. In 1877, becoming impressed with the 
fact that Marcellus needed a bank, he opened such an institution, al- 
though he had had no previous experience in the banking business. 
He made his son, C. S. Jones, his cashier, and the new enterprise proved 
successful beyond his anticipation. He displayed marked business abil- 
ity, executive force and correct judgment, and whatever he undertook 
seemed destined to win success. The secret of his prosperity, however, 
is found in his unremitting diligence, careful study of any plan which 
he formulated and his determination in carrying it forward to com- 
pletion. 

On tlie 28th of December, 1S53, Mr. Jones was united in marriage 
to Miss Emma B. Sherman, a daughter of E. B. Sherman of Cassopo- 
lis. by whom he had two sons, Frank S. and Carroll S., the latter the 
present cashier of the hank, which was incorporated as a state bank 
in 1897. Carroll S. Jones was married to Miss Bessie E. Caul, a daugh- 
ter of Andrew F. Caul, one of the prominent farmers of IMarcellus 
township, and they have tA\-o children, Donna V. and Carroll B. The 
senior brother, who is unmarried, is president of the bank. 

In 1S70 George W. Jones was called upon to mourn the loss 
of his first wife, who died on the 20th of November of that year. On 
the 15th of March, 1876, he wedded Miss Lizzie Osborn, a daughter 
of Nathan Osborn, who was a real estate dealer and one of the pioneers 
oi St. Joseph county, Michigan. He was circuit judge of that county 
and held other positions of importance. His birth occurred in Con- 
necticut, but bis daughter. M''s. Jones, was born in St. Joseph county, 
Michigan, was educated there and became a resident of South Bend. 
She was one of eight cliildren, being the fifth in order of birth. Her 
brother, Hon. James D. Osborn. was on the bench of the circuit court 
at Elkhart, Indiana, and another brother, Hon. George W. Osborn, 
represented St. Joseph county in the Michigan legislature. Unto Mr. 
Jones by his second marriage were born two children : Henry B., who 
is now a banker at Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and Vera May, the wife 
of Walter V. Smith, of Goshen, Indiana, a real estate dealer of that 
place. 



414 HISTORY OF CASS COl'XTV 

]\rr. Jones was renred in the fnitli of the Sncietv nf Friends, hut did 
not lieconie a member nf anv church, althnueh he frequently attended 
religious services and contrihuted liberally to their support, being- a 
firm believer in Jesus Christ and His teachings. His political allegiance 
\vas given tn the Democracy, but he was without aspiration for office, 
preferring to give his time and his energies to his business interest.s. 
which were capably managed, winning for him a gratifying measure 
of prosperity as the years went by. He died in i8q6, honored and re- 
spected Ijy all who knew him not only by reason of the success he bad 
achieved, but also because of the straightforward business pnlicy he 
bad e\'er followed. 

ALEXANDFR TAYLOR, 

Alexander Taylor, who is giving his attention to the manao'ement 
of a farm in Cass county and who in various ofifices has proved his lov- 
rdty to the general welfare, maintains bis residence in Marcellus. He 
was born in Scotland in 1845 and is a son <if Alexander and Helen 
(Stuart) Taylor, both of whom were natives of Scotland. The father, 
who was a cattle dealer, spent bis entire life there. ' The mother was a 
descendant of tlie famous royal house of Stuart. By this marriage 
there were nine children, all of whom came to the United States, namely: 
William, who died in Canada : Jane, who is the deceased wife of Will- 
iam Matthewson, a farmer of Will county, Illinois: Alexander, of this 
re\-ie\y ; John, a stonecutter of Illinois : Ellen, the wife of Joseph Thomp- 
son, a Chicago mechanic : Jessie, the deceased wife of Walter Grave, a 
faimcr of Will county, Illinois: Mary A., the wife of Albert French, a 
capitalist of Chicago: Isabella, who married Allen Fleming, an agri- 
culturist of INIcHenry county. Illinois; and ^^'illiam .\ndrew, who died 
in early life. 

.Alexander Taylor was reared upon a farm and attended school at 
Elgin, Scotland, his native place. The labor of the fields claimed his 
attention in his later youth and early manhood, and in 1866, hoping to 
enjoy better business privileges in the new world, he crossed the Atlan- 
tic to the United States and located in Will county, Illinois, where he 
began contracting for timber. In 1875 be came to ^lichigan. settling 
in IMarcellus, and here entered into partnership with A. S. Hunt in 
the sawmill business, under the firm style of Hunt &: Taylor. This 
was continued for a year, at the end of which time he purchased bis 
partner's interest and admitted Alexander Doig to a partnership. That 
association was also maintained for a year. The firm of Hunt & Tay- 
lor lost heavily through a fire before Mr. Taylor formed his partnership 
with Mr. Doig, whom he later bought out, continuing the business alone 
for about fifteen years. During bis partnership with Mr. Doig, how- 
ever, a boiler exploded, killing three men and injuring Mr. Taylor. He 
purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres at Marcellus. consti- 
tuting one of the best properties of the county, and for a number of 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 415 

years his attention has been given to its supervision without other busi- 
ness interests, save that he is executor of the large estate of J- F. Goff. 

In 1876 Mr. Taylor was united in marriage to Miss'Lydia Beck, 
a daughter of Levi and Catherine Beck and a native of Indiana. Her 
fatl-.er was a tailor Iiy trade and was the owner of considerable land 
in Marcellus township. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor have become the parents 
of four children : Belle, who married Arthur Pyne, a professor of mu- 
sic in Geneva, New York; CJrace, a school teacher in Minneapolis: Flor- 
er.ce. the wife of Earl B. Sill, a farmer and stock buyer of Marcellus: 
and Catherine, who is attending school in Marcellus. 

The parents are members of the JNIethodist Episcopal church, and 
Mr. Taylor belongs to the Masonic fraternit}-. while his political sup- 
port is given to the Republican party. He was appointed by the state 
land commissioner as appraiser of state lands, and for two terms he has 
served as president of the village of Marcellus. During his incumbency 
in that office the waterworks were built and modern reforms and im- 
provements were inaugurated For sixteen years he served on the citv 
council and during that time was instrumental in establishing the village 
electric light plant. He has likewise been a member and director of 
the village school board for two terms and has been chairman of the 
Republican township committee, being recognized as one of the leaders 
of his party in this portion of the coimty. Coming to America when 
a young man, with laudable ambition to attain success, he has improved 
his opportunities and so directed his labors as to win a place among the 
enterprising citizens of the community and is now in p<issession of a com- 
fortable competence that has been acquired entirely through his well 
directed efforts. 

J. \\ BLOOD. M. D. 

Dr. J. V. Blood, who is engaged in the ]Dractice of medicine and 
surgeiT in Jones, is one of Michigan's native sons, his birth having oc- 
curred in Kent county on the 13th of February, 1879. Although a young 
man, he has met with enviable success equal to that of many a practi- 
tioner of twice bis years. His father, J. M. Blood, was also a native of 
Kent county. Michigan, and was a son of James Blood, who was born 
in New York and became one of the early settlers of this state, taking 
up his abode in Kent county when it was a pioneer district. He was of 
English descent, his father having been born in England. He saw 
Grand Rapids grow from its infancy to its present state of development, 
and in the county where he lived took an active and helpful part in the 
work of public progress and improvement. Reared in Kent county. 
T. M. Blood became a prominent fruit farmer of Oceana county, Mich- 
iga;n, and carried on business successfully there for many years. He 
wedded Miss Sarah Angell, a native of Ohio, and they became the par- 
ents of two children, the daughter being Lena Rose, now the wife of 
Rov ^lorgan, of Shelbv, Ocerma countv, 'Michigan. 



•ilG HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Dr. Blood, who was the elder of the two children, was but a young 
child when taken by his parents to Oceana county, where he was reared 
fron^ the age of four years. He began his education in the district 
schools and afterward attended the high school of. Hart, from which 
he was graduated in the class of 1898. Having determined upon the 
practice of medicine as a life work, he prepared for the profession as 
a student in Hering Homeopathic Medical College, in which he com- 
pleted the regular course and was graduated. He has now been prac- 
ticing for about four years. He located in Jones in 1905 and has built 
up a good practice here, having demonstrated his abilitv to successfully 
cope with the many intricate and complex problems which continually 
confront the physician in his efforts to check the ra\-ages of disease and 
restore health. 

Dr. Blood was married, in 1905, to Miss Marie \'on Bokopf. a 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Von Bokopf. She was liorn ;m(l 
reared in Chicago, acquiring her education in the schools there. The 
young couple have gained many warm friends during their residence 
in Jones and the hospitality of their own pleasant home is greath- en- 
joyed l>y those who know them. Dr. Blood belongs to the Knights <if 
the Maccabees and to the Modern Woodmen camp and is medical ex- 
aminer of the latter. He was assistant surgeon to Dr. R. H. Von Kotsch 
for Swift & Company and for Libby, McNeill & Libby, of Chicago. 
Dr. \^on Kotsch is now a resident of Cassopolis. Dr. Blood is a mem- 
ber of the International Homeopathic Medical Association and also of 
the State Medical Society. He has a fine practice over the county and 
is making gratifying progress in his profession, where he has already 
won a wide reputation and gained the respect and confirlence of his jiro- 
fessional brethren as well. 

DUANE WITHERELL. 

Duane A\'itherell, whose residence in the county dates back to a 
])eriod of early progress and improvement, was born on section 35, Pbka- 
gon township, April 22, 1847. Th.e traveler of today, looking over the 
splendidly improved farms and noting the varied business interests of 
the county, can scarcely realize the great change that has been wrought 
within a half century, and yet it is within the memory of Mr. Wither- 
ell and other native sons of the county when much of the land was un- 
cultivated and there was on every hand evidences of pioneer life. His 
father. Oilman Witherell, was a native of New Hampshire and in 1833 
arri\ed in Cass county, locating in Pokagon township about 1835. He 
was a cooper bv trade and follnwe<l that Inisiness in the early days, 
manufacturing barrels, which he wmild then haul to the Chicago mar- 
ket on wagons. He afterward turned his attention to farming and con- 
tinued in the work of tilling the soil up to the time when his life's 
labors were ended in death. He passed away when about sixty-eight 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 417 

years of age, wliile liis wife died in 1868. She bore tiie maiden name of 
Mary A. Simpson ;ind was Imrn in New Hampshire in 1812. By her 
marriage she Ijecame the mother of five children, two of whom died in 
early yonth, while Henry lost his life while defending his country in 
the Civil war. as a member of Comimny T. Fourth Michigan cavalry. 
George died in California, leaving Duane Witberell the only surviving 
member of the family. 

The youngest of the five children, Duane Witherell was reared 
upon the old homestead and, like the oth.ers. acquired a common school 
education, while in the work of the farm he was carefully trained, so 
that he was well qualified to take charge of a farm of his own when he 
started out upon an independent business career. He has always lived 
in this county, and the days of his youth were unmarked by any event 
of special importance until be was seventeen years of age, wdien he re- 
sponded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in 1865 as a member of 
the Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteer infantry. He continued with 
the army rmtil the close of hostilities and then returned to his home in 
Pokagon township, continuing farm work there upon the old family 
homestead up to the time of his marriage. On June 24, 1873. he wed- 
ded Miss Dora Stansell, a daughter of William and Margaret Stansell. 
Mrs. Witherell was Ixirn in the state of New York August 10. 1852, 
and was brought to Cass county when about five years of age. .-\t the 
time of their marriage the young couple located on a farm about a mile 
and a half east of Pokagon, remaining there until 1901, when they re- 
moved to their present home in Pokagon township. He has been a life- 
long farmer and in his work displays a practical understanding of the 
business in all of its departments, combined with unremitting industry 
and energy that never flags. The farm comprises three hundred and 
fifty acres of rich and valuable land in Pokagon township, and in addi- 
tion to this property Mr. ^^'itberell also owns one hundred and fifty acres 
in Tennessee. He is now practically retired from the active work of 
the farm, which he has given over to the charge of (ithcrs. while he is 
nmv enjoying a well earned rest. 

The home ni Mr. and Afrs. Witherell has been blessed with twn 
children: Morris G. and Clarence D. The family is well known in the 
county and the members of the household occupy an enviable position in 
the regard of friends and neighbors. Mr. AVitherell belongs to the 
Masonic lodge at Pokagon and Mrs. W^itherell is a member of the East- 
ern Star of Dowagiac, Michigan, and be has been a life-long Republi- 
can. He has met with a fair measure of success in the business world 
and though he has never sought to figure prominently in public life 
his career is that of a citizen of worth who by the faithful performance 
of each day's duties contributes to the sum total of prosperity and 
progress. 



418 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

TAIMES }^IcALLISTER. 

James jNIcAllister, one of the did settlers of Pokasfon township 
living- on section 29, was born upon this farm March 12, 1848,- and 
conic; of Scotch lineage. His father, John 'S\. McAllister, was a native 
of Scotland, born in 1814, and in that country he was married to Miss 
Marian Forsyth, who was also a nati\-e of the land of hills and heather. 
They remained in that country until 1844. when, helicvino- that he 
niight enjoy better business opportunities in the new v^nrld, 'Sir. Mc- 
.\llisler came to tb.e United States and journe^-ed at once into the inte- 
rioi of rhe county, settling- upon the farm whereon his son James now 
resides. He secured here a w-ild and unimproved tract of lai-id. but 
in the course of tin-ie he had developed it into good fields and he re- 
sided thereon until about T870, when he went to Texas. He purchased 
bind w ith the intention of locating there, Ijut he was not long permitted 
to enjoy his new home, for his death occurred in 1875, when he was 
in his .sixty-first year. His widow long survived hin-i and lived to the 
advanced age of eighty-seven years, spending her last days upon the 
old homestead farm in Pokagon township. In the familv were seven 
children, of whom the eldest two were born in Scotland, while the 
others Avere all born in Cass county. 

James AlcAllistci-. the fifth child of his father's family, spent his 
l>o}-h(-iod antl }(>uth u]jon tlie old homestead and acquired a good Eng- 
lish education in the district schools. His training at farm labor was 
not meager and he has always gi\-en his attention to general agricult- 
ural pursuits, bie now Ins ninety-two acres of land on section 29, 
Pokagon towi-ishi]), and two Innidred and forty acres on section 20' of 
the san-ie township, so that his realty possessions are quite extensive. 
The land in this part of the state is rich and valuable and responds read- 
ily- to cultixatioii, so that his fields are now quite productive. He votes 
with, the I)emocr;Uic party, but has never been an aspirant for office, 
preferring rather to gi\-e his attention ti) his business affairs. 

JAMES H. LEACH. 

James H. Leach is proprietor of an attracti\-e sun-imer hotel known 
as Shore Acres, which stands in the midst of a valuable farm of eighty 
acres dc\otcd to the cultivation of fruit and garden products. In his 
capacity of landlord he has become widely known and popular with 
many patrons and is meeting with gratifying success in his business 
affairs. Numbered among Penn township's native sons, he was born 
on the 25th of November, 1847, and is a representative of one of the 
pioneer families of this iiart of the state. His ])arents were Joshua and 
Matilda (Smith) Leach. His father was born in Vermont in 1812 
and on Iciving Xew England removed to Erie county, Pennsylvania, 
whence he came to Cass county, Michigan, in 1833, casting in his lot 



HIST(3RY OF CASS COUNTY 419 

among" the early settlers who were reclaiming the wild land and replac- 
ing the evidences of frontier life by the conditions which indicate im- 
provement and progress. He settled in Penn township, where he 
purchased land, upon which he turned the first furrows. In course of 
time he had broken the fields, had planted seed and with autumn came 
good crops. He cleared up a great amount of land in the county and 
his efforts were beneficial in the reclamation of what was once a wild 
and unimproved district. He died in his seventy-ninth year. His wife, 
who was a native of Ohio and a daughter of Eieazer Smith, of St. 
Joseph county, Indiana, was sixty-five years of age at the time of her 
demise. In their family were eight children, of whom four are now 
living, James H. being the fifth child. 

In taking up the personal history of James H. Leach, we present 
to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known. 
In retrospect one can see him a farm boy, trudging daily to school dur- 
ing the continuance of the sessions and afterward supplementing his 
early educational privileges by a course in the high school at Cassopolis. 
He worked in the fields upon the home farm through the summer 
months and after completing his education continued to assist in the 
farm work for .«ome time. He afterward engaged in the grocery bus- 
iness in partnership with C. E. \'oorhis for five years and on the expi- 
ration of tliat period sold out to his partner and went to Florida, where 
he laid nut an orange grove of f(iur hundred orange trees and also 
planted two hundred lemon trees, his place being in Hillsboro county, 
while his postofiice was TJmona. For four years his attention was de- 
voted to the development of his fruit ranch in the south, and he then 
returned northward, locating in South Bend, Indiana, where he engaged 
in the operation of a planing mill and the conduct of a lumber yard, be- 
ing actively connected with the business for alrout thirteen years. On 
the expiration of that period he returned to Penn township, locating at 
his present residence on the north shore of Diamond Lake. The place 
is known as the J. C. IMoon farm and the house is called Shore Acres. 
He has a tract of land of eighty acres and he also owns other land in the 
old homestead farm. He conducts the summer hotel in connection with 
his general farming interests and the raising of fruit, having a fine 
orchard, while from his fields he annually harvests good crops of grain. 

On the 4th of April. 1883, Mr. Leach was united in marriage to 
Miss Fannie Punches, a daughter of Closes and Jane Punches. Mr. 
Leach votes with the Democracy and is a member of the Woodmen of 
the World. The family name has long figured in this county, being 
indelibly inscribed upon the jiages of pioneer history as weW as of later 
day progress and improvement. ^Ir. Leach has been watchful of bus- 
iness opportunities pointing to success, and has wrought along modern 
lines of progress. He possesses a genial manner, courteous disposition 
and deference for tlie opinion of others, which lia\e rendered him a pop- 
ular citizen. 



420 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



CHARLES C. RICKERT. 

Charles C. Rickert deserves mention among the old settlers of 
Cass county, fur during sixty years he has lived within its borders. 
This covers the entire period of his life, his birth having occurred upon 
the old family homestead where he now resides on the 31st of January, 
1846. The farm is situated on section 7, Calvin township, and is well 
improved property, which in its excellent appearance indicates the un- 
tiring labor and well-directed efforts of the Rickerts. The paternal 
grandparents of our subject were Abram and Magdalene Rickert, who 
on emigrating westward from Pennsylvania to Michigan settled in 
St. Joseph county. Their son, Leonard Rickert, father of our subject, 
was ixirn in the Keystone state and accompanied his parents when they 
sought a home in the middle west. About 1840 he came to Cass coun- 
ty, settling on the farm where his son Charles C. now resides. It was a 
wild and unimproved tract, but he at once began the work of trans- 
forming the raw prairie into productive fields. Plowing and planting 
were carried on and the summer sun ripened the grain and good har- 
vests were gathered in the autumn. He continued the work of cultivat- 
ing and improving his property until his death. He married Miss 
Margaret Ann Crawford, a native of Ohio, who came with her parents 
to Michigan in her girlhood days. By this marriage were born six chil- 
dren, one of whom died in early childhood, while five reached mature 
years. The father departed this life when about forty-two years of 
age and the mother died when fifty-six years of age. 

Charles C. Rickert, the second child and eldest son in the family, 
was reared on the farm where he yet makes his home. ■ At the usual 
age he began his education as a student in the district schools of 
Calvin township, and he enjoyed the pleasures of the play-ground when 
not occupied with his books or the farm work. He developed a self- 
reliance and force of character which have been strong elements in his 
career. On the 25th of May, 1877, he was married to Miss Susanna 
Shaw, a daughter of Nathan and Marion Shaw and a native of Ohio, 
in which state her girlhood days were passed. At the time of his mar- 
riage Mr. Rickert located upon the old homestead where he has since 
lived, giving his attention to general farming and stock raising. He 
here owns one hundred and two and a half acres of good land, most 
of which is under cultivation and in addition he has fifty acres of tim- 
ber land in the same township. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rickert were born a daughter and son: El- 
len, who is now engaged in teaching in Porter township; and Charles 
Herman, at home, assisting in the work of the farm. 

Susanna, the daughter of Nathan and Mariam Shaw, was born in 
Columbiana county, Ohio, October 2t:;th, 184.S. In 1856 she came with 
her parents to Michigan, settling in St. Joseph county, aftenvards mov- 
ino- to Cass countv, where she resided up to the time of her death. May 




CHARLES C. RICKERT AND FAMILY. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY iiil 

25th, 1897. On May 24tli, 1S77, she was united in marriage to Charles 
Rickert, wlio with two children, Ellen S. and C. Herman, survive her 
She was ever a faithful and consistent Christian, always striving to 
do the will of her Master and ever thoughtful for the welfare of others. 
She was a thorough worker in whatever she was engaged and her loss 
is greatly felt by all who knew her. 

For almost twenty years did ]\Ir. and ^Irs. Charles C. Rickert 
travel life's pathway together, sharing alike the joys and sorrows of 
life. She was an amiable wife and a loving mother. She had always 
stood by the side of her husband, ever ready to aid him in advice and 
counsel in the building up of their comfortable home. She was a de- 
vout member of the F'riends' Church, known as Birch Lake Friends' 
Church, in Calvin township. Her remains are interreil in the Reams 
and Norton cemetery, where a beautiful stone marks her last resting 
place. There is a vacant chair in the home circle, and a liiik in the 
mystic chain, which cannot be again filled. 

Mr. Rickert has continuously resided in Calvin township with the 
exception of nine months spent in Cassopolis, where he removed in 
order to give his children better educational privileges. His study of 
the political issues and questions of the day has led him to give his 
advocacy to the Democratic party. He is a memljer of the Friends 
church and his life exemplifies the teachings of that sect, which has 
always promulgated a spirit of kindliness, consideration, charity and 
righteousness. He has been identified with the upbuilding of the coun- 
ty through six decades, bearing his full share in the work of public 
progress and improvement, and is justly accounted one of the rep- 
resentative citizens of Cass county. 

J. M. LAKE. 

J. M. Lake, living on section 7, Penn township, where he owns 
and controls ninetv-se\-en acres of good land, his home being known as 
"Stone Abutment Farm." was born in Qienango county. New York, 
March 23. 1842. His father, Richard Lake, was a native of the Empire 
state, as was the paternal grandfather of our subject, Joseph Lake, who, 
however, spent his last years in ^Michigan. He lived for some time in 
Cass county, where his death occurred in Niles, this state. It was in the 
year 1844 that Richard Lake took up his abode in Cass, county, locating 
on section 18, Penn township. As this fact indicates, he was a farmer by 
ocaipation, his life 1:eing given to that pursuit, wherein he provided a 
comfortable living for his familv. He married Miss Hannah Crandall, a 
daughter of Tanner Crandall. who was born in New York. In the family 
of Mr. and Mrs. Richard I>ake were seven children, three sons and four 
daughters, namely : Harrison H. ; James M. ; Giarles N. : Mary, wife of 
Byron Sprague: Sarah J., wife of Clavton H. Sigerfoos : Rosetta. wife 
of B. Frank Slipper; and Emma, wife of Henry Eerrel. The father 



422 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

died in the eiglitx'-second year nf his age. while tlie niuther lived to lie 
ahdUt sixty years. 

J. Al. Lake was but two years old when brought by liis parents to 
Alichigan and upon the home farm in Penn township he was reared. At 
the usual age he entered the public schools and when not busy with his 
text books his time was given to farm labor. After leaving; school per- 
manently he gave undivided attention to farm work on the old home- 
stead up to the time of his marriage, which occurred in 1873. the lady 
of his choice being !\Iiss Anna Tripp, a daughter of Chester Tripp. 
She \\;'s burn in P.arry county. Michigan, and died in i8<;2. leaving a 
little daughter, who died in 1894. Mr. Lake has a farm of ninety- 
seven acres, which he has improved with modern equipments and which 
he now rents. It is largely dev(.)ted to the production of fruit and he 
has ti\e luindre<i trees of peaches and apples upon the place. His trees 
])roduce C|uite aljundantly almost e\ery season and the fruit shipiied 
from his i^lace yields a good financial income. Mr. Lake has been i 
resilient of Cass county for sixty-four years, with the exception of one 
\ear. which he spent in Pennsylvania, and is therefore well informed 
concerning the history of the county and the progress it has made fi'om 
pioneer conditions to its present ad\-anced state of cultivation and im- 
provement. He has been a life-long Democrat, interesteti in the growth 
atid success of his party, and has served as school director. He for- 
merly belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. 

JOSEPH C. KYLE. 

Joseph C. Kyle, a \eteran of the Ci\'il war, who has been ecjually 
loyal to his country in the performance of duties that devolve upon 
him in councctiiai with ci\ic oHices to which he has been called, has 
for many years mailc his Imuie in L'uion. where he has long lieen en- 
gaged in painting and ]5lastermg. His birth occurred in Kosciusko 
county. Indiana, Octoljer 7, 1845, ^"'' '^ -^ son of Andrew and Frances 
S. (Jones) Kyle, the former a nati\'e of Pennsyl\-ania and the latter of 
Yirginia. They became the parents of four chiklren. two sons and two 
daughters, all of whom reached adult age. Jose])h C. and ]Marv Cor- 
nelia are twins and the latter is now the wife of Henry Borne, of Ban- 
gor, IVlichigau. A lirother, .\lonzo R. K}-le, is living in Ellsworth, 
Kansas, while the other daughter. Flora A., is the wife of Charles Nye, 
a resident farmer of Pbkagon township. On leaving the east Andrew- 
Kyle, the fa.ther. became one of the early .settlers of Elkhart county, 
Indiana, and in i84<) he went to California, attracted by the fliscovery 
of gold on the Pacific coast. He afterward returned to his nati\'e state, 
however, and his last days were there passed. His wife li\-ed to b-* sev- 
enty-two ^■ears of age. 

Joseph C. Kyle of this re\-iew has been a resident of Cass county 
from the age of three years, arriving here in 184S. Fie was reared in 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 423 

Porter towiishii) and was only eighteen years of aqe when lie 
enlisted for service in tlie Civil war, becoming- a private of Conipanv C. 
Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteer Infantrv. He served until the close 
of hostilities and after the war returned to Union, where he enoaged in 
paintinq- and phsterino-. He learned the trades and followed "the Ims- 
iness for thirty vears. Because of his excellent workmanship many 
important contracts hnve been awarded him and his services have been 
in constant demand, so that he has won a good Ii\-ing and secured a 
comfortable home. 

Mr. Kyle was married September 3, iSC^. to Miss Malissa Brown, 
a daughter of Joshua and Sarah A. (Low) Brown, and a native of Elk- 
hart county. Indiana. ]\Ir. Kyle has resided in Cass countv for fifty- 
six years and is one of its representative citizens. His political allegiance 
has long been earnestly given to the Republican party, and he is now 
serving as a member of the board of reviews. Fraternally he is con- 
nected with Carter post. No. 96, G. A. R., of Union, .in which he has 
filled some of the offices, and he also belongs to the Grange, while his 
religions faith is indicated by his meml;ership in the Freewill Baptist 
church, in which he takes a helpful part, serving as one of its deacons, 
and doing all in his power to promote the various church acti\-ities and 
extend its influence. He is widely known in his part of the countv bv 
reason of his interest and co-operation in public affairs and also on ac- 
count of his business connections. He has been found reliable at all 
times in his business career, faithfully executing his work in accordance 
with the terms of his contracts, and his energv-, perseverance, laudable 
ambition and resolute pur[)ose have been the strong and salient features 
of his life record. 

LESLIF C. WELLS. 

Leslie C. ^\ ells, residing on sectinn j(i. Pokagon townshi]3. was 
born in Wayne township, Cass county, on the 8th of November. 1855. 
His paternal grandfather, Woden Wells, was a native of Connecticut, 
whence he removed to New York, and at an early day be came to Mich- 
igan, taking up his abode in Kalamazoo county. He was of Welsh 
lineage. His son. Homer Wells, the father of our subject, was born 
in the Empire state and when a youth of ten years accompanied his 
parents on their removal to Kalamazoo county, where he remained until 
1849, \vhen he came to Cass county, taking up his abode in Wayne 
township, where he engaged in general farming. He was for many 
years a representative and leading agriculturist of this part of the state 
and his death, occurred in 1904, when he had reached the advanced age 
of seventy-three years. In politics he was a stanch and earnest Repub- 
lican, interested in the work of the jjarty and doing all in his power for 
its growth and success. He held a number of local offices, to which he 
was called by his fellow townsmen, who recognized his worth and abil- 



424 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ity and wlin fniiiid in liim a capable official. In his earlv manhood he 
wedded Miss Lima A. Reed, a native of Ohio and a dau,^hter of A. 
H. and Maria (Jennings) Reed, who went originally from Vermont to 
Ohio and thence came to Michigan, settling in Wayne township, Cass 
crmnty. Airs. Wells was at that time a ^•oung girl and she died when 
hut twenty years of age. 

Leslie C. W'ells, the only child, remained with his father, who 
afterward married again, his second union lieing with Fannie Bever- 
stock. In the jnihlic schools Mr. Wells acquired his education and dur- 
ing the summer months aifled in tlie farm work until seventeen years 
of age, when he left home, starting out upon an independent business 
career. He entered the employ of the Michigan Central Railroad Com- 
pany in connection with the construction gang and in the following 
year he began teaching schonl. which profession he followed for twenty 
years during the winter uKJUths. He attended the Vicksburg high 
school during that time and he continually broadened his knowledge by 
reading, observation and investigation. As an educator he was capable 
and eliicient, imparting readily to others the knowledge that he had 
acquired and maintaining good discipline, without which successful 
work is never done in the school room. During the summer months he 
worked at farm labor and he also spent some years in California, Wash- 
ington and Oregon. He likewise went to the south, passing one year 
in Alabama. 

In 1881 Mr. Wells was united in marriage to Miss Mary A. 
Shookman, a daughter of Otho and Elizabeth (Wright) Shookman. 
She was born in Wayne township and for about fifteen years engaged 
in teaching school, being also one of the successful teachers of this 
part of the state. At the time of his marriage Mr. Wells located in La- 
Grange township, settling upon a part of the old homestead farm, upon 
which he lived for three years, when he took up his abode upon a 
rented farm in Silver Creek township, there living for two years. On 
the expiration of that period, with the money which he had managed to 
save from his earnings he purchased forty acres of land in LaGrange 
township and cultivated that place for three years. His present farm 
consists of one hundred and twenty acres in Pokagon township, where 
he has resided for the past eight years. His farm is the visible evi- 
dence of his well-directed thrift and energy, for when he started 
out on his own account he had no capital. He has worked per- 
sistenth- and the years have brought him success, owing to his 
diligence and capable management. Goethe has said. "Merit and 
success go linked together." and the truth of this assertion is veri- 
fied again and again in the lives of such men as Mr. Wells, whose 
prosperity is attributable entirely to his own labors. In politics he is a 
stanch Republican, interested in the growth and success of his party. 
He was toreman of the first sjrand iurv that had been convened in the 



HISTORY' OF CASS COl^XTY 425 

county in forty-six years, acting- in tliat capacity in 1905. He is :i 
member of the Masonic fraternity and also belongs to the Modern Wood- 
men Canii/. 

WILLIAM H. GARWOOD. 

11ie arduous task of develo])ing- and cultivating new land is one 
familiar to William H. Garwood, a representati\-e farmer of Pokagon 
township, who in the successful management of his business interests 
has displayed excellent business ability, keen discernment and unfalter- 
ing diligence. He was bom in the township where he yet resides 
^Joveml;er 5, 1846. His father, Jesse Garwood, was one of the old set- 
tlers of the county and wa^ a native of Warren county, Ohio, where his 
birth occurred on the 15th of Vugust, 1806. There he was reared and 
educated, and on lea\i ng the Buckeye state he remo\-ed to Terre Coupe 
Prairie, Indiana, in 1827. Pie worked at the Indian mission for two 
summers and in 1829 he came to Pokagon township. Cass county, Mich- 
igan, settling on his present farm. He had located this land in 1832. 
It was all raw and unimproved, but he cleared sixty acres. He had two 
hundred and forty acres in the original tract and the arduous task of de- 
veloping a new farm fell to him and was successfully carried on. Plis 
marriage on the 6th of December, 1844, to Miss Rachel Prather Vv'as 
celeijrated in this count}'. The lady was a native of Madison county, 
Indiana, born September 24, 1808, and William H. Garwood was the 
only child born of this marriage. The father voted with the Republican 
party and was the champion of many progressive measures, especially 
those \\hich contributed to substantial progress and improvement. He 
died September 11, 1889, while his wife passed away in 1885. 

In his youth W'illiam H. Garwood worked upon the old farm 
homestead and cleared the entire place save the si.xtv- . acres which his 
father brought under cultivation. At his father's death he took posses- 
sion of the entire farm and lias since been one of the representative 
agriculturists of the community, giving undivided attention to the fur- 
ther improvement of bis property. Everything about the place is neat 
and thrifty in appearance and the fields annually return to him golden 
harvests. 

On the 2 1 St of Xo\-ember, 1866. Mr. Garwoofl was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Lucinda F. Demmons, a native of Michigan, born on 
the 23d of November, 1844, anc^ a daughter of Alanson Demmons, who 
was a farmer by occupation. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Garwood have been 
l)orn nine children, of whom six are deceased. Those living are : Aman- 
son W., on his father's estate; Dwight, in Kansas City, Missouri; and 
Blanch, wife of Charles Phillips, of Pokagon. All were born upon the 
old homestead farm. 

Mr. Garwood is a member of the Masonic fraternity and also be- 
longs to the Woodmen camp at Pokagon. In politics a Democrat, he 
takes an active part in the local work of the party, served as supervisor 



426 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

for l\vi) ye.ii>- ami was also township treasurer for two rears. His ef- 
forts ill l;elialf of iiulilic ])rog-ress have l>een efifective and Iieneficial and 
his suiiport can always be counted upon to further any movement for 
tlie general good. He has spent his entire life in Pokagon township and 
as a native son and pioneer settler of Cass county well deserves repre- 
sentation in this \i4t',me, while his genuine worth entitles him to the 
confidence ruid good will which are uniformly given him by his fellow 
Inwnsnien. 

C. DELTVAX AIcCOY. 

One does not ha\e to carr\' his investigations far into the hi-^tory 
of Cass county without learning that the ]\[cCov familv became iden- 
tified with pioneer progress at an early day. Upon the old farm home- 
stead C. Delivan McCoy was born on the 13th of November, 1852. He 
is a son of Richard McCoy, who is represented on another page of this 
^\•ork. He was reared to the occupation of farming, early becoming 
familiar with the labors of the fields as he assisted in the work of plow'- 
ing, planting and harvesting. To the pulilic scliool system of the neigh- 
borhood he is indebted for the educational privileges he enjoyed. 

In November, 1875, '""^ ^^''^^ married to Miss Estella Hartzel, a na- 
tive of Pokagon, born July 28. 1859. She was reared in P(ikagon 
township, and is a daughter of Simon Hartzel. one of the early settlers 
of Cass count}', who, coming to lhis section of the state, gave his atten- 
tion to farming interests and aided in the work of public progress and 
impro\ement. ]\Ir. and Mrs. McCoy have become the parents of eight 
children, two s(ins and six daughters: Lena, now the wife of Henry 
Silvers: Ida an.d Charles, at home: Ella, the wife of W^illiam Stewart, 
of Dowagiac, ^Michigan : H:ittie, the wife of Harrv \\'alw<irth: ]\Iinnie 
and Cecil, at home: and Chde, deceased. 

AA'hen ib.e' time caiue that Mr. r\fcCoy should malcc choice of a 
life woik" he determined to follow the ])ursuit to which he had been 
reared, .'uid he has therefore alwa\'S remained upon the old homestead, 
where he has one hundred acres of land, thie greater part of which is 
under culli\ation. 'I'his ])l'ice wa.s cleared and imiiro\ed by the ■\tc- 
('o\- fauiilv ;nid the sulijcct of this re\'iew is cnrrving on the farm work 
in keeiiing witli the general spirit of advancement tint has been char- 
acteristic of the McCoys since the family home was first established in 
this countv. 

ALEXANDER ROBERTSON. 

.\le\-;idcr Ro'ertsnn, following the occupation of farming on sec- 
tion 27. I'okrifon townshi]), is a native of the Empire state, his birth 
having recurred in .\rg\le, Washington countw New York, on the 3d 
of March. iSjf'i. His f:ither, .Vrchibald Robertson, was likewi'^e a na- 
tive of Washington county, born in Cambriflge in 1784, and in that 
stale he was reared, becoming a farmer by occupation. He was mar- 
lied in Washington countv to ^liss .\mv Robertson, who was born in 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 427 

New York in 1787. and reniaine<l a resident of that state until lier 
death, wliicli occurred ir, 1852. . L'nto 'Sir. and Mrs. Archibald R0I3- 
ertson were born nine cliildren, five sons and four dau.^liters : WiUiam, 
Peter C. Alartha. Mary. Archibald. John. Joanna and Elizabeth, all 
deceased ; and Alexander, who is the youngest and only surviving mem- 
ber of the family. All were born and reared in Washington county. 
New York. The mother died in Onondaga county, that state. Tn Feb- 
ruary, 1S54, the father emigrated westward to Cass county, Michigan, 
settling in Pokagon townshii) on the farm which is now the home of 
his son Alexander. Here he carried on general agricultural pursuits 
until his death, which occurred June 28. 1867. His early political alle- 
giance was given tii the \\ big partv and upon its dissolution he joined 
the ranks of the new Reiuiblica.n party. 

Alexander Roberts(.iri obtained his education in the public schools 
of New York antl worked upon the home farm there until twenty-seven 
years of age, when he came with bis family to Michigan. He had been 
married in the Empire state on the 13th of AL^rch, 1850. to Miss Mary 
E. Briggs, a native of ^^'ayne county. New York, born June 20. 1827. 
She was reared in New 'S^ork and was a daughter of William and Rox- 
anna (Ely) Briggs, who were farming people. After his marriage 
"Mr. Robertson remained for four years in New York and was a teacher 
in that state for a long period, becoming actively connected with the 
profession when seventeen years of age. After his arrival in Michigan 
he taught school for two years at Sum.merville and was also a teacher in 
LaGrange township for two terms, while in the winter of 1874-5 be 
taught the village school at Pokagon. He was thus closely associated 
with the intellectual development of the community and ever upheld a 
high standard of education and public instruction. His fitness for lead- 
ership bemg recognized by his fellow citizens he was elected to the state 
legislature in 1872 upon the Republican ticket and served as a mem- 
ber of the house for two years. He has been a life-long Republican, 
taking an active and helpful interest in the local work of the party and 
doing all in his power to promote its growth and insure its success. He 
has been a memljer of the school board since living in the countv and 
the cause of public instruction lias indeed found in him a warm and 
able champion. He was townshij) supervisor for eight years during 
the war and subsequent to that time. At his fatlier's death he took pos- 
session of the old homestead of eightv acres, to which he has since added 
a similar tract, so that he now owns and operates a valuable farm of 
one hundred and sixt}- acres, which annuall_\- returns to him an excel- 
lent income. 

By his first marriage Mr. Robertson had eight children, a son and 
.seven daughters, namely: Eudora, deceased; Ella Evangeline: Ida E. : 
Harriet and Ann. both, deceased: Amy L. ; Martha, who has passed 
away: and Frank A. Two ,.f the children 'were born in New 
York and the others upon the old homestead farm in Pokagon town- 



42S HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ship after the removal of the family to this, county. The wife and 
mother died March 22, 1874, and several years later,, on the 24th of 
April. 1883. Mr. Robertson was married to Mrs. Uzziel Putnam, the 
widow of Uzziel Putnam, the first white child born in Cass county, his 
natal day being in August, 1826. Mrs. Robertson is a native of Gales- 
Inirg, Illinois. Both our subject and his wife are esteemed by a large 
circle of frienils and he is numbered among the pioneer settlers of the 
county, having cast in his lot with its early residents. From that time 
to the present he has been a champion of progressive public measures 
and has rejoiced in what has been accomplished in the county as the 
changes have been wrought that have transformed it from a pioneer 
region into one of rich fertility, bearing all the evidences of an ad- 
vanced civilization. 

JOSEPH LYBROOK. 

Joseph Lybrook is the owner of a valuable farm of one hundred 
and eighty-five acres on section 22, LaGrange township, and in addi- 
tion to this property he also has forty acres on section ^2 of the same 
township and is one of the stockholders in the creamery. His business 
interests are characterized by close application and unfaltering diligence, 
which constitute the basis of all desirable success. He seems to have 
realized fully that "there is no excellence without labor" and has ex- 
emplified this adage in his life work. It w-as upon the farm where he 
now resides that he first opened his eyes to the light of day, his birth 
occurring on the 22nd of November, 1845. The name "Lybrook" as 
now spelled was in the original German text spelled "Leibroch." The 
grandfather, Henry Leibroch, was born in Virginia, April 2, 1755, 
and died .\ugust 22, 1839. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, 
and many times saw General Washington. Mr. Lybrook has in his 
possession an old passport, dated February 27, 1787, given Henry 
Leibroch, which is written in a beautiful copper jilate handwriting. He 
also has four of the parchment deeds bearing the following dates of 
execution: two on No\-ember 10. 1830, February 8. 183 1 and April 
I, 183 1, and these deeds are all signed by President Andrew Jackson 
and are valuable as relics. 

John Lybrook, father of Joseph, was a native of Giles county, Vir- 
ginia, born October 25, 1798, and in t8ti lie accompanied his parents 
on their removal to Preble county, Ohio. In 1823 he came to Mich- 
igan, making the journev in order to assist Squire Thompson in his re- 
moval to this state. When he made the start he intended going only 
fifty or sixty miles, but he continued with liim on the journey until 
Cass county was reached. On the last day of December of the same year 
he started back on foot to Ohio accompanied by a young man of the 
name of Eaton. Thev first camped near where Mishawaka now stand.s. 
and from that point Mr. Lybrook continued on his way to Fort Wayne, 
where be procured assistance for the return trip. His partner had his 




(UjJi^iJy iyi^u-e-%. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 42S) 

fool I'ro/en a1i<int that time and ^Ir. Lybrook endured many hardships 
and much exposure in his endea\'or to reach his home, hut eventually 
the journey \\as completed. However, he had become interested in 
the western country and its possibilities for dev'elopment, and in 1824 
he came once more to Michigan, bringing with him some cattle. In the 
spring of 1825 he planted eleven acres of corn in what was known as 
the Second Field below Niles. He afterward returned to Ohio with 
a yoke of oxen hitched to the back wheels of a lumber wagon. In 
the following spring, however, he returned to Michigan, bringing with 
him a barrel of wheat, which was the first wheat sown in southwestern 
Michigan. In the spring of 1828 he removed to the farm where Joseph 
Lybrook now resides, and there continued to make his home until his 
death. It was wild and unimproved land when it came into his posses- 
sion and he turned the first furrows upon the place and planted the 
first crops. In course of time he had transformed this into a valuable 
property, which he continued to cultivate with success for many years. 
He gave his support to the Democracy during the greater part of his 
life, sa\e that he voted for \\'illiam Henry Harrison. He passed away 
May 25, 1881, and the county thus lost one of its most prominent and 
honored pioneer settlers — a citizen who from the earliest epoch in the 
history of this section of the state had been identified with its improve- 
ment. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Hurd and was a native 
of England, whence she came to America at the age of seven years. 
She was born in 1821, Itecame a resident of Michigan in 1836 and died 
January 25, 1903, at the very advanced age of eighty-two years. In 
the family of this worthy couple w-ere two sons and a daughter, but 
Henry died in Oklahoma and Arminda is also deceased, leaving Joseph 
as the only surviving member of the family. 

Joseph Lybrook was the second child and has spent his entire life 
upon the farm where he now lives, covering a period of more than six- 
ty years. When a boy he took his place in the fields, and as his age and 
strength permitted he assisted more and more largely in the work of 
the home farm and has since been identified with the growth and de- 
velopment of the county. He has in his home place one hundred and 
eighty-five acres of land, and also forty acres on section 32, LaGrange 
township. His home farm is under a high state of cultivation and the 
fields are improved with modern machinerv, while the work is carried 
on along the most progressive lines. He is also owner of stock in the 
creamery. His political support has been given to the Democracy. A 
worthy representative of an honored pioneer family, he has carried for- 
ward the work which ^^■as begun by his father and the name of Lvbrook 
has thus long been closely associated with the substantial improvement 
and development of Cass countv. 



430 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

CLIFFORD L. TAYLOR. 

Clifford L. Taylor, a farmer and breeder of registered Poland 
China hogs, being proprietor of the Round Oak herd, makes his home 
on section 34, Pokagon township. He is a native son of the middle 
west and in his life has exemplified the enterprising spirit which has 
l)ccn the tkiminant factor in the rapid and substantial improvement of 
the ujipcr Mississippi \alle}". His Ijirth occurred in Grant county, Wis- 
consin, on the 17th of April, 1852. His father, James \V. Taylor, also a 
farmer by occupation, was a native of New York state, born in 1828, 
and about 1846 he became a resident of Wisconsin, settling on a farm 
there. In iHdo he left that state and with his family removed to Water- 
loo, Iowa, wlicre he was engaged in farming and also in operating a 
tlu'eshing machine. After three }-ears he left Iowa and took his family 
to Indiana, settling thirteen miles south of the city of South Bend. 
There he contracted with the well known Studebaker firm and cleared 
a farm of thirty acres ni land. On lca\'ing Indiana he tnnk u]3 his 
abode iit Niles, Michigan, where he was again engaged in farming, and 
in 1871 he located in Pokagon townshi]j, Cass county, where he rented 
the old Garrett Stancel farm of one hundred and five acres. Eventually, 
however, he removed to Nebraska, where he has remained to the pres- 
ent time. In his political views lie is an earnest Republican. Unto him 
and his wife were born nine children, four sons and fi\'e daughters, of 
whom Clifford L. is the eldest. Three of the number are now deceased. 

Clifford L. Ta\-lor accompanied his parents on their various re- 
n.i(j\-als until they went to Nebraska. Continuing a resident of Cass 
county be rented his i)resent farm from the estate of Jacob White, hav- 
ing charge of mie hundred acres of land. He remained upon this place 
for thirteen years, carrying on general farming, rind in t88o be removed 
to Dowagia.c, where he became connected with the Colliy Milling Com- 
jiany. hauling tlou.r :uid feed. He remained for two \-ears. rifter which 
he returned td the farm on sectimi 34, Pokagon townshii). In i8g8 he 
l;egan raising registered hogs and has made a success of this x'enture, 
having to-day some of the finest animals that can be found in the coun- 
try. 

On the 15th of October. 1874, Mr. Taylor w;is married to !\Iiss 
.Vddie A. White, a native of Indiana, burn August 15, 1856. and a 
daughter of Jacob and Julia :\. White, who wei'e farming people of 
.Steulien county, Indiana. Her mother was a native of Pennsylvania, 
born in 1838. Fdllowing the remo\-al of the family to Cass county 
they remained U])nu the farm where \\v. Ta^-lor now resides until the 
death iif Mr. White in 1889. Mrs. White is still living upon this place. 
In tlie faniiK- nf this worthy couple were three children, a son and two 
diaughters, namely: Mrs. Taylor; Chandler, who died in infancy: and 
Lilibie May, who was born in 1871 and is li\-ing in Pokagon township, 
the wife of Jonathan L. Dillman. Mrs. Tavlor was nine vears of a"'e 



HISTOm" OF CASS COl'XTY 431 

when she accompanied her |j;irents nn their veiinn-al t'.i Cass county, and 
liere she was reared and educated She has liecome the muther nf two 
children, liut the daughter. Bessie May, horn January 30, 1886. <h'ed on 
the -?-?(! of Feliruar}-, 18S8. The son, Carl J., was liorn in this county 
May J, 1893. 

}dr. Taylor has hecn a lifelong Reiiuhlican, ,gi\'ing unfaltering ad- 
vocac}' to its men and measures. He helongs to Round Oak camp. No. 
1 167, M. W. A., at Douagiac, and is a memher of Crystal Springs, No. 
325, 1. O. O. I""., at Pokagon. His business interests arc ca])alilv con- 
ducted and he is nunil>cre<l among the substantial agriculturists and 
breeders of Poland China hogs in this ]iart of the state. 

WILLL-VM H. :\IcCOY. 

\\'illiam PI. ^IcCoy, who follows farming in Pokagon township, 
was horn ni Pulaski county. \'irginia, in that district then known as 
Montgomery count)', on the 22(1 of April, 1831. His father, Richard 
McCoy, was one of the old pioneer settlers of this state, and he, too, 
was a farmer liy occupation. His birth occurred in Virginia, and when 
he had reached manhood he was married to Miss Maria SifYord, a na- 
tive of the Old Don.iinion. Mr. and Mrs. McCoy came to Cass county 
when the work of progress and improvement had scarcely been begun 
in this portion of the state, and they shared with others in the hard- 
ships and ]jri\"ations of pioneer life and aided in reclaiming this district 
for the use of civilization. In their family were six sons and six 
daughters, of whom William H. is the eldest son and third child. 
Four of the children are now deceased, two having died in infancy. Ail 
were reared and educated in Cass county, and those who still survive 
are farming people. The elder members of the household were students 
in the old-time log schoolhouses. The father first located with ITenry 
Sifford at Sumnierville. where he spent a few months, and in the fol- 
lowing spring he removed to a farm of about eighty acres on section 27. 
Pokagon township. This, was all raw and wild land, not a furrow hav- 
ing been turned nor an impro\ement made u]ion the place, hut he at 
once began to clear and culti\'ate the fields and with the help of his 
sons brought the farm to a high state of cultivation. As his financial 
resources increasefl he also added to his original holdings, being the 
owner of a \-alual)le farm property of three hundred and twenty acres 
in Pokagon township at the time of his death, upon wdiich he resided 
until 1852, when he started on the return trip to Virginia, but while en 
route was taken ill and died within fifty miles of iiis destination. In 
politics lie was a lifelong Democrat, earnest and actix-e in support of 
the party. 

In his youth William H. McCoy assisted his father in the work 
of the home farm ami after the fatlier's death remained with his mother 
upon the old honie place. su]ier\-ising the ])ropert\- ;uid the cultix'ation 



432 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

of the fields. His privileges and advantages in youth were such as the 
pioneer district afforded. In 1873 he was married to Miss Mary J. 
Wilson, a native of Ohio, who was born August 25, 1852, and is a 
daughter of Isaac Wilson, one of the early settlers of Berrien county. 
The father was a fanner by occupation. At the time of his marriage 
Mr. McCoy took up his abode upon his present farm, comprising eighty 
acres, and with characteristic energy began its further cultivation and 
development. He has one hundred and forty acres in Casco town- 
ship, Allegan C(iinity, Michigan, which is partially a fruit farm. He 
built his present residence and has added many modern equipments to 
the place. Unto him and his wife have been born three children, a 
son and two daughters : Ellura, the wnfe of Orrin T. Moore, a resi- 
dent farmer of Pokagon township: John: and Edna Gertrude. All 
were liorn and reared upon the present farm. 

In his political views Mr. McCoy is a Democrat, but at local elec- 
tions usually casts his ballot without regard for party affiliations. His 
entire life iias been devoted to agricultural pursuits, and he regards 
farm work as abundantly worthy of his best efforts. His labors have 
been characterized by perseverance and diligence, and his persistency 
of purpose has lieen one of the strong and salient elements in his life 
work. 

CHARLES H. KIMMERLE. 

Charles H. Kimmerle is one of the leading representatives of Dem- 
ocracv in Michigan, and his invested interests are so extensive and im- 
portant as to render him a leading business man of Cass county. More- 
ii\er iic deals to some extent in real estate, but finds that his time is 
largely occupied liy the supervision of his property. He has long been 
recognized as a pronn'nent representative of the Democracy in his coun- 
ty and moreover has a very extensive and favorable acquaintance among 
the leaders of the party in the state. For many years he has been known 
for his sterling qualities, bis fearless loyalty to his honest convictions, 
his sturd}' opposition to misrule in municipal and state aft'airs and his 
clear-headedness, tliscretion and tact as manager and leader. 

Mr. Kimmerle is a nati\'e of Lagrange township, his life record 
having begun on the 12th of Tune. i860, upon b.is father's farm. He is 
;i son of Henry and Mar}' J. (Hain) Kimmerle and had two sisters. 
His public scluiol course was supplemented by study in the Northern 
Indiana Normal College at Valparaiso, and thus well equipjied he en- 
tered upon his business career. His father was one of the early Cali- 
fornia fortune seekers and, unlike many others, he met with splendid 
success in his efforts to achieve financial independence on the Pacific 
coast. At the time of his death in February, 1905. he was one of the 
wealthiest men in Cass county. Although Charles H. Kimmerle has 
inbcriterl large propert)' interests, such a condition of affairs has never 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY • 43.S 

fostered idleness with him, and, on the contrary, he is a busy man, his 
time being fuhy occupied with his private or pubHc interests. 

Happy in his home Hfe, ■Mr. Kimmerle was married in 1882 to 
Miss Ella Dunning, and they have five children, three sons and two 
daughters. 

From early manhood Mr. Kimmerle has been a student of the com- 
plex political problems before the people, and as an advocate of the 
Democracy is well known in Michigan. He has been honored with the 
candidacy of his party on various occasions, receiving the nomination 
for county clerk in 1880, for judge of probate in 1888 and for the state 
legislature in 1902, the strong Republican majorities, however, render- 
ing election impossible. He has been a delegate to two national con- 
ventions of the Democratic party, 1884 and 1900. In local affairs, where 
party lines are not so strongly drawn, he has been a factor, ser\nng for 
twenty-one years as supervisor of Lagrange township, while for the 
last fifteen years he has represented Cass county at the state equaliza- 
tion at Lansing. For years he has served as chairman of the county 
central committee and also as a member of the state central committee, 
and has thus been the associate and co-laborer of the most distinguished 
representatives of Democracy in Michigan. 

Perhaps Mr. Kimmerle's most notable work has been in connection 
with his efforts to suppress unjust assessment. In 1903 the state tax 
commissioners came to Cass county and raised the valuation of real 
property in every assessing district from seventeen to sixty-five per 
cent. Mr. Kimmerle questioned their authority to do so and for a long- 
time refused to surrender his assessment roll to them. They, however, 
finally succeeded, Mr. Kimmerle claiming that the commissioners made 
promises to him which were not kept, and raised his valuation sixt\'- 
two per cent on all real property assessments. The matter was taken 
into court and Mr. Kimmerle, with the other seventeen assessing offi- 
cers, were enjoined from using the state tax commissioners' valuations 
in apportioning the tax, but directed to use the figures adopted by the 
supervisors and board of review. The next year the state tax commis- 
sion called on IMr. Kimmerle and asked him to make a general raise in 
the values. This he refused to do at their dictation, and because of this 
refusal the commission, through Governor Warner, cited him to appear 
and show cause why he should not be removed from ofiice for wilfully 
undervaluing property. They also charged him with favoritism in 
making assessments. Between forty and fifty witnesses were called 
by the prosecution and examined. The commissioner designated by the 
governor to take the testimony reported that the prosecution had failed 
to make out a case. 

Before the governor acted on the report Mr. Kimmerle was elected 
for another term by an almost unanimous vote. The result of his op- 
position to the state authorities led to the repeal of some objectionable 
features of the law creating the commission and two of the commis- 



434 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

sioners who were so acting were legislated out of office. Mr. Kimmerle 
is president of the state Supervisors' Association, composed of not less 
than sixteen hundred assessing officers. He is at this writing (Septem- 
ber, 1906,) the Democratic nominee for the office of governor, and has 
warm endorsement in various sections of the state. He is a man with an 
eye to practical results and not glittering generalities. It will be observed 
that his turn of mind is eminently judicial and free from the bias of 
animosity. Strong and positive in his Democracy, his party fealty is 
not grounded on partisan prejudice and he enjoys the respect and con- 
fidence of all his associates irrespective of party. Of the great issues 
which divide the two great parties, with their roots extending down 
to the very bed rock of the foundation of the republic, he has the true 
statesman's grasp. Well grounded in the political maxims of the 
schools, he has also studied the lessons of actual life, arriving at his con- 
clusions as a result of what may be called his post-graduate studies in 
the school of affairs. Such men, whether in office or out, are the natural 
leaders of whichever party they may be identified with, especially in 
that movement toward higher politics which is common to both parties 
and which constitutes the most hopeful political sign of the period. 

C. E. VOORHIS. 

C. E. Voorhis, a pioneer merchant of Cassopolis, is well deserving 
of mention in this volume, having made a creditable record in commer- 
cial circles and belonging to that class of representative American men 
who, while advancing individual interests, also contribute to the gen- 
eral prosperity. He was born in Springfield township, Bradford county, 
Pennsylvania, on the 25th of November, 1828. His father, James 
Voorhis, was a native of New Jersey, was a carpenter by trade and 
spent much of his life in Pennsylvania, where his death occurred. His 
wife, Mrs. Charlotte Voorhis, was a native of the Keystone state, and 
they became the parents of four sons and three daughters, of whom C. 
E. Voorhis is the youngest son. Only two children are now living, one 
sister, Lucinda Harkness, being a resident of Pennsylvania. 

C. E. Voorhis was reared in the state of his nativity, spending his 
boyhood days upon the farm, and acquired his education in the public 
schools. In early manhood he chose a companion and helpmate for 
life's journey, being married in the east to Miss Emeline Crandall, a 
native of New York. About two years after his marriage he came to 
Michigan, settling in Cassopolis, where he began working at day labor, 
following any work that he could secure that would give him an hon- 
est living. In 1863, with the capital that he had managed to save from 
his earnings, he established a restaurant. He also spent one year as a 
peddler, and about 1865 he embarked in the mercantile business, in 
which he still continues. His capital and stock were very limited at 
first, but he has built up a magnificent trade and now carries a very ex- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY i35 

tensive and well selected stock. He owns the fine building in which he 
is conducting his business and also has a fine home in Cassopolis, and 
his store would be a credit to a city of much larger size. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Voorhis have been born two living children : 
William H., who is now in charge of the store; and Eva, the wife of 
Elmer Stamp. Mr. Voorhis votes with the Democracy, but has never 
sought or desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his 
business affairs. He is the pioneer grocery merchant of the city and 
has enjoyed a prosperous career in this line of business, his success be- 
ing attributable to his earnest desire to please his patrons, his close 
application and his reasonable prices and straightforward dealing. He 
has a very wide acquaintance throughout the county, having lived here 
for half a century, and not to know Mr. Voorhis is to argue one's self 
unknown in this section of the state. The prosperity of any commu- 
nity, town or city depends upon its commercial activity, its industrial 
interests and its trade relations and therefore the real upbuilders of a 
town are those who stand at the head of its leading enterprises. 

B. W. HAYDEN. 

The business interests of Cassopolis find a worthy representative 
in B. W. Hayden. a hardware merchant, whose activity and enterprise 
have contributed in substantial measure to the commercial prosperity 
and upbuilding of the village. He was born in Calvin township, so that 
he is numbered among Cass county's successful native sons, his birth 
having occurred on the loth of August, 1850. He is the second son in 
the family of Joseph and Hannah (Lincoln) Hayden, who were among 
the pioneer residents of Cass county, coming to this part of the state 
about 1818. Mr. Hayden was reared in the place of his nativity, spend- 
ing his youth upon the homestead farm in Calvin township and as- 
sisting in the work of fields and meadows as his age and strength per- 
mitted. In 187 1 he started out upon an independent business career, 
working at anything that he could find to do that would yield him an 
honest living. He entered the employ of the Redfield, Lacy & Bement 
Milhng Company at Redfield, Michigan, driving a team, and for three 
years was m the employ of that firm, on the expiration of which period 
he went to Waukegan, Illinois, where he spent three years and three 
months. During five years' work he lost just one week's time. At 
Waukegan he learned the milling business with the firm of Warren & 
George and afterward went to Elkhart, Indiana, where he entered the 
employ of the Beardsley Milling Company, with which he continued for 
three months. On returning to Redfield, Michigan, he took charge of 
the Redfield mills and continued to operate the plant for about two and 
a half years, when Mr. Bement, one of the partners, died. At that time 
Mr. Hayden rented the mill and carried on the business on his own ac- 
count in connection with farming for five years. Following that period 



436 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

he returned to Cassopolis and with capital that he had acquired through 
his own labor and capable management he embarked in the hardware 
business, in which he has since continued. He carries a full line of shelf 
and heavy hardware, also agricultural implements, vehicles and harness. 
and has a liberal patronage, his business being now large and profitable. 
Since 1884 Mr. Hayden has been in business in Cassopolis, and from the 
first month, January, 1884, up to the present time, 1906. he has kept 
a faithful and true file of the increase of his business, which has been 
steadv and solid. In the months of January, February, March and 
April' of 1906 it was $1,867.54, $2,307.46, $3,046.51 and' $4,447.23 re- 
spectively, which shows a phenomenal growth in a town of 1,500 pop- 
ulation. He has been agent for the Standard Oil Company for four- 
teen years and for seven years he was engaged in the ice business. He 
is also local treasurer for the Standard Savings & Loan Company of 
Detroit, Michigan, having occupied the position for eleven years. It 
will thus be seen that his efforts have not been confined to one line, for 
he is a man of resourceful business ability, energetic and enterprising, 
who has not only quickly noted his business opportunities but has also 
utilized them to good advantage and has thus gained a place among the 
successful representatives of trade relations in Cassopolis. 

In 1877 Mr. Hayden was united in marriage to Miss Tillie Ful- 
ton, a daughter of William Fulton, of Waukegan, Illinois. This un- 
ion has been blessed with three daughters and one son: Joseph, who is 
associated with his father in business: Belle, the wife of Melvin Brown, 
who is also connected with Mr. Hayden in his business interests in Cas- 
sopolis; Stella and Bernice, both at home. 

In his political views Mr. Hayden is a Democrat, and has been 
called to several local offices. He was a member of the school board 
for nine years and a member of the village council for eight years, and 
has done much to bring to the city a public-spirited administration of 
its affairs that will result in permanent benefit. He holds membership 
with the Knights of Pythias lodge of Cassopolis and the Methodist 
Episcopal church, and his fraternal and church relations indicate the 
character of the man and his interest in those things which tend to ele- 
vate humanity and develop a strong and honorable character. What- 
ever he has accomplished in life is due to his own efforts. Early com- 
ing to a realization that energy and honesty are a safe basis upon which 
to build success he has worked year after year, carefully controlling his 
labors so that as the time has gone by his efforts have been crowned 
with the prosperity which is e\'er the goal of business endeavor. 

ROBERT SNYDER. 

Robert Snyder, one of the early settlers of Cass county now living 
retired in Edwardsburg after long and active connection, with farming 
interests in Outwa townjhip, was born in Columbia county, Pennsyl- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 437 

vania, the 5th of July, 1839. His father, WiUiam Snyder, was a native 
of New Jersey, torn September 16, 1797, and in this state he was reared 
until nineteen years of age, when he removed to Pennsylvania. He 
was a cabinet-maker by trade, and followed that pursuit in early man- 
hood, but in his later years turned his attention to farming. In 1848 
he remo'/ed with his family to Indiana, settling in St. Joseph county on 
the 8th of June of that year. There he followed cabinet-making to 
some extent, but soon concentrated his energies upon agricultural pur- 
suits, and was thus engaged until his retirement from active farm work 
in 1879. He then removed to Edwardsburg, where he lived until his 
death, which occurred February g, 1882. He was married in Pennsyl- 
vania to Miss Jerusha Robbins, a native of the Keystone state, born 
June 26, 1797. They were the parents of ten children, four sons and 
six daughters, of whom Robert Snyder is the ninth child and fourth 
son. The family record is as follows : Hiram, Joseph and John, all 
deceased; Mary, Rachel. Katherine, Sarah and William, all of whom 
have passed away ; Robert ; and Frances. All were born in Columbia 
county, Pennsylvania. 

Mr. Snyder was educated in St. Joseph county, Michigan, and 
remained at home throughout his boyhood and youth, working with 
his father in the fields until he attained his majority. He was mar- 
ried April 16, 1863, to Miss ]Mary Hess, a daughter of Joseph Hess, a 
pioneer settler of Cass county, who is mentioned on another page of this 
work. Mrs. Snyder was tern and reared in Ohio and with her parents 
came to Michigan. For four years after their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Snyder lived in St. Joseph county, and then in 1867 came to Cass coun- 
ty, settling upon a farm of ninety-three acres of improved land in Jef- 
ferson township. To the further cultivation and improvement of that 
property Mr. Snyder devoted his energies until 1878, and there two of 
the children were born. Clara J., the eldest, born in 1868, is 
the wife of J. H. Keely, a dr)- goods salesman 6f Edwardsburg. 
Laura Etta, liorn ]May 9. 1869, is the wife of William Wade, an elec- 
trician of Edwardsburg. The youngest daughter, Mary, was born 
September 5, 1888, and is still at home. 

Mr. Snyder has been a lifelong Democrat and active in the local 
ranks of his party. He served as treasurer of Jefferson township for 
one year and after tlie removal to Ontwa township acted as treasurer 
for six years at different times. He was also justice of the peace for 
about a year and a half and a member of the school board for a num- 
ber of years, and in these different offices labored earnestly and effect- 
ively for the general welfare. He belongs to the IVIasonic lodge at 
Edwardsburg and is well known throughout Cass county, having for 
many years been closely associated with its agricultural pursuits, mak- 
ing a creditable record in business circles and sustaining an excellent 
reputation in public office and in private life. The prosperity that he 
enjoys has been well earned and is iustlv merited. 



438 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

GEORGE EMMONS. 

George Emmons, who is classed among the leading and influential 
farmers of Porter township, his home being on section 27, is a native 
of Ohio. He was born in Lorain county on the 14th of September, 
1848, and is a son of Lucius and Sabrina (z\dams) Emmons. His 
paternal grandfather was James Emmons, who settled in Ohio at a 
very early day, having made his way to that state from Massachusetts. 
His maternal grandfather, William Adams, was also a native of New 
England and removed from Connecticut to Ohio, casting in his lot with 
the pioneers who aided in reclaiming that state from the domain of 
the savages and converting it into the center of an advanced civiliza- 
tion. Lucius Emmons remained a resident of Ohio until 1858, when 
he was called to his final rest. His widow, however, still survives him 
and of their family of five children three were sons and two daughters. 

George Emmons, the second child and second son, was reared in 
the county of his nativity, spending his boyhood days upon a farm and 
early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the 
lot of the agriculturist. No event of special importance occurred to 
vary the routine of farm life and he attended school and worked in 
the fields until twei:ty-three years of age. About that time he was 
married, having in 187 1 wedded Miss Sarah Ann Locke who died 
three years later, in 1874. For his second wife, whom he married in 
1880, Mr. Emmons chose Mrs. May Loynes, the daughter of Charles 
and Mary (Tubhs) Williams. She was born in Mount Holly, Rut- 
land county, Vermont, February 4, 1847, ^"d has one son born of her 
first marriage, Frank Loynes, who is now living in Chicago. Mrs. 
Emmons came to Michigan in 1874, making her way to Cass county, 
and took up her abode upon the farm where she now resides. There 
has been one child born of this marriage, Zaida, who is attending school 
in Hillsdale, Michigan. The parents of Mrs. Emmons were botli na- 
tives of Vermont and they had but two children, the other one is now 
deceased. Her mother was married a second time, becoming the wife 
of Spencer Arnold, with whom she removed to Michigan from Ohio 
in 1865. locating on a farm where Mr. and Mrs. Emmons now make 
their home. Tliere was one child of the second marriage. \Villiam 
Arnold. 

^Ir. Emmons has a farm of one hundred and eighty acres and has 
devoted liis attention to general agricultural pursuits but rents most 
of his place, thus leaving its care and improvement to others, while he 
is largely enjoying a well earned rest. He has served as township 
treasurer for six years and has taken an active part in public affairs, 
laboring earnestly for the welfare and substantial improvement of the 
communitv. He is a member of the Grange and is well known in Cass 
county, where he has lived for twenty-six years. In 1902 his home 
was cleslri)\-ed bv fire Init he at once erected another dwelling and now 




.e^^-v-^^. ^ <?<f^<^^n.a?<<i. 




%^ ^. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4:39 

lias a fine two-story house, which is one of the attractive features of 
the landscape. There are also good barns and other outbuildings upon 
his place and all modern improvements and ec^uipments in keeping with 
a model farm. Everything about his place is neat and thrifty in ap- 
pearance and Mr. Emmons has long been regarded as one of the prac- 
tical, enterprising and respected farmers of his community. 

CASSIUS M. DENNIS. 

Cassius AI. Dennis, at one time a factor in commercial circles in 
Edwardsburg, where he was engaged in dealing in hardware, but now 
giving his attention to the real estate and loan business, is a native of 
St. Joseph county, Indiana, born on the 24th of October, 1845. His 
father, Nathaniel B. Dennis, l>ecame one of the pioneer residents of 
Cass county. His birth occurred in Delaware in March, 181 3. He was 
a farmer by occupatiou and at the age of eighteen years became a res- 
ident of St. Joseph county, Indiana, taking up his abode upon a farm 
there. In 1847 'i^ removed to Milton township, Cass county, purchas- 
ing a tract of land of eighty acres, which was partially improved. He 
at once began the further development and cultivation of the place, and 
there he resided until his death, which occurred on the 6th of February, 
1899. Fie was identified with the Republican party and was frequently 
called to fill township offices by his fellow citizens, who recognized his 
worth and fidelity. In this county he was married to Miss Margaret 
McMichael, who was a native of Pennsylvania and was of German 
lirteage. In their family were four sons and two daughters, of whom 
Cassius M. Dennis was the second son and second child. Four of the 
family were born in Cass county. Of the others William, Mary Flor- 
ence and George are now deceased, while those living are Cassius M., 
Cave J. and Martha E. All reached manhood and womanhood, how- 
ever, with the exce]5tinn of George, who died in infancy. 

Mr. Dennis of this re\'iew was only two years old when his par- 
ents removed to Milton township, Cass county, and in the district- 
schools he acquired his education, becoming familiar with the common 
branches of English learning, which fitted him for the practical duties 
of life. He was reared to farm work, early becoming familiar with the 
duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and to his 
father he gave the benefit of his services until twenty-two years of age. 
He was then married, on the 12th of December, 1867, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Alphonzy Hopkins, a native of Cass county, born in 
February, 1848, and a daughter of Nathaniel and .\nn Hopkins. One 
child was born of this marriage, Orville, a native of Cass county. On 
the 5th of May, 1885, Mr. Dennis was again married, his second union 
being with Miss Lenora Shoup, who was born in Burbank, Ohio. 

Following his marriage Mr. Dennis began farming on his own ac- 
count and in the .spring of 1882 he remo\-ed to Edwardsburg, where he 



440 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

entered the employ of Mr. Dunning in the implement business, continu- 
ing with him until the death of Mr. Dunning in July, 1885. He was re- 
tained in the store, however, by the management of the estate until 
1886, when in that year he purchased the stock and began business on 
his own account, so continuing until the spring of 1899. As a hard- 
ware merchant he enjoyed a large and profitable trade, which he secured 
by reason of his straightforward dealings, his practical methods and 
his unremitting diligence. At length, however, he sold his hardware 
stock and retired from mercantile fields, while at the present time he 
is giving his attention to the real estate and loan business. 

Mr. Dennis is a Democrat in his political views and for six years 
served as township clerk. He is numbered among the pioneers of Cass 
county and with the exception of six years his entire life has been passed 
within its borders. He came to the county more than a half century 
ago, so that he has largely witnessed its growth and development from 
a primitive condition to its present advanced stage of civilization where- 
in every department of commercial and industrial activity is represented, 
while the work of the agriculturist is seen in the splendid farms that 
surround the enterprising towns and villages. While there have been 
no exciting chapters in liis life record the history of Wr. Dennis may 
well stand as an example for worthv citizenship, upright manhood and 
fidelity to every trust. 

RUSSEL D. MAY. 

Russel D. May, a retired farmer and early settler of Cass county 
living 111 Edwardsburg, is a native of the Empire state, his birth hav- 
ing occurred in Chautauc|ua county. New York, on the 9th of Decem- 
ber, 1836. His father, Russel G. May, was born near Pittsfield, Mas- 
.sachusetts, on the 8th of May, 1804, and was reared in the place of his 
nativitiy. When about twenty-two years of age he removed to Chau- 
tauqua county. New York, where he settled upon a tract of raw land, 
not a furrow having been turned nor an improvement made upon the 
place. He began clearing the farm and continued its cultivation until , 
1837, making great changes in its condition as he placed acre after acre 
under the plow. He had been married in Massachusetts to Miss Han- 
nah Stanton, a native of that state, born December 23, 1807, and there 
she spent her girlhood days. By this marriage Mr. and Mrs. May be- 
came the parents of two sons and two daughters: Martha Ann. de- 
ceased : Hannah S. and Oliver, who have also passed away : and Russel 
D. The children were largely reared and educated in Cass county, 
Michigan. In the year 1837 the parents left New York and came west- 
ward, settling in St. Joseph county, Michigan, where they lived upon a 
rented farm for four years. In 1841 they came to Cass county, taking 
up their abode in Milton township, where they remained for four years, 
and in 1845 they settled on what is now known as May street, near 
Edwardsburg. which was named in honor of the father. The family 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 441 

home, liowexcr, v>as a fcirm of eighty acres of woodland, which Mr. 
May cleared and cultivated with the assistance of his son Russel, mak- 
ing all of the improvements upon that place. There he remained until 
1883, when he removed to a farm upon which his remaining days were 
passed, his death occurring on the 8th of Octoiier, 1886. His political 
allegiance was given to the Democracy in early life, but upon the forma; 
tion of the new Republican party he became one of its stanch champions 
and gave it his support until within four }'ears of his death, when he 
voted the Prohibition ticket, believing the temperance cause one of the 
paramount issues before the people. An earnest Christian gentleman, 
he held membership in tlie Methodist denomination and assisted in 
building the first church of the town. 

Russel D. May was a little lad of four years when his father came 
to Cass county and he was reared and educated in Ontwa township. He 
early mastered the work of the fields, taking his place behind the plow 
when a young lad, and to his father he gave the benefit of his services 
up to the time of his marriage. That important event in his life oc- 
curred on the 27th of April, 1859, the lady of his choice 1)eing Miss 
Mary E. Adams, who was a native of New York, and a daughter of 
the Rev. S. C. Adams, a local Methodist minister. Her mother was 
Mrs. Britania Adams, and both the parents were natives of Massachu- 
setts. In 1887 Mr. May was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, 
who died on the 2d of November, of that year. They had become the 
parents of six children, all of whom reached adult age, although Ida is 
now deceased. The others are : Jesse E. is a resident of La Plata, 
Missouri, and is a horticulturist. He was educated in the district 
school. He wedded Miss Mattie Bishop, and they have two living chil- 
dren, Winnie and Dwight. Henry K., a resident of Burr, Minnesota, is 
a grain dealer, and he is prosperous. He wedded Miss Henrietta Davis. 
Frank E., a resident of Edwardsville, Michigan, is a physician and 
surgeon, and graduated from Rush Medical College of Chicago. He is 
now a horticulturist. He wedded Miss Rose James and they have two 
sons, Leslie and Roy. Florence E. is the wife of Dr. J. J. Sweetland, 
a resident of Mottville, Michigan, and who has a good practice. He grad- 
uated at Cincinnati, Ohio. They have one son, Dennis. Floyd B., a resi- 
dent of Hunnewell, Kansas, graduated at Barnes ^Medical College of St. 
Louis. All were born and reared upon the old homestead farm, for at the 
time of his marriage Mr. May rented this farm from his father. After a 
few years he became owner of the property, to which he added eighty 
acres, and subsecjuently an additional tract of one hundred acres, so that he 
had altogether three hundred acres of valuable land. Following the death 
of his first wife Mr. May was again married, on the i8th of June, 1889, 
his second union being with Mrs. M. Amelia Ray, a native of New 
York, born in Cato. Cayuga county, on the 28th of September, 1835. 
Her parents were James and Rebecca (Paine) Burns, the former a 
native of Washington county, born in May, 1798, while the mother's 



442 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

l)irth occurred in Vermont in May, 1801. At an early day Mr. and 
Mrs. Burns removed to Orleans county, New York, settling- at Albion 
in 1836. There they remained until called to their final rest, being 
respected and worthy citizens of that community. In their family were 
five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom two died in in- 
fancy, while Mrs. May, the youngest of the family, is the only one now 
living. The others were Elias Freer, Oscar FitzAlan, James Edgar and 
Caroline .Ymanda. Mrs. May was first married in Albion, New York, 
in 1854, to David W. Ray, a native of Columbia county, that state, 
who was a journalist by profession. In 1865 they removed to Detroit, 
Alichigan, where they resided until the death of Mr. Ray in 1867. In 
their family were three children : Ida A., a graduate of Phipps Female 
Seminary of Albion, New York, in the class of 1870, wedded Charles 
R. Critchell, a resident of the city of Denver, Colorado. He was en- 
gaged in insurance and loans in Chicago, and was successful. They 
have three children, Charles Ray, Dorothy I. and Mary Amelia. D. 
Willis Ray is a resident of Chicago, and with Farnum Willoughby Real 
Estate Company, which is one of the largest concerns of the city. He 
was educated in Cornell College at Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He wedded 
Miss Anna Burns. Minnie died at the age of eighteen months. 

Mr. May has been a resident of Cass county for sixty years. He 
retired fron) active farming in 1883 to enjoy a well earned rest and has 
since lived in Edwardsburg, where he lias a pleasant home. He was for 
many years an active and energetic agriculturist and acquired a compe- 
tence that now enables him to enjoy the comforts of life without re- 
gard for further labor. He was a member of the school board for over 
twenty years and he voted with the Republican party for a -long period, 
but since 1883 has been a stajich Prohibitionist. In his life he has dis- 
played many sterling traits of character, not the least of which is his 
loyalty to the temperance cause. He is a high type of manhood, believ- 
ing in those principles which develop an upright character and regard- 
ing his own self-respect and that of his fellow men as infinitely of more 
value than wealth, fame or position. 

CHARLES C. AIKIN. 

Charles C. Aikin, representing the business interests of Edwards- 
burg as a successful and enterprising lumber merchant, was born in 
Summit county, Ohio, on the 27th of December, 1846. His father. 
Nelson C. Aikin, a native of Vermont, was born in 1808, and by occu- 
pation was a farmer. He, however, learned and followed the cooper's 
trade in New York state and in Ohio, and in July, 1856, he came to 
]\'Iichigan, taking up his abode in Berrien county. There he purchased 
a farm and gave undivided attention to agricultural pursuits through- 
out his remaining days. He was married in the Empire state to Aliss 
Abigail Van, a native of New York, and unto them were born eight 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 443 

cliildren, four sons and four daugiiters. Seven (jf the numlier are now 
deceased, two having died in infancy. Charles C. Aikin was the seventh 
child and third son and is the only surviving- member of the family. 
The others were: Marcus, Lucretia, Mary, Sarah. Abigail, Calvin C. 
and Albert. The three eldest sons were born in New York and the 
other members of the family were natives of Ohio. Charles C. Aikin 
was a lad of ten years when he accompanied his parents on their removal 
from his native state to Berrien county, Michigan. 

HON. JOHN F. COULTER. 

In this country, where no man is born to public office or to public 
honor or comes to either by inheritance, but where all men are equal 
before the law, where the race for distinction is over the road of pub- 
lic usefulness and is open to everyone who chooses to enter, it is a mat- 
ter of just pride when honors and distinction have been won. Among 
the prominent and influential residents of Cass county is Hon. John 
F. Coulter, who has been a member of the state legislature in Michigan 
and has also aided in framing legislation in Kansas and Nebraska. A 
man of distinct and forceful individuality, he has left and is leaving the 
impress of his public spirit and work upon matters of general moment 
and his influence has been a beneficial factor on various occasions. He 
now resides on section 14, Howard township, his time and energies 
being given to general agricultural pursuits. His birth occured in this 
township on the 15th of November, 1840. His father, James Coulter, 
was a native of Ohio, born near Cincinnati, and was reared in Clinton 
county, that state. He was married there in June, 1836, and the same 
year came with an ox teami across the country to Cass county, Mich- 
igan, locating in Howard township. His father, John Coulter, was 
born in Ireland and had previously come to Michigan, making the jour- 
ney in 1834, in which year he took up five hundred and sixty acres of 
land in Howard township. On his removal to Cass county, James 
Coulter settled upon the farm which his father had located and there 
continued to make his home until his death, which occurred in 1874. 
He first built a log house, in which all of his family, numbering eight 
children, were born. In 1855, however, he replaced this by a modern 
brick residence, which is still standing on the farm. He was active in 
public affairs and his efforts were always on the side of right, progress, 
reform and improvement. He was a stanch Republican after the organ- 
ization of the party and held various township offices, being faithful and 
loyal in the discharge of the duties that thus devolved upon him. He 
married Miss Ann Wilson, a native of Clinton county, Ohio, and a 
daughter of the Rev. Amos Wilson, a minister of the Baptist church and 
a schoolmate of Henry Clay. They were Wliigs together, stanchly 
supporting the principles of that party. Rev. Wilson was of Welsh and 
English lineage and displayed many of the sterling cliaracteristics of 



444 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tlie ancestry from which he was descended. His daughter, Mrs. Coulter, 
reached tlie advanced age of eighty-three years. In the family were 
eight children, of whom four reached manhood or womanhood. Mrs. 
JNlargaret V\'hite, the eldest, is now living on the old family homestead 
in Howard township. William H. makes his home in Cassopolis and is 
mentioned elsewhere in this work. ]\Irs. Sarah Douglas is living in 
Con^•erse Indiana. 

John F. Coulter of this review is the first living son. He was 
reared in Howard townsliip and accpiired his preliminary education in 
the district schools, after which he continued his study in the Niles 
high school. Subsequently he engaged in teaching through twelve win- 
ter terms in Jefferson and Howard townships, while in the summer 
months his time and labors were devoted to farming. He was married 
in April, 1864, to Miss Sarah U. Vary, a daughter of B. O. and Meriba 
(Rogers) Var_v, who came to Cass county, Michigan, from New York 
in 1858. Mrs. Coulter was born in Chemung county. New York, April 
23, 1842, and came to Michigan with her parents, since which time she 
has been a resident of this state. 

At the time of their marriage the young couple located on a farm 
in Howard township, where Mr. Coulter and his brother William were 
engaged in general agricultural pursuits together. In March, 1874, 
liowever. John F. Coulter went to the west, locating in Fillmore county, 
Nebraska, where he remained for eight and a half years, during which 
time he Avas er.gaged in farming and stock raising. He afterward re- 
moved to Kansas, living in Wilson county for three and a half years, 
when he went to Edwards county, Kansas, and later to Logan county, 
that state. Tliere he was engaged in dealing in horses and cattle and 
was also publisher of the Logan Comity Republican for over two years 
in connection with his other business interests. In i8g8 he returned to 
Howard township, locating on the farm where he now resides on sec- 
tion 14 and, at the same time he still retains the ownership of property 
in Kansas. He has taken a very active and influential part in public af- 
fairs and his influence has been widely felt in behalf of the growth, devel- 
opment and success of the Republican party. In 1870 he was elected to 
the state legislature from the second district of Cass county and served 
during the term of 1870-71. In 1878 he was elected to the state senate 
for the counties of Clay and Fillmore in Nebraska and was on the build- 
ing committee to builcl the first wing of the present capitol at Lincoln, 
that state. He was also elected representative from Wilson county, 
Kansas, in 1882, and in 1892 was chosen to represent Logan county, Kan- 
sas, in the state legislature, while in 1895 'i^ ^'^'^^ elected county commis- 
sioner of Logan county. He was chairman of the board, but resigned 
that ofiice in order to return to Michigan. He has long been active in 
politics and his labors have been of a practical character that accom- 
plishes results. .A^t one time he was connected with the Knights of 
Pythias. He has been a popular factor on the political stage and his is 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY U5 

a sturdy American character and a stalwart patriotism. He has the 
strongest attachment for free institutions and is ever wilhng to make a 
personal sacrifice for their preservation. He is a man of stern integ- 
rity and honesty of purpose and never uses unworthy or questionable 
means to secure success in any undertaking or for any purpose or to 
promote his own advancement in any direction whether political or 
otherwise. 

ALEXANDER COOPER. 

Alexander Cooper, living on section 9, Howard township, owns 
and operates a good farm and in his business management displays 
the qualities which eventually lead to success. A native of Ohio, he 
was born in Marion county on the 25th of December, 1829. The Coop- 
er family was of English lineage. The grandfather, John Cooper, was 
a native of England and came to America with the British troops in 
1776, but tradition has it that he deserted the British Army at the time 
of the battle of Bunker Hill. He constructed the first vessel that sailed 
on Lake Erie, being a ship carpenter by trade, and throughout his active 
business life he followed that pursuit. He went to Ohio at an early 
period in the development of that state, taking up his abode in Marion 
county, and was accompanied by his son, Benjamin Cooper, the father 
of our subject. They also came together to Cass county, Michigan, in 
1832, and here John Cooper made the first blinds that were manufac- 
tured in the state of Michigan at Niles. They settled on a farm in 
Jefferson township, comprising two hundred acres of land, which was 
secured from the government. The father, Benjamin Cooper, was a 
farmer during much of his life, but in early manhood learned and fol- 
lowed the shoemaker's trade. He was lx)rn in the state of New York 
and was there reared, remaining in the east until after his marriage. He 
was a member of the state militia of New York and was called out dur- 
ing the war of 18 12. When about twenty-two years of age he was 
joined in wedlock to Miss Clarinda Jones, also a native of the Empire 
state, where her girlhood days were passed. She was of Dutch descent. 

As before stated, Benjamin Cooper went with his father, John 
Cooper, to Ohio, and together they came to Michigan in 1832. Having 
secured a tract of land of two hundred acres in Jefferson township, 
Cass county, Benjamin Cooper began to clear and cultivate this place, 
soon transforming the wild land into productive fields. As a pioneer 
settler he contributed in substantial measure to the progress and prosper- 
ity of the county, his labors being of direct and permanent good. By 
his first marriage he had twelve children, eight sons and four daughters, 
namely: John and Benjamin, both deceased; Horace; Alonzo, who has 
also passed away; Alexander; Daniel; Jefferson, Thomas, Cicero, Clar- 
inda, Almira. Ann and -Alvixa.. fill deceased. The wife and mother died 
in Jefferson township at the age of forty-four years and for his second 
wife Benjamin Cooper chose Miss Nancy Gothop. There was one child 



446 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

by this marriage, Jeanette. In early life Benjamin Cooper gave his po- 
litical allegiance to the Whig party and afterward became a stanch Dem- 
ocrat. He served as justice of the peace for many years and his deci- 
sions were fair and impartial, winning him "golden opinions" from the 
general public. He died at the age of ninety-three years and three 
months, honored and respected by all who knew him because of his 
activity and success in business life, his devotion to the general good and 
his effective labor for the benefit of his adopted county. 

Alexander Cooper was only about three years old when brought by 
bis parents to Michigan and he remained under the parental roof until 
twent3-two vears of age, aiding in the arduous task of developing and 
cultivating new land. After attaining his majority he removed to his 
present farm, which first comprised eighty acres. Of this he cultivated 
and cleared forty acres. He has since added twenty acres to the original 
tract and altogether has placed eighty acres under the plow, transform- 
ing it from the raw prairie into productive fields. His farm is now 
valuable, well equipped and rich harvests are annually gathered. 

As a companion and helpmate for life's journey Mr. Cooper chose 
Miss Elizabeth Garwood, to whom he was married on the 7th of Octo- 
ber, 1851. They are the parents of two sons, Z. S. and William A. 
Cooper, both born and reared on the old homestead farm in Howard 
township. Mrs. Cooper was born in Pokagon township May 12, 1830, 
and was a daughter of Joseph and Marietta Ann (Burden) Garwood. 
Her father was a native of Pennsylvania, where he was reared and edu- 
cated, and at an early day he went to Ohio, whence he came to Cass 
county, Michigan, in 1829, settling on Pokagon prairie, where he se- 
cured three hundred acres of land from the government. Not a furrow 
had been turned nor an improvement made on the place, and with char- 
acteristic energy he began to till the virgin soil and cultivate the crops 
best adapted to the climate. His wife was a native of New Jersey, 
where slie spent her girlhood. Mr. Garwood had conducted a grist 
mill in Ohio, but after coming to this state bis entire attention was de- 
voted to farming. In his family were nine children, five daughters and 
four sons, of whom seven are now deceased, Mrs. Cooper having been 
the eighth child and fifth daughter. Her parents were worthy and 
honored pioneer residents here and their names are deeply engraved on 
the minds of the early settlers of the county. Mr. Garwood gave his 
political allegiance to the Whig party until its dissolution and then be- 
came a stanch champion of Republican principles. He remained upon 
the old homestead farm throughout the period of his residence in Cass 
county and at the time of his death was the owner of six hundred acres 
of valuable land in addition to the home place. He passed away when 
about seventy-six years of age. Mrs. Cooper was educated in one of 
the old-time log school houses and like her husband is familiar with the 
history of Cass county from the period of its early development down to 
the present day, when all the evidences of later-day progress are seen. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 447 

Air. Coiiper has ahva} s x'oted with the Democracy and has held all 
the oflices in the township save that of supervisor, being continuously in 
official service for about a quarter of a century. He is a member of the 
Free Baptist church at Pokagon. With one exception he is the oldest 
Hving settler in his township and he has a very wide acquaintance in 
the county, having lived here since early pioneer limes and witnessed 
its entire growth and development. Like others he sharerl in the hard- 
ships and privations incident to the establishment of a home on the 
frontier, but as the years went by he was enabled to overcome all difficul- 
ties and obstacles in his path and while promoting his individual suc- 
cess he also contributed to the general welfare by the active co-operation 
whicii he gave to all plans formulated for public progress. He can re- 
late many interesting incidents of pioneer days and is indeed a worthy 
citizen and honored early settler of Cass county- 

S. M. HOAVSER. 

On the roll of Cass county's honored dead appears the name of 
S. M. Howser, who at one time was an enterprising and prosperous 
farmer of Howard township. He came to this section of the state at an 
early period in its development and assisted in the work of general prog- 
ress and improvement. At all times he rejoiced in what was accom- 
plished in the county, for he was public spirited in citizenship and had 
a deep and sincere interest in his adopted state. His birth occurred in 
Preble county, Ohio, on the 27th of June, 1829, while his father, Henry 
Howser, was a native of Maryland, born in 1800. Having spent the 
days of his boyhood and youth in that state Henry Howser removed to 
Ohio, settling in Preble county. He was married to Miss Mary Brown, 
a native of Ohio, and in 1836 they came to Cass county, Michigan, tak- 
ing up their abode in Pokagon township, where Mr. Howser entered 
land from the government, becominig owner of about two hundred and 
sixty acres. Not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made 
upon this place, for the entire tract was covered with the native growth 
of timber, but he cleared the farm and in course of years made splendid 
improvements there, transforming the once wild land into a very pro- 
ductive tract. The Howsers were one of the oldest families in the 
county and upon the homestead the parents reared tlieir family of sev- 
en children, five sons and two daughters. Henry Howser died in 
Dowagiac in his seventy-seventh year, having spent his last days in 
honorable retirement there after a long, active and successful connec- 
tion with agricultural pursuits. He was a Republican in his political 
views and while he never sought or desired office he was alwavs inter- 
ested in the work of public progress, and as a private citizen contributed 
in substantial measure to the task of reclaiming this part of the state 
for the uses of civilization. 

S. M. Howser remained upon the old homestead farm up to the 



44H HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

time of his marriage. He had spent about thirteen years in his native 
state and had th.en accompanied his parents to Michigan. Here he not 
only sliared in the hardships and trials of pioneer life but also assisted 
in the arduous task of developing a new farm, cutting down the trees, 
clearing away the brush and stumps and breaking the first furrows in 
the fields. He not only cleared most of the place but he also split the 
rails with which to fence the farm and the early years of his manhood 
were fraught with earnest and unremitting toil. 

On the 24th of December, i860, was celebrated the marriage of 
Mr. Howser and Miss Minerva Knight, who was born at Berrien 
Springs. Berrien county, Michigan. December 29. tS42, and was a 
daughter of Jonathan Knight, a farmer of Berrien county, who was 
born in Ohio on the 6th of June. 181 7. There he spent the days of his 
boyhood and youth and about 1839 he removed to Berrien Springs, tak- 
ing up his abode upon the farm where he resided up to the time of his 
death, which occurred in his eighty-third year. He endorsed Repub- 
lican principles and though he never sought office was always faithful 
in friendship and interested in the public welfare. Unto him and his 
wife were born two sons and three daughters, Mrs. Howser being the 
eldest daughter and second child in tlie family. She was reared in 
Berrien county, where she remained up to the time of her marriage. 
Mr. and Mrs. Howser removed to the homestead farm in Howard town- 
ship about 1 868, purchasing here two hundred and sixty-three acres of 
land, which he cultivated and improved, transforming it into a valu- 
able and productive farm. At a later date a portion of the land was sold 
but the farm still comprises one hundred and eighty-two acres and re- 
turns a gratifying annual income for the care and labor bestowed upon 
it. As the years passed by three children came to bless the home of Mr. 
and Mrs. Howser, but the elder daughter, Maiy Jane, is now deceased. 
The others are Henry J. and Cora Myrtle, who were Ixirn on the present 
homestead, while Mary was born in Berrien county. 

Mr. Howser voted with the Republican party but never sought or 
desired office, preferring to give his undivided attention to his business 
affairs. In this way he acquired a comfortable competence for his fam- 
ily and he also left to them an honorable name by reason of his straight- 
fonvard business dealings. He was widely known as an honored pioneer 
settler of the county and a man who merited and received the respect 
and good will of those with whom he was associated. 

PERRY AKIN. 

Perry Akin has had an eventful and interesting experience during 
a residence in California in the "early period of its development and 
also by reason of his connection with Cass county in pioneer days. He 
is now the owner of the old homestead farm and resides in Jefferson 
township, where he has valuable landed possessions. He was born in 








^^<L^ 




UIko '/l^ 5^^/^ 




HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4i9 

i\IoiUgoii]ei-} cuunty, Ohio, on the 17th of July, 1835, and traces his 
ancestry back to Ireland. His father, William Akin, came to Cass 
county in 1839, first settling in Calvin township, where he purchased a 
sawmill. For a number of years he was closely connected with indus- 
trial interests of the county through tlie operation of this mill and the 
manufacture of lumber. He had a very wide acquaintance among the 
pioneer settlers and he belonged to that class of representative men who 
while promoting individual success also advance the general welfare. 
He died in this county in 1847. His wife. Miss Catherine Benner, was 
a native of Pennsylvania and was of German lineage. She lived to 
be about sixty years of age and was the mother of eleven children, 
nine of whom readied adult years. Perry Akin was the fifth in order 
of birth and the fourth son. He was only four years of age at the 
time of the removal of the family to Michigan and he was therefore 
reared amid the wild scenes of frontier life, sharing with the family in 
the hardships and trials incident to the establishment of a home in a 
frontier district far removed from the comforts and conveniences of the 
older east. He is today the owner of the old homestead property and the 
residence which was built by his father when he came to the county 
more than sixty-five years ago. When about six years of age he be- 
gan his education in one of the old time log school houses common at 
that day. It was a little building seated with slab benches, while the 
writing desk was formed by laying a board upon wooden pins driven 
into the wall. Reading, writing and arithmetic were the principal 
branches taught, and to some extent instruction was given in grammar 
■and geography. When not busy with the duties of the school-room 
Perry Akin learned the value of industry and economy in the active 
affairs of life and worked earnestly and energetically to support his 
mother, to whom he gave the benefit of his services until twenty-seven 
years of age. He was married on the 27th of November, 1862, to Miss 
Melissa Danforth, who was born in Logan county, Ohio, on the 14th 
of June, 1842, and was a daughter of Samuel Danforth. a native of 
Vermont, while her mother, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Mc- 
Donald, was born in Pennsylvania and was also of Scotch lineage. In 
the Danforth family were eight children, six sons and two daughters, 
of whom Mrs. Akin is the eldest. She came to Cass county in 1854, 
when a maiden of twelve summers, in company with her parents, who 
settled in Calvin township, and there her father developed and im- 
proved a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Akin spent the first winter after their 
marriage in this county and in the spring of 1863 Mr. Akin started for 
California, where he remained for seven years. He then returned and 
took his wife to the west with him, locating at Fish Lake, Nevada. 
There he was the owner of a valuable farm of eight hundred acres, 
upon which he resided for fourteen years. His place was largely a 
hay and stock ranch and in connection with its cultivation he harvested 



450 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

and sold a large amount of hay. He also had considerable stock upon 
his place. After spending about twenty years in the west he sold his 
property in that part of the country about 1883 and returned to Cass 
county, locating on the old homestead, where he resided until 1902. 
In that year he took up his abode upon the farm in Jefferson township 
upon which he yet lives. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Akin have been born six children, three of 
whom are yet living : Alma, now the wife of R. H. Kidder, a resident 
of Montana; Clara, who was the wife of Charles Foreman and is now 
deceased; Charles E., residing upon the old homestead; and Ora B., 
who is the wife of Delbert Closson, of Redfield, Cass county. Two 
other children have also passed away. The family is one of prominence 
in the community and Mr. and Mrs. Akin occupy an enviable position 
in social circles, having the warm regard of many friends and acquaint- 
ances. They have an elegant collection of beautiful and valuable stones 
and ores from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Nevada, 
and also have a lariat over twenty-three feet long made from the hair 
of Mrs. Akin's head, an instance not found in the entire county of 
Cass. This is a valuable souvenir. 

Mr. Akin has made eleven trips to California by rail and one by 
waier and is thoroughly familiar with the western part of the country, 
the growth and development of which he has witnessed to a great ex- 
tent. He has always voted with the Republican party and has kept 
well informed on the cjuestions and issues of the day, but has never 
sought or desired office, preferring to give undivided attention to his 
business interests. Coming to Cass county in his early boyhood days, 
he still has many friends among those who have known him from his 
youth to the present time, a fact which indicates that his life has been 
honorable and upright. Great changes have occurred here since his 
youth and in his farm work he has always kept abreast with ideas of 
modern progress and improvement. He has never placed his depend- 
ence upon any fortunate combination of circumstances or waited for 
anything to turn up to assist him in his business career, but has labored 
zealously and earnestly and has found that honesty and persistency of 
purpose constitute an excellent foundation upon which to rear the super- 
structure of prosperit)'. 

SAMUEL C. THOMSON. 

The farming interests of Howard township find a worthy represent- 
ative in Samuel C. Thomson, who capably manages his business af- 
fairs and at the same time is efficiently serving as supervisor. He was 
born in Scotland on the 28th of July. 1842, his parents being Samuel 
and Lillian (Atkin) Thomson. The father was a native of Scotland, 
born April 22, 1798, and in his young life served as surveyor. Later 
he devoted his attention to merchandising. He was married in Scot- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 451 

land to Miss Lillian Atkin, who was born in that country in 1802, and 
there spent her girlliood days. Eight children were born of this union, 
of whom Samuel C. is the fifth in order of birth. In 1844 the parents 
came to America, making their way direct to Berrien county, Michigan, 
where the father purchased eighty acres of land and spent his remain- 
ing days in that locality, devoting his energies to agricultural pursuits 
and there rearing his family. He died in Berrien county at the age of 
eighty-four years, while his wife passed away at the very advanced age 
of ninety-seven years. In politics he was a Democrat. 

Samuel C. Thomson was only two years old when brouglit by his 
parents to the United States. He worked upon the home farm until 
188 1, when he came to Cass county and settled at his present place of 
residence, clearing a farm of tvi'o hundred and sixty acres in Howard 
township. This is a valuable property, splendidly improved and giv- 
ing every evidence of the careful supervision of the owner, who is prac- 
tical in his methods, farsighted in his judgment and enterprising in all 
his labor. 

On the 20th of November, 1884, Mr. Thomson was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Caroline Gerberich, a native of Berrien county, Michigan, 
born February 15, 1848, and a daughter of David P. Gerberich, who be- 
came a farmer of Cass county, where Mrs. Thomson was reared. Mr. 
and A'Irs. Thomson have become the parents of a son and daughter, 
Samuel and Josephine, both born upon the present farm. In the midst 
of an active and useful career as an agriculturist Mr. Tliomson has 
found time to devote to the general welfare and has co-operated in many 
measures for the public good. His fellow townsmen recognizing his 
worth and ability have called him to public office and he was elected 
and served for two years as supervisor, having also previously served 
eight years, which shows his efficiency, being chosen upon the Demo- 
cratic ticket. He has been a lifelong supporter of that party and is still 
unfaltering in his advocacy of its principles. Mr. and Mrs. Thomson 
are both devout members of the First Presbyterian church at Niles, 
Michigan, and he served for thirty years as elder and is now superin- 
tendent of the Sunday-school in the society. 

FRED McINTYRE. 

Fred Mclntyre. who carries on farming in a practical, profitable 
and progressive manner on section 21, Lagrange township, was born in 
Harrison county, Iowa, April 13, 1876. His paternal grandfather, 
Philester Mclntyre, came from New York to Cass county, Michigan, 
at an early period in the development of this part of the state. His son, 
Edward E. P. Mclntyre. father of our subject, was bom in the Empire 
state and accompamed his parents on their removal to the west. He w^as 
reared amid pioneer conditions in Cass county and in 1867 he removed 
to Harrison county. Iowa, where he located upon a farm. He is now 



45^ HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

living in Harrison county in that state. His wife, wlio in her maiden- 
hood was JNliss Sarah Parkins, was a native of Iowa and is now de- 
ceased. In their family were three children, namely : Fred, of this 
review; May, the wife of James Poor, of Harrison county, Iowa; and 
Hugh, deceased. 

Fred Mclntyre is the only representative of the family now in Cass 
county. He was reared in the state of his nativity, where he remained 
until 1892, when he came to Cass county and here four years later he 
was married, in 1896, to Miss Sarah E. Corwin, a daughter of James 
and Nancy Corwin. She was born in Cass county, Michigan, and has 
spent her entire life here. From 1897 to 1899 ^^- Mclntyre was in the 
employ of Mr. Dodge in Penn township, and in 1900 he purchased the 
farm upon which he now resides, having here one hundred and fifty- 
nine acres of land, which is well cultivated. He carries on general farm- 
ing with good results and the well tilled fields indicate his careful super- 
vision by reason of the neat and thrifty appearance which characterizes 
the entire place. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mclntyre have been born three children : James 
E., Catharine D. and Lenn. The parents are highly esteemed and oc- 
cupy an enviable position in social circles. Mr. Mclntyre is a Democrat 
but without aspiration for office. He is regarded as a well-to-do young 
farmer of the county, having achieved notable success for one of his 
years, as he has not yet attained the age of thirty. He has wrought 
along modern business lines, brooking no obstacles that could be over- 
come by persistent and earnest purpose, and his diligence has proved the 
salient feature in his prosperity. 

DAVID L. KINGSBURY. 

David L. Kingsbury, assistant ca.shier of the First National Bank 
of Cassopolis. was born in LaGrange township, Cass county, Michigan, 
on the 9th of July, 1867, and is the youngest son of Asa and Jane (Mon- 
roe) Kingsbury, who are mentioned on another page of this work. No 
event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life 
for David L. Kingsbury in his youth. He was reared in LaGrange 
township until sixteen years of age and attended the district schools in 
his early boyhood days. He afterward continued his studies, however, 
in the high school of Cassopolis, from which he was graduated in the 
class of 1888. Subsequently he attended the agricultural college at 
Lansing for one year and was also a student in Kalamazoo Business 
College for six months, being thus well equipped for life's practical and 
responsible duties. Subsequently he engaged in the dry goods business 
in Cassopolis in partnership with his brother, under the firm style of G. 
M. & D. L. King'sbuiy, which con^iectioi^^ was maintained for five years, 
at tlie end of which time Mr. KingstJury became assistant cashier of the 
First National Bank on the ist of April, 189 1. He has since occupied 



.HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4:53 

that position and is one of the popular, competent and trustworthy rep- 
resentatives of this strong financial institution. 

In 1893 occurred the marriage of David L. Kingsbury and Miss 
Frances Graham, a daughter of E. R. and Sabrina Graham. They have 
one son, Asa Joseph. Mr. Kingsbury has been connected with the vil- 
lage board since attaining his majority either as its treasurer or presi- 
dent, having been elected president for five consecutive times. In the 
discharge of his duties he has been prompt and eiificient and his labors 
have been very beneficial to the town. He is a Democrat in his political 
views, active in the work of his party, and his devotion to the general 
good is above question. Prominent in Masonic circles, he belongs to 
Kingsbury Chapter, R. A. M., and Niles Commandery, K. T., and he 
also holds membership relations with the Knights of Pythias of Cassopo- 
lis. For a number of years he has been classed among the prominent 
and progressive citizens of this place and he has earned for himself an 
enviable reputation as a careful man of business, who in his dealings is 
known for his prompt and honorable methods, which have won him the 
deserved and unbounded confidence of his fellow men. 

WARNER D. JONES. 

Abraham Lincoln has said, "You can fool some of the people all 
of the time, all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of 
the people all of the time," and the truth of this assertion is abundantly 
verified in the political system of the country, where public office is con- 
ferred by puljlic vote and is an indication of trust reposed in the indi- 
vidual and a recognition of his merit. It is true that corruption exists 
to some extent, especially in the larger cities, but in smaller commu- 
nities where individual character and personal traits of the candidate are 
knov.n it is usually men of real worth and ability who are called to 
serve in positions of public trust. This is certainly true in the case 
of Mr. Jones, who is filling the office of register of deeds. He was born 
in Penn township, Cass county, December 6. 1869, and as his entire life 
has been passed in this section of the state his life history is as an open 
book to the majority of citizens iD_ the county. He is the third son and 
fifth child of Nathan and Lydia (Bonine) Jones, who are mentioned 
on another page of this work. He was reared in the township where 
his birth occurred and pursued his education in the schools of Vandalia 
and Cassopolis. He afterward entered college at Richmond, Indiana, 
and when he put aside bis text books he concentrated his energies upon 
farm labor and was connected with agricultural interests in Cass countv 
imtil he was elected register of deeds in 1904. This position he now 
fills, having been chosen to the office as the candidate of the Republican 
party. He has always taken an active and helpful interest in the work 
of that party and keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the 
day, so that he is able to support his position by intelligent argument. 



454 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Ml. Jones was married in 1903 to Miss Viola Struble, who was 
born in this county in 1873 and was educated in the common schools. 
Thus both Mr. and Mrs. Jones are natives of Cass county and are wide- 
ly known, their circle of friends being constantly extended as the cir- 
cle of their acquaintances increases. Mr. Jones has always been recog- 
nized as a reliable liusiness man, possessing laudable ambition and en- 
terprise, and in office he is found loyal to the trust reposed in him, 
faithfully performing his duties to the best of his ability. In a fraternal 
sense Mr. Jones is a member of the K. of P., Castle No. 129, of Pierian 
Lodge of Cassopolis. 

A. N. ARMSTRONG. 

A. N. Armstrong, the popular and efficient postmaster of Cassopo- 
lis, was born in Redford, Wayne county, Michigan, on the 2d of No- 
vember, 1858. His father, Nathaniel A. Armstrong, was a native of 
Massachusetts, wliere he was reared, educated and married. Remov- 
ing to the west he located in Redford, Wayne county, Michigan, in 
1841. He was a farmer by occupation and improved a valualile tract 
of land, carrying on general farming throughout his entire life. He 
held membership with the Methodist Episcopal church and gave his early 
political allegiance In the Democracy, but afterward became a stanch 
Republican. Pie was of Scotch and Irish descent and in his life he dis- 
played many strong and sterling characteristics which won for him the 
esteem of all with whom he was associated. He died at the age of sev- 
enty-two years, and is yet sur\-ived by his wife, who Ixire the maiden name 
of Plarriet Macomber and is a native of Massachusetts. A. N. Arm- 
strong is the only child born of their marriage. Both the father and 
mother were previously married and the former had eleven children by 
his first union, while the mother had two children by her first marriage. 
A. N. Amstrong was reared in Redford, Michigan, 'until twelve 
years of age. The father had died when the son was only six months 
old and about 1870 the mother removed to Farmington, Oakland coun- 
ty. Michigan, where Mr. Armstrong of this review remained until nine- 
teen years of age, when in 1874 he came to Cassopolis. He was educated 
in the ]uil)lic schools and also spent two years in the Ypsilanti .State 
Normal School and at Green Business College. He was likewise a stu- 
dent in Biwant & Stratton's Business College at Detroit in 1874. En- 
tering u]ii>n bis business career, he secured a clerkship in a hardware 
store and in 1877 he embarked in the hardware business on his own 
account, in whicli line of trade he continued until 1892. He has been 
very acli\e and prominent in political circles and was deputy superin- 
tendent ()f the department of collections at the World's Fair in Chicago 
in 1893. During the two succeeding years he was clerk of the senate 
committee on finance and apjiropriation in the Michigan leigslature and 
in T 896-7 was' sergeant-at-arms in the general assemblv. On tlie ist 
of September, 1807, he took charge of the pnstoffice at Cassopolis, hav- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 455 

ing been appointed to the position in July of that year by President Mc- 
Kinle}' and reappointed in 1901 by President RooseveU. He has been 
a lifelong Republican, taking an active and helpful interest in the party 
both in local and state politics, and has been called to various local of- 
fices, the duties of w hich he has discharged with promptness and fidelitv'. 
On A'larch i. u;o(j. he took charge of the Michigan State Prison, hav- 
ing been appointed warden of the institution by Governor Warner, who 
had known him intimately all his life. This is the oldest and largest 
penal institution in the state and is considered the most responsible of 
all appointive positions in the state government. 

In 1880 Mr. Armstrong was imited in marriage to Miss May S. 
Smith, a daughter of John and Adelia (Tielsort) Smith, who were 
natives of Cass county. The father was a son of Major Joseph Smith, 
who was a prominent Democrat and early settler of Cass county, while 
the maternal ancestors were also pioneer people in this section of the 
state, contributing in substantial measure to the progress and develop- 
ment of Cass county. Mrs. Armstrong was bom in Cassopolis. was a 
student in the public schools and was the first graduate of the high 
school of this city. One child has been bom of this marriage. Kath- 
arine, whose birth occurred in 1884. Mr. Armstrong is a member of 
the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the Blue lodge, the chapter and 
the commandery. In the field of political life and commercial activity 
he has won distinction and is to-day numbered among the leading, influ- 
ential and lionored residents of his city. His worth is widely acknowl- 
edged and his unfailing courtesy, deference for the opinions of others 
and commendable characteristics have gained for him the respect of 
those with whom he has been associated. Honored and respected in 
e-\-ery class of society, he has for many years been a leader in thought 
and action in the public life of Cass county. 

ANDREW F. CAUL. 

Andrew F. Caul, a prominent farmer residing on section 35. Mar- 
cellus township, has from an early period in the development of Cass 
county residecl v.ithin its borders. He was born in Chillisquaque town- 
ship. Northumberland county. Pennsylvania. September 28, 1834. a son 
of Neal and Susannah (Fetzer) Caul, both also natives of Northumber- 
land county. From the Keystone state they came to Michigan, taking 
up their abode in Marcellus township, Cass county, where they spent 
tlie remainder of their lives, the father passing away at the age of fifty- 
seven years, while the mother svuwived until she had reached the seven- 
ty-third milestone on the journey of life. They were the parents of four 
children, namely: Andrew F.. whose name introduces this review; Eliz- 
abeth, who became the wife of Norman Hoisington, and died in Marcel- 
lus township; Daniel, who laid down his life on the altar of his countrj^ 
during the Civil war. in which he served in a carpenter's corps, return- 



45(i HISTORY Ol- CASS COUNTY 

iiiy home with l^ph.nid fever, from the effects of wiiich he died; and 
Emeiine, the wife of Highland Sweet, of Marcellus township. 

Cntii eighteen years of age Andrew F. Caul remained in Chillis- 
quaque township, Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, the place of his 
nativity, there receiving his education, and when not employed with the 
duties of the school room, worked on the canal. In 1852 he came with 
his parents to St. Joseph county, Michigan, where for three years he was 
employed on his father's farm, and in 1856 the family took up their 
abode within the iiorders of Cass county, the father here purchasing one 
hundred acres of wild land. Soon after coming to liis new home, how- 
ever, the father died, and Mr. Caul and his brother placed the farm un- 
der cultivation, and the former erected all the buildings which now 
adorn the place. He has also added to the original purchase until 
he now owns two hundred acres of fertile and well improved land on 
section thirty-five, Marcellus township. When this pioneer family first 
located on this place their nearest trading point and postofiice was Three 
Rivers, while at the present time their mail is delivered to them at their 
door from Marcellus. 

In 1859 Mr. Caul was united in marriage to Lydia Stannard, and 
after her death he married Mary C. Cook. For his third wife he chose 
Ida Denio, and they have five children, namely : Bessie, wife of Kit 
Jones, of Marcellus; Harley, who conducts the home farm; Myrtle L., 
the wife of Charles Britton, of Ohio: Donald, who died at the age of 
nine years ; and Lament, a resident of the state of Washington. In his 
political affiliations Mr. Caul is a lifelong Democrat, and his first presi- 
dential vote was cast for James Buchanan. In 1873 he was elected to 
the office of supervisor of Marcellus township, in which position he 
served for ten terms. 

KLECKNER W. HARTMAN. 

Kleckner W. Hartman, one of the early settlers of the county now 
located on section 34, Porter township, where he owns and operates 
one hundred and sixty acres of land, dates his residence in this town- 
ship back to 1838. Thus sixty-eight years have been added to the cycle 
of the centuries since he took up his abode in Cass county. He is, 
however, a native of Michigan, his birth having occurred in St. Joseph 
county, F'ebruary 22, 1836. His father, Jonas Hartman, was a native 
of Pennsylvania, born in 1796, and was reared in the Keystone state. 
He married Eliza M. Kleckner, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1795, 
their wedding being celebrated in that state in 18 17. They remained 
residents of the east until 183 1, when they came westward to Mich- 
igan, settling in St. Joseph county, wliere Mr. Hartman built and 
operated a brewery. He there li\'ed until 1838, when he disposed of 
his business interests in that county and came to Cass county, purchas- 
ing here a large tract of land. He then built a sawmill in Porter town- 




MRS. ELIZA HARTMAN. 




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(Z/r\ — ^ 




/k^J /thO^MCK^X^ 4^€V%J^*^i<^K 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 457 

ship, which he conducted fur many years, and he was Hkewise engaged 
ni the operation of a threshing machine. He had a very wide acquaint- 
ance in the early days, being known to nearly all of the pioneer settlers 
of the county and he was closely identified with many movements and 
business interests that have contributed to its development and upbuild- 
ing. He conducted a hotel on the Chicago road in Porter township 
and was a man of marked enterprise and energy, carrying forward to 
successful completion whatever he undertook and readily recognizing 
and utilizing business opportunities. He died when about forty-trve 
years of age. His wife, long surviving him, passed away in her 
eightieth year. She kept the children together after the death of their 
father and maintained a home for them until they were able to care 
for themselves. In the family were twelve children : Jefferson, John 
H., Hannah and Elias, all now deceased; David, a resident of Missouri; 
Emanuel and Edward, who have passed away ; Kleckner W., of this 
review ; Charles and Amelia, also deceased ; Margaret, who was born 
in 1829 and now resides with her brother Kleckner; and Barbara, 
who is the widow of Samuel King and is living in Porter township. 
Kleckner W. Hartman was the eleventh in order of birth in this 
family and was only two years of age when brought by his parents to 
Porter township. He was therefore reared on the old homestead farm 
here and at the usual age he entered the district schools, wherein he 
mastered the branches of learning usually taught in such institutions. 
When sixteen years of age he won the consent of his mother to his 
leaving home. He then began earning his own livelihood and he sent 
his wages largely to his mother, in fact giving her all that he earned 
with the exception of enough to buy his clothing. He was employed 
in this way in the county until twenty-one years of age. when he re- 
turned to the old homestead, whereon he remained for a year. On the 
expiration of that period he went to the Rocky Mountains, his destina- 
tion being Pike's Peak, where gold had been discovered. He worked 
in the mines there for some time but later returned home and after- 
ward made his way to the territory of Idaho, where he spent about a 
year and a half. He then again came to Porter township and in con- 
nection with his younger brother, Charley Hartman, purchased the 
interest of the other heirs in the old homestead. Tliey worked the 
farm together, and in i860 built the house which is still standing here. 
They also improved the farm in many ways, built good barns and 
other outbuildings and continued in business together until the brother 
died. His sister Margaret became a partner with him in business and 
here they have been living and keeping house together for many years. 
Mr. Hartman has a farm of one hundred and sixty acres and also 
owned another tract of one hundred and sixty acres in St. Joseph coun- 
ty, which he sold. He has lived in Porter township for sixty-eight 
years, and by his well directed business affairs and agricultural inter- 



458 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ests he has contributed to its sulastantial development and improvement. 
At one time lie was quite successfully engaged in the stock business, 
buying and selling horses and shipping hogs. He has been identified 
with various business enterprises and is a stockholder in the Commer- 
cial Bank at Constantine. Michigan. He has been very successful, 
making judicious investments and capably managing his business af- 
fairs, so that by hard work, unfaltering industry and close application 
lie has accumulated a handsome competence and now owns valuable 
]3roperty and invested interests. 

E. S. CONKLIN. 

E. S. Conklin is the resident partner and manager of the Marcel- 
lus Milling Company, in which connection he is a prominent representa- 
tive of industrial interests in the village of Marcellus. The qiuilities of 
a successful business man are his — close application, unfaltering enter- 
]3rise and indefatigable diligence. A native of Wisconsin, he was bom 
in Waupaca on the I7tb of May, 1863, his parents being Sidney H. 
and Mary L. (McQueen) Conklin. the former a native of Geauga coun- 
ty, Ohio, born near Akron, and the latter a native of Paisley, Scotland. 
The mother came to the United States when thirteen years of age with 
her parents, who landed near Waukegan, Illinois, and in Waupaca, Wis- 
consin, she gave her hand in marriage to Sidney Conklin. Both died at 
Neenah, Wisconsin, Mr. Conklin at the age of sixty-six years, and 
his wife when sixty-five years of age. He was a miller by trade and 
followed that pursuit throughout his entire business life. In the fam- 
ily were two children, the elder l.ieing Elmer, who died, at the age of 
twenty-one years. 

E, S. Conklin s]ient the days of his boyhood and youth in his par- 
ents' home and when ten or twelve )-ears of age accompanied them 
on (Iifir removal to Neenah, Wisconsin. When his education was com- 
]ilcte<l lie entered the milling business in connection with his father, who 
followed that pursuit for thirty-five years, and remained as his assist- 
ant until twenty years of age, when he removed to Green Bay, Wis- 
consin, where he was employed at milling by other parties. He took 
charge of the mill, which he managed for one and a half years, and on 
the expiration of that period he went to Ripon, Wisconsin, and was aft- 
erward in Berlin and Royalton, in the line of his trade, subsequent to 
which lime he returned to Neenah, where he remained for five years. 
He next went to .'\ntigo, ^^'isconsin, where he spent eight and a half 
years. He again located at Green Bay, where he took charge of the 
mills with which he had previously been connected when in that place 
before. Six years ago he purchased a half interest in the Marcellus 
Milling Company, the plant being owned jointly by the Colby Milling 
Company of Dowagiac, Michigan, and Mr. Conklin, who as resident 
partner and manager is in full control. He has the entire confidence of 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 459 

tlie community in which the mill is located, and to liis careful manage- 
ment and entei prise the satisfactory business enjoyed by the company is 
due. He has had charge of thirteen different mills and has thus gained 
broad practical experience, -which now enables him to give capable man- 
agement to his individual interests. The eciuipment of the mill is un- 
usually good for an establishment of this extent. The mill building, a 
substantial brick structure of three stories, with ten-foot basement and 
engine and boiler room, was erected in 1891, and has an Allis equipment 
throughout for a daily capacity of two hundred barrels of flour. The 
main building is forty b)- fifty feet in size, with an addition thirty-six 
by forty feet in size, for office and storage purposes. The mill has fire 
protection from a standpipe to the top of the mill, with hose on every 
floor, and connection with tlie village waterworks. It also is steam- 
heated throughout. The company enjoys a steady flour trade, both lo- 
cally and wholesale. Its brands are "Alpine" (full patent) and "Royal" 
(straight), while "Colby Patent" and "Splendid" for the larger baker- 
ies are as well known as any flours in Michigan. Besides handling all 
kinds of grain, seeds, etc., the company sells annually quite an amount 
of hard and soft coal, Avith storage rooms for five hundred tons each, 
the sidings and warehouses occupying an advantageous location con- 
venient for local trade and shipments. 

The manager, Mr. Conklin, is very proud of his mill from every 
point of view. He particularly insists that the mill should be kept like 
a home, and lie extends a welcome to callers and inspectors at any and 
all times. He is a practical miller in all details, and came into charge 
of this plant from the milling section of central and northern Wiscon- 
sin. 

On the 24th of August, i8g8, was celebrated the marriage of E. S. 
Conklin and Miss Katheryn Cornish, a native of Wisconsin. They 
now have two sons, Roscoe S. and Horace F. The parents are widely 
known in Marcellus and the hospitality of the best homes is freely 
accorded them. Mr. Conklin is a valued member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, being identified with both the lodge and chapter, and in his life 
he is most loyal to its teachings and tenets. He has made a creditable 
business record as a man of abilitv and trustworthiness and is thorough- 
ly conversant with his trade, and added to a complete command of the 
technical side of the business is an executive ability and keen insight into 
trade relations and possibilities. 

CLINTOX L. KESTER. 

Clinton L. Kester, the present postmaster of Marcellus, whose pub- 
lic-spirited citizenship stands as an unquestioned fact in his life, was 
born ni Parkville, .St. Joseph county, Michigan, December 14, 1861. 
He is a. son of Adam H. and Emaline (Podmer) Kester, the former a 
native of Pennsvlvania, and the latter of Ohio. In early life thev became 



460 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

residents of Michigan and were married in this state. The father de- 
voted much of his time and energies during his business career to mer- 
cantile pursuits, save tliat the last fifteen years of his life were spent up- 
on a farm in Missouri, where he died February 14, 1906, at the age of 
seventy-foiu- years. He had long survived his wife, who passed away 
on the 14th of November, 1876, when thirty-nine years of age. In his 
political views Mr. Kester was a stalwart Republican. In his family were 
six children: Millie, who is now living in Missouri; Clinton L., of 
this review ; FJernian ; Ada, the wife of O'. F. Wilson, also of Missouri ; 
Frank, whose home is in St. Joseph, Missouri; and Burton, of the same 
state. 

Clinton L. Kester was a youth of fourteen years when he accom- 
panied his parents on their removal to Marcellus. He worked in his 
father's store for about ten years, thus acquiring his early business 
training and experience. He afterward went to Colorado, where he 
engaged in clerking for a time and later he joined his father, who had 
removed to Missouri and was there engaged in farming. After an ab- 
sence of two years spent in the west, Clinton L. Kester returned to 
Marcellus, Michigan, and again entered the field of business activity 
here as a general merchant of the firm of Kester & Arnold. This rela- 
tion was maintained for four years, when Mr. Kester withdrew and 
afterward engaged in clerking in the general store of S. Sterns & Com- 
pany, in which capacity he served until appointed postmaster eight years 
ago. He has recaitly received his third appointment in the office, the 
duties of which he has discharged with credit to himself and general sat- 
isfaction tc the public. He owns a fifty-acre vineyard, one mile east 
of the village, which he oversees and which is kept in excellent condi- 
tion, yielding" large crops. His political allegiance has always been giv- 
en to the Republican party and he is thoroughly in sympathy with its 
principles and policy. For four years he served as treasurer of the vil- 
lage and was a faithful custodian of its funds, while at all times he is 
loyal to those interests which tend to promote public progress and im- 
pro\enient. His social relations connect him with the Mas(5ns, the 
Knights of P'ythias and the Knights of the Maccabees, and he is re- 
garded as a valued representative of these organizations, exemplifying 
in his life the beneficent spirit of the different orders which are based 
upon the idea of the brotherhood of man. 

JOSEPH O. CURRY. 

Joseph O. Curry is one of the native sons of Michigan, who has 
found in tliis state ample opportunity for the exercise of his native 
talents and has become fully cognizant of the fact that in Michigan 
earnest labor Isrings a sure and just reward, for through his close appli- 
cation and earnest efforts he has become one of the substantial resi- 
dents of Cass countv. He now makes his home in Marcellus and was 




> 

u 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 461 

born in Decatur township. Yan Briren county, Octolier 6, 1834, living 
retired alter many }-ears of active, successful and honorable connection 
with agricultural interests. He is a son of David Curry, who was born 
in Pennsylvania in December, 1807. The family removed to the vicin- 
ity of Columbus, Ohio, on leaving Pennsylvania, and about 1829 David 
Curry came to Michigan with the family, who were journeying to this 
stqte. He afterward returned to Ohio, however, and with his brother 
John again made the trip to Michigan in 1830. He worked for one 
year for Josephus Gard and was then married and entered upon an in- 
dependent business career. It was in the year 1832 that he entered from 
the government his farm in Decatur township, Van Buren county. The 
land which came into his possession was entirely wild and unimproved 
and ali around him stretched the native forest and uncultivated tracts 
of land. For fourteen years he devoted his time and energies to the sub- 
jugation of the wilderness and to the development of his farm, and was 
then killed by being thrown from a load of straw in the year 1846, leav- 
ing an estate of two hundred and forty acres of land. He was em- 
ployed in Valencia township, Cass county, when he first came to Mich- 
igan, but the first and only home he ever earned was on section 34, De- 
catur township, Van Buren county. He had the finest cabin on the 
prairie at that time, it l:)eing eighteen by twenty feet, and it was the only 
one containing a sawed wood floor. There were no windows nor doors 
nor floor, however, when they moved into it. The Indians were fre- 
quent visitors and Joseph O. Curry remembers well the calls that the 
red men paid at that pioneer home. The father was a prominent and 
honored pioneer resident in the epochal events which form the early 
history of his section of the stale. He served in the Indian wars against 
the members of the Sac tribe and in recognition of tlie military aid 
which he rendered received a land grant. He married Miss Elizabeth 
Gard, who was born in Union township, Union county, Indiana, on 
Christmas day of 181 1. She long survived her husband and passed 
away in Van Buren county, Michigan, in 1878. ,She was a daughter 
of Josephus and Sarah Gard. The former entered from the govern- 
ment a farm now ow'iied by Mr. Curry, and he bought three quarter-sec- 
tions of land. The homestead property of our subject comprises a quar- 
ter-section which was inherited by Mrs. Elizabeth Curry, who was one 
of the esteemed pioneer women of this section of the state. By her 
marriage she became the mother of nine children : Jonathan, vdio was 
bom May 8, 1833, and died in the Indian Territory January 4, 1905; 
Joseph O., of this review: Juliet, who was born April 5. 1836, and 
passed away in 1880; Marshall, who was born October 24, 1837. ^"^ 
has departed this life; David O., who was born September 25, 1839. and 
died on the old home farm March 28, 1906; Elizabeth, who was born 
March 27. 1841, and is acting as housekeeper for her brother Joseph: 
Mary Jane, who was born Februar\- 20, 1843. and was the only one of 
the family that married, becoming the wife of Jacob High, of Park 



462 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

township, St. Joseph county, Michigan; Nancy H., who was torn March 
26, 1844, and died at the age of three years; and John B., who was born 
November 6, 1845, ''.nd passed away January 2, 1865. Of this family 
David served as a soldier of the Civil war from 1861 until 1865, as a 
member of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry. He was one of three hundred 
men who captured Jefferson Davis, and he retained as a souvenir of 
that expedition the saddle bags taken from General Regan, who was a 
member of Davis" cabinet. These saddle bags are now in possession of 
Joseph Q. Curry. 

Joseph O. Curry, whose name introduces this review, remained 
upon the farm upon which he was born until sixty-two years of age and 
assisted in its development and cultivation as the years went by. He 
was early trained to the work of the fields and meadow and became a 
man of energy and industry, whose success is attributable to his own 
persistent efforts and capable business management. In 1896 he re- 
moved to the farm which he now owns, and has made it his home for 
the past decade. It comprises one hundred and sixty acres of land on 
section 21, Marcellus township, and was entered from the government 
by his grandfather, Josephus Gard, since which time it has been con- 
tinuously in possession of the family. The land had been cleared and 
good buildings had been erected by Mr. Curry and his brother Jonathan. 
This is indeed a fine farm, being perhaps the best in the township, and 
eighty acres of the land lies within the corporation limits of Marcellus, 
a half mile from the center of the village. He also owns two hundred 
and eighty acres of land in Decatur township and eighty acres in Park 
township, together with nfty-six acres near Cassopolis. Throughout his 
entire life Mr. Curry has devoted his energies to general farming and 
stock-raising and has become widely known as a breeder of trotting 
horses. He now has a team that has a record of 2:25. Ix>th animals be- 
ing raised on the home farm. This is the fastest team in the township 
and Mr. Curry may well be proud of these travelers. He is a representa- 
tive business man, ever watchful of opportunities, and in allhisbusinessre- 
lations he has been found reliable and straightforward. He has trav- 
eled quite extensively in the middle west, as has his brother. All of 
the family are advocates of the Democracy and Jonathan Curr\' has held 
a number of township offices, the duties of which he has discharged 
with promptness and fidelity. Mr. Curry is a worthy representative of 
a pioneer family, one that has been associated with Michigan's history 
from an early period in territorial days. He lived here at the time most 
of the homes were log cabins and these were widely scattered. Com- 
paratively few roads had been made through the forests, the land being 
still covered with the native timber. The streams were unbridged and 
it seemed that the work of improvement had scarcely been begun. The 
Curry family have always borne their full share in the development of 
the agricultural interests of this section of Michigan and deser\-e much 
credit for what they have accomplished. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 463 

HENRY L. LOVERIDGE. 

Henry L. Loveridge, living on section 8, Marcellus township, is 
the [lopular owner of Island Park, on which is a beautiful lake, famous 
for its good fishing. Michigan, with its excellent climate, its fine parks 
and beautiful lake regions, furnishes excellent opportunity for the de- 
velopment of attractive summer resorts, and Mr. Loveridge in connec- 
tion with the improvement of his agricultural interests has spent con- 
siderable lime in promoting Island Park, which is now a most popular 
resort. He was born at Paw Paw, in Van Buren county, Michigan, 
December 15, 1857, his parents being John and Kate (Hinkley) Lov- 
eridge, who were natives of New York. The mother came to Michigan 
about seventy years ago, when only three years old, and Mr. Loveridge 
arrived in this state when about twenty-five years of age. They were 
married in Michigan and for a long period the father devoted his atten- 
tion to contracting. In early life he learned the carpenter's trade and 
for a considerable period was closely associated with building opera- 
tions in this section of the state. At the time of the Civil war he put 
aside all business and personal interests, however, and espoused the 
cause of the Union, serving as a member of Company A, Thirteenth 
Michigan Infantry, during the last of the war. He died in Cass county 
January 15, 1901. at the age of sixt^'-nine years, and is yet survived by 
his widow, who now resides in Marcellus. She is one of the esteemed 
pioneer women of this part of the state, having made her home in Mich- 
igan for the allotted Psalmist's span of three score years and ten. 

Henry L. Loveridge, their only child, remained in his native coun- 
ty until filteen years of age. when he went to Kalamazoo, Michigan, 
where he remained until twenty-two years of age. During that period 
he spent five years as an employe in a store, and for two years was in 
the service of the American Express Company. He then returned to 
Paw Paw, and for five years remained upon the home farm following 
his marriage. In 1886 he removed to Marcellus and opened a store, 
which he conducted for fifteen years, carrying on a prosperous bakery 
and grocery business. He also conducted a store at Schoolcraft for one 
year, and four years ago he came to Fish Lake and took charge of the 
resort which his father had established three years previous. He has 
nine acres of ground situatefl on a peninsula, extending from the east 
shore into Fish Lake. He has sold fourteen lots, and ten cottages have 
been built since he arrived. Mr. Loveridge has also erected a hotel and 
has a boarding house which his father built. There were also two cot- 
tages erected before Mr. Loveridge came to this place. Island Park is 
a natural forest of beech, oak, ash, maple, basswood and ironwood. 
In fact there are nearly all kinds of timber except black walnut. Tlie 
fine fishing is one of the most attra.ctive features of the district, there 
being a chain of nine lakes all accessible with a row boat. Mr. Loveridge 
has done much to develop and improve the resort, which is now indeed 



464 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

very popular, being aiinuall\- visited by a large number of people who 
find in the shady forests a cool retreat from the heat of the cities in 
summer, while the fisherman has every opportunitiy to enjoy his prowess 
with the finny tribe. 

Mr. Loveridge was married in September, 1879, to Miss Rose 
Taylor, a native of this township and a daughter of John Taylor. They 
now have one son, Bert, who is advance agent of the Forepaugh & Sells 
circus. Well known in this part of the state, Henry L. Loveridge has 
gained a wide acquaintance through his business interests as merchant 
and hotel proprietor, and his social, genial manner and consideration for 
others have gained him wide and lasting popularity with those with 
whom he has been associated. 

DANIEL K. BYRNES. 

Dariiel K. Byrnes, a farmer and representative citizen of Pokagon 
township, was born and reared upon the place which is yet his home, his 
natal day being June 28, 1847. His father, John Byrnes, was one of 
the pioneer settlers of Cass county, where he, too, carried on agricult- 
ural pursuits. He was born in county Cork, Ireland, in 18 15, and when 
about sixteen years of age went to Syracuse, New York, where he 
learned the carpenter's trade. The year 1857 witnessed his arrival in 
Michigan, his destination being Niles, and there he followed carpen- 
tering until about twenty-six years of age, when he was married. Not 
long afterward he took up his abode upon what has since been known as 
the Byrnes farm on section 28, Pokagon township. He began there 
with eighty acres of timber land and he at once cleared away the trees 
and brush and grul>bed out the stumps, after which he plowed the fields 
and cultivated crops. He married Miss Arsula Clyburn, who was born 
in Virginia in 1817. The Clyburns were among the oldest settlers of 
Cass county and Mrs. Byrnes was reared and educated here. Unto the 
parents of our subject were born six children, three sons and three 
daughters, of whom Daniel K. was the second. The father gave his 
political support to the Whig party in early life, but afterward became 
an advocate of the Democracy, and still later joined the ranks of the 
Prohibition party because of his views upon the temperance question. 
He was also a local minister of the Methodist church in pioneer days, 
was a member of the Masonic fraternit)', belonging to Pokagon lodge, 
No. 36, A. F. & A. M., and he served as master under dispensation. He 
took an active part in the organization of the lodge and he also labored 
untiringly for the advancement of church and temperance work, and in 
fact did everything in his power to promote the moral progress of the 
community and uplift his fellow men. He had a verv wide acquaintance 
throughout Cass county and his memorv is yet enshrined in the hearts 
of many who knew him. His death occurred March 12, 1902, when he 
had reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years, and his example is 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 465 

one well worth}' of enuilntinn, while his influence is still a potent fac- 
tor for good among those who came under his teachings. 

Daniel K. Byrnes was reared in Pokagon township ami worked 
upon the home farm of his father until the latter's death. On the ist 
of April, 1874. lie was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Parker, wlno 
was born ir, Berrien county. j\lichigan, December 6, 1855, and is a 
daughter of Henry C. and Mary Parker, wdio removed from Ohio to 
Berrien county at an early epoch in its development. Subsecjuently they 
came to Cass county when it was still a pioneer district and Mrs. Byrne.s 
was reared upon the old Parker homestead in Pokagon township. Unto 
our subject and his wife have been born six children: Zulu, now' de- 
ceased; Lewis K. ; Ella May, the wife of John McCoy; Robert J.; Lena; 
and Eliza Bell. All were born and reared upon the present Byrnes 
farm. This place comprises seventy-seven acres of land that is very pro- 
ductive and is now under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Byrnes has 
cleared and cultivated the greater part of it himself and it is the visible 
evidence of his life of thrift and enterprise. He has worked diligently 
and his labors have been resultant factors in winning for him a place 
among the substantial residents of the county. He belongs to Pokagon 
lodge. No. 136. A. F. & A. M., and to Crystal .Springs lodge. No. 325, 
I. O. O. F. In politics a Democrat, he has served for thirty years as 
justice of the peace, and no higher testimonial of capability could be 
given, for his long service indicates his fair and impartial decisions and 
his fideh't}' to duty under all circumstances. 

FRANK Dl^NN. 

Frank Dunn, who is now filling the position of supervisor in New- 
berg tow'nship and resides on section 22, is one of the native sons of 
this township, his birth having here occurred on the 8th of February, 
1867. He is a representative of one of the old and prominent pioneer 
families of the county. His paternal grandfather, Archibald Dunn, 
came to Michigan when this section of the state was a wild and unim- 
proved region and cast in his lot with the early settlers who were ex- 
tending the frontier and planting the seeds of civilization here. His 
son, Anson L. Dunn, was born in this state and was reared amid pio- 
neer environments and conditions. He pursued his education in the pub- 
lic schools and after arriving at years of maturity led a very busy, use- 
ful and active life. He was a prominent man, who held many offices in 
his township and proved himself at all times worthy of the trust and 
confidence reposed in him. He filled the position of county treasurer 
for four years and was a supervisor for several terms. He made a close 
study of the needs and possibilities of the county and exercised his of- 
ficial prerogatives to advance every movement that he deemed would 
prove of public benefit. His acc|uaintance was a wide one and all who 
knew him entertained for him genuine respect and unqualified regard. 



4C6 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

He wedded Miss Mary Gill, who is now a resident of Jones, but Mr. 
Dunn passed away in 1888. In the family were three children. 

Frank Dunn, the youngest of the children, was reared in his native 
township and at the usual age entered the public schools, wherein he 
mastered the common branches of learning. In the summer months 
he assisted in the fami work and throughout his entire life he has car- 
ried on general agricultural pursuits. He now has a farm of two hun- 
dred and thirty-seven acres, which he rents, while he is interested also 
in the ownership of the store in connection with his brother at Jones. 
He possesses good business qualifications, keen sagacity and enterprise, 
and his labors have been a source of gratifying income. Like his father 
before him, Mr. Diinn is recognized as a leading and valued member of 
the Republican party, working earnestly and effectively for its welfare. 
He has held many offices, serving as township clerk for nine years, while 
in 1899 he was elected supervisor, which position he has filled to the 
present time, covering a period of seven years. He is a worthy and 
capable official, never faltering in the performance of any duty, and that 
he enjoys the public confidence is indicated by the fact that he has long 
been retained in the office. He is popular in political, business and social 
circles in the county where his entire life has been passed. 

MAY ARNOLD OLDS. 

May Arnold Olds, interested in general farming on section 6, 
Mason townsliip, was here torn on the 4th of July, 1858, and thus 
the home place is endeared to him through the associations of his toy- 
hood as well as through the connections of later years when he has 
found in the old farm the source of a good livelihood gained through 
his untiring efforts to cultivate and improve the fields. He had two 
uncles, Harvey and Lester Olds, who were among the early settlers of 
the county and occupied the first store in Adamsville. They were ex- 
tensive grain dealers, conducting a very important business in that day. 
His father. Mills Olds, was a native of Cayuga county. New York, 
and was there reared and married. He wedded Miss Mary Brown 
Arnold, whose birth occurred in Cayuga county in the year 1822. Be- 
ing early left an orphan, she was reared by her grandparents, but Joseph 
Arnold was her guardian. Tlie Olds family comes of English and 
German ancestry. The parents of our subject were married at Sen- 
nett. New York, on the 24th of December, 1845, and began their 
domestic life in the Empire state, whence in 1849 they removed to 
Cass county, Michigan, locating on section 6, Mason township, where 
Mr. Olds paid five dollars per acre for a tract of land which was then 
unimproved. He built a log house and in true pioneer style began 
life in this district. He placed his fields under the plow, carried on 
the farm work until he had made excellent improvements upon the 
farm and converted it into a productive and arable tract of land. There 




Jfr^TyuUi X^^^^ 









^^' 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 467 

he continued to reside until his death, which occurred when he was in 
the sixty-eighth year of his age. His pohtical allegiance was given 
to the Democracy, and though he never sought office or attempted to 
figure in public life in that way he was numbered among the pioneers 
of the county who were closely connected with its upbuilding and prog- 
ress, co-operating in the labors of those who have made the county 
what it is today. His wife died in her thii-ty-seventh year. In the 
family were two sons, but the elder, Stephen S. Olds, is now deceased. 
May Arnold Olds, whose name introduces this record, was but 
six months old at the time of his mother's death, after which he was 
reared by his aunt, Harriet Olds. His education was acquired in the 
Adamsville schools and after putting aside his textbooks he entered 
business life in connection with the conduct of a meat market at Nap- 
panee, Elkhart county, Indiana. There he remained for four years, 
but with this exception he has continuously been a resident of Mason 
township, Cass county, from his birth to the present time. As a com- 
panion and helpmate for life's journey he chose Miss Allie Thompson, 
whom he wedded on Christmas day of 1883. Her paternal great- 
grandfather served for more than seven years in the Revolutionary war, 
taking part in many important engagements. He lived to enjoy the 
benefits of liberty, passing away at the very advanced age of ninety 
years, at which time he was making his home in Kentucky. Her grand- 
father, Samuel Thompson, was a soldier of the war of 18 12. She is 
a daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Holmes) Thompson. Her father 
was born near Coventry in Orleans coimty, Vermont, December 16, 
1818. and came to Cass county. Michigan, in June, 1837, when in his 
eighteenth year. He located first at Adamsville, where he was em- 
ployed in a flouring mill and he afterward became a partner with Mr. 
Redfield in the milling business, conducting that enterprise for six 
years. In the meantime he had purchased eighty acres of land on 
section 16, Mason township, and he turned his attention to farming 
after retiring from the milling business. He voted with the Democ- 
racy, and held a number of local offices, including that of township 
supervisor, in which he served for many years, his long continuance in 
office standing in incontrovertible evidence of his ability and fidelity. 
He was also connected with the national Democratic paper at Cassop- 
olis at an early day, and his interest in political affairs was that of a 
public-spirited citizen, who places principle before mere partisan meas- 
ures and desires the welfare of the community rather than personal 
aggrandizement. He was married in February, 1848, to Miss Eliz- 
abeth Holmes, a native of Rochester, New York, and they became the 
parents of seven children, of whom two died in infancy, one of these 
being killed b}^ lightning. Mr. Thompson was twice married, his sec- 
ond union being with Maria King and there were four children born 
to them. 



46S HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

-Mrs. Olds is the youngest child of her father's first marriage and 
was only ahont six months old when her mother passed away at the 
age of thirtv-six years. Mrs. Olds was bom on section i6, Mason 
township. September 27, 1858, and pursued her education in the schools 
of Elkhart and in the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso. 
She became a successful educator, teaching for eight and a half years 
in Jefferson, .Calvin and Mason townships and also in the city of Elk- 
hart, Indiana. By her marriage she has become the mother of two 
sons: Henr}' Thompson, who was born August 31, 1886, and is at 
home assisting in the improvement of the farm ; and Carlton, who was 
born September 14, 1889, and is now a student in Elkhart. 

Following their marriage in 1883, Mr. and Mrs. Olds located in 
Nappanee and in 1887 returned to the farm upon which they now re- 
side, having since made it their home, and the pretty country seat is 
known as "June ]V[ede." Here Mr. Olds has one hundred thirty and 
a half acres of well improved land and is carrying on general farm- 
ing, having placed his fields under a high state of cultivation, so that 
he annually harvests good crops. He organized what is known as 
the Pullman Telephone Company, of which he is now president, its 
lines covering Mason township and also extending into Ontwa town- 
ship. He was the promoter of the telephone company and thus insti- 
tuted a business which has been not only a convenience but a source 
of direct benefit to citizens in this part of the county. His political 
support is given to the Democracy, and he has held tiie office of jus- 
tice of the peace, taking an active part in the administration of public 
affairs and doing all in his power to promote the general welfare. He 
has been almost a life-long resident of the county, and in all relations 
has been known as a man of worth and reliability, enjoying in large 
measure the esteem of those with whom he has been brought in con- 
tact. Mr. and Mrs. Olds have in their possession some of the old 
continental scrip money to the value of seven dollars, a part of the money 
paid Mrs. Olds" great-grandfather when a soldier in General Washing- 
ton's armv. 

NELSON A. HETTCHINGS. 

Nelson A. Hutchings is probal)ly the oldest resident of Newberg 
townshi]), for he has lived continuously within its borders for seventy 
years, and he now makes his home on section ^2. x\s one travels over 
the county to-day and notes its thriving towns and cities, its highly cul- 
tivated farms, its business interests, its excellent schools and other pub- 
lic insilutions, it is almost impossible to realize what was the condition 
of the county during Mr. Hutchings' boyhood. One looks to-day over 
broad but richly cultivated fields, but at that time there was an almost 
unbroken wilderness, the forest trees still standing in their primeval 
strength. Few roads had been laid out and only here and there was a 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 409 

little clearing to shuw that some progressive pioneer had made his way 
into the forest and was endeavoring to estahlish a home. 

Air. tlutchings was born in Portage county, Ohio. February i6, 
1833, and was the sixth in order of birth in a family of nine children, 
five daughters and four sons, who were born of the marriage of Samuel 
and Polly M. (Van Curen) Hutchings. The paternal grandfather also 
bore the name of Samuel Hutchings. The father was born in New York 
September 14, 1796, and on leaving the Empire state became a resident 
of Portage county. Ohio, where he remained until 1835, when he re- 
moved to Cass county, Michigan, being one of its first settlers. He lo- 
cated in Newberg township and from the government entered a tract 
of land on section 31. It was entirely wild and undeveloped, but he at 
once began to clear and culti\-ate it. and in the course of time improved 
a good farm, upon which he spent his remaining days, being long rec- 
ognized as one of the enterprising and successful agriculturists of the 
community. He died in his eightv-third year, respected by all who 
knew him. His early political allegiance was given to the Whig party, 
and upon its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new Republican par- 
ty, with which he continued to affiliate until his death. He held mem- 
bership ni the Baptist church and was well known throughout the coun- 
ty as an upright, honoralile man and a worthy pioneer, whoi aided in 
laying broad and deep the foundation for the present development of 
this part of tlie state. His wife, also a native of New York, was born 
on Christmas day of 1798 and died in the eighty -third year of her age. 
She was a daughter of Jonathan Van Curen. who was of German de- 
scent. Of the nine children born unto Mr. and Mrs. Hutchings one died 
in infancy, while the others all reached manhood or womanhood, while 
two sons and two daughters are yet living. 

Nelson A. Hutchings was only three years of age when brought 
by his parents to Michigan, since which time he has lived in Cass coun- 
ty. He was reared upon the old homestead farm in Newberg township 
and shared in the usual experiences and hardships of frontier life. Hi? 
educational privileges were limited. He attended one of the log school 
houses of the count}-, wliere he received instruction in the elementary 
branches of learning, but experience and observation in later years have 
greatly broadened his knowledge, making him a well informed man. 
During the spring and summer months he aided in the labors of the 
fields, taking his place .at the plow almost as soon as old enough to reach 
the plow handles. He remained at home until the time of bis marriage. 
On the i/tl'i of (October. 1881. he was joined in wedlock to Mrs. Sarah 
Hartman. the widow of .Albert Bogert. She was born in St. Joseph 
county. Michigan, where she was reared, her father being Reuben Hart- 
man, one of the early settlers there. In 1882 Mr. and Mrs. Hutcliings 
removed to the farm upon which thev now reside, it having been their 
home continuously since. They have become the parents of one son. 
Marvin Carlton, who married Tennic Paxton and has one daughter. 



470 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Wilda C. By her furnier marriage Mrs. Hutchings had a family of two 
children, Katie L. and Albert J. Bogert. 

The home farm of Mr. Hutchings comprises one hundred and 
twenty acres of good land, which is rich and productive, and he car- 
ries on general farming and stock-raising, having good grades of .stock 
upon his place. He is a carpenter by trade, however, and in earlier 
years assisting in building many structures in Cass county, including 
the "Forest Hall" at Diamond Lake and other well known buildings. 
He has always voted with the Republican party, casting his ballot for 
each presidential candidate of that organization since attaining his ma- 
jority. He has held local offices in the township and is deeply inter- 
ested in the growth and success of his party. At one time he was a 
memlicr uf the Masonic fraternity. As stated, he is perhaps the oldest 
resident in the township in years of continuous connection therewith, 
having lived here for seventy years. His mind forms a connecting link 
between the primitive past and the present with all of its progressive- 
ness. He can remember when Indians occasionally visited the neigh- 
borhood, when wild game was to be had in abxmdance and when most 
of the settlers li\-ed in little log cabins. There was a spirit of gener- 
ous hos])itality and helpfulness, however, that existed, which compen- 
sated for tlie liardships and privations of pioneer life. He has always 
rejoiced in wh'At has been accomplished along lines of improvement, 
but _\ct lia,-^ man)' pleasant memories of the early days. 

GEORGE STANDERLTNE. 

Nature seems to have intended that man in the evening of life 
should enjoy a period of rest. In his youth he is full of vigor and enter- 
prise, is hopeful and ambitious. In his more mature years his efforts 
are tempered by experience and sound judgment resulting in successful 
accomplishment if he but uses his talents and powers to the best of his 
ability. If he does this he wins the competence that enables him later 
to put aside business cares and enjoy a well earned rest. Such has been 
the career of Mr. Standerline, who after many year.s of active and hon- 
orable connection with agricultural pursuits is now living retired in 
Corey. He is a native of Lincolnshire, England, born on the 14th of 
October, 1830, and is a son of Tliomas Standerline, whose birth oc- 
curred in the same locality. He was a farmer by occupation and thus 
provided for the support of his wife and children. He married Eliza- 
beth Graham, a native of Lincolnshire, who spent her entire life in Eng- 
land. In their family were three daughters, George Standerline being 
the only son. The days of his cliiidhood and youth were spent in his 
native lanrl and he is indebted to its public school system for the educa- 
tional privileges he enjo}-ed. In his boyhood he became familiar with 
farm work and later engaged in general agricultural pursuits on his 
own account. 

Mr. Standerline was married in his native country in 1854 to Miss 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 471 

Jane Hollandtriok, wlio was born in Lincolnshire, Ejigland, October 23, 
1835, a daugiiter ot WiHiam and Maria (Peck) Hollandtrick, who were 
also natives of that country and spent their entire lives in England. 
Ten days after their niarriage Mr. and Mrs. Standerline started for 
America, for they believed that they might enjoy better op]X)rtunities 
in the new world, of which they had heard such favoraljle rejiorts. 
They were seven weeks on shipboard crossing the Atlantic from Eng- 
land to Quebec, Canada, and thence proceeded up the St. Lawrence river 
to the lakes. They made their way first to Toledo, Ohio, where they 
spent one summer, after which they came to Michigan, making their 
way to White Pigeon. St. Joseph county, Michigan. They resided on 
Pigeon prairie for thirteen years, on the expiration of which period Mr. 
Standerline came to Newberg township, Cass county, and purchased a 
farm on section 25. He was the owner of that property until 1902, 
when he sold the farm. He had lived, however, in Corey for twenty- 
two consecutive years, having retired from active business life to enjoy 
in his comfortable home a well earned rest and the fruits of his former 
toil. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Standerline have lieen born seven children, 
who are yet living, namely : Richard, at home ; Thomas, a resident of 
Newberg township; W'illiam and George, who are living in Newberg 
township; James, of ?klishawaka, Lidiana; Alice, the wife of Marshall 
Hughes, a resident of South Bend, Indiana; and Annetta, the wife of 
Frank Rockwell, of Newberg township. 

Mr. Standerline is one of the leading and representative citizens of 
Cass county and has assisted in making it what it is to-day. He has 
been a Republican since the organization of the party, never faltering 
in his support of its principles. He sen'ed as highway commissioner 
and school director and at this writing is a member of the board of re- 
view. He has always been interested in public affairs and has labored 
earnestly for the welfare of the county. He belongs to the Grange and 
he has many warm friends in that organization and throughout the com- 
munity in which he has so long lived. He displays in his life many 
sterling traits of character and his good qualities have won him the 
genuine and uncjualified respect of his fellow men. 

\VILLIAT\I STANDERLINE. 

\\'illiam Standerline, township clerk and r prominent farmer of 
Newberg township, resides on section 28, where he has a well im- 
proved and valuable farm of sixty acres. He is one of Michigan's na- 
tive sons and the enterprise and progressive spirit which have been the 
dominant factors in the upbuilding of the west find exemplification in his 
active busmess career. He was born in Florence township, St. Joseph 
county, Michigan, October 24. 1858. His father, George Standerline, 
was a nati\ e of England, in which country he spent the days of his boy- 
hood and vouth ancl was married, the ladv of his choice being Miss Jane 



472 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Hiillaiidtrick. also a native of that countn-. They bade adieu to friends 
and nati\e land aliont i<S54 and sailed for America, locating first in 
Toletln. Ohio, whence the}' afterward removed to St. Joseph county, 
Michigan, settling there upon a farm. They remained for about thir- 
teen years in that county and in 1867 came to Cass county, locating in 
Newberg township. -where Mr. Standerline purchased a tract of land. 
They are still living in this township and in 1905 thev celebrated their 
fiftieth wedding anniversary, having traveled life's journey together 
for a halt century, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its 
ad\-crsity and prosperity. As the years went by they became the par- 
ents of ten cliildren, of whom seven are now living. 

^^'iliiam Standerline is the third child and third son in this family 
and was liut nine years of age \vhen brought by his parents to Cass 
count}-. He silent his boyhood da}-s in their home, was educated in the 
district schools and through the summer months aided in the work of 
the fields, giving his father the benefit of his ser\-ices in the work of the 
home farm until after he Inad attained his majoritv. when he started out 
in life on his own account. 

(Jn tlie 1st of April, 1882, Mr. Stanrlerline was married to Miss 
Stella .\rnold. a daughter of H. D. and Mary (Dunn) Arnold. Mrs. 
Standerline was born in Newberg township, wdiere her parents located 
at an early period in the development of this county. By her marriage 
she has become the mother of three children, who are yet living: Del- 
la, the wife of Guy Harwood, a resident of Newberg township; Bert, 
who is attending school in Vandalia, Michigan: and Glenn, who is at 
home. 

Tlic farm upon which the famil}- resides comprises sixty acres of 
good land, and here Mr. Standerline is successfully carrying on general 
agricultural pursuits. He has placed his fields under a high state of 
cultivation and annually harvests good crops. Eveiything about his 
farm is kept in good condition and in his methods he is practical and en- 
terprising. He has been quite active in local politics, recognized as one 
of the strong and stalwart advocates of the Republican party. He was 
treasurer of Newberg township for two years and has been clerk for 
six years, holding the position at the present time. Having spent the 
greater part (^f his life in this county he is widely known and his prom- 
inence in ].niblic affairs has made him a leader in his community. His 
long continuance in office is indicative of his faithful and capable service. 
In business matters he is found to be straightforw-ard and reliable, as 
well as energetic, and the success which he has enjoyed is well merited. 

GEORGE \y. ROBBINS. 

G. W. Robbins. who carries on farming interests on .section 2y. 
Porter township, and is numbered among the prominent early settlers 
of the county, was Ijorn December 16, 1840, on the place where he yet 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 473 

resides. The family name has Imig been clnsely and honora1>ly asso- 
ciated with the histon- d the cimnty in the wnrk of development and 
iinpi"o\'ement. His father, iMoses Robbins, was a nati\-e of Pittsburg, 
Pennsylvania, where he was reared to the age of eighteen years, when, 
in 1 83 1, he came to Michigan, settling in 1833 upon the farm which 
is now the home of G. \V. Robliins of this re\iew. He was ime of the 
earliest residents of Porter twvnship and he also took up land from the 
government in Mot\-ille tow nsiiip, St. Joseph county, that he traded for 
the farm upon which (nn- subject now resides. On the latter tract he 
built a log cabin mi the bank of what is nn\\ called Rubbins Lake, hav- 
ing been so named in his honor. Suliserpienth' he built the log house in 
which G. W. Robbins first npened his eyes tn the light of da)' and sub- 
secjuently he erected a brick residence that \et stands on the farm and 
is orie of the old and prominent landmarks of this portion of the county. 
Pie died in 1849 ^^ the comiiaratively earl}' age of forty-two years, yet 
during the period of his residence in the county he took an active and 
helpful part in reclaiming the district for the purposes of civilization and 
in laying broad and deep tlie foundation for the present progress and 
prosperity. His wife liore the maiden name of Elizabeth Davison and 
was a native of Ohio. She lived to the age of seventy-five years. In 
their family were fi\e children; Lucinda J-- now deceased; William, 
who is living in Elkhart, Indiana; George W., of this review; Mrs. 
Nancy Ellen Cundifif, whose home is in .\led(i, Illinois; and Mrs. Mary 
L. Speece, of Porter township. 

;Mr. Robbins was the third child and second son of the family and 
upon the old homestead farm he spent the days of his boyhood and 
youth, alternating his work in the fields through the summer months 
with attendance at the district schools in the winter seasons. His en- 
tire life has been passed upon this farm and thus its present state of 
improvement and development is largely attributable to his persevering 
and diligent effort. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey he 
chose Miss Sarah J. Rogers, to whom he was married on the 6th of 
October, 1863. .She is a daughter of Jesse and Mary A. (Bates) Rog- 
ers and was born in Yates county. New York, on the 17th of October, 
1844. Tn her early childhood, when only about two years old, she was 
brought by her parents to Cass county, the family home being estab- 
lished in Porter township, where slie has since lived. By her marriage 
she lias become the mother of eight children: Lefy, now the wife of 
L. C. Chadwick, a resident of Grangeville, Idaho; Linward G., a farmer 
who owns a good pro]ierty in Constantine township, St. Joseph county, 
Michigan; M. L.. wdio is engaged in the groceiy Ixisiness at Elkhart, 
Indiana; Leslie D., a civil engineer, residing in JNTexico; Lyle M. C, 
now of Montana; Lena G., who is attending the Hillsdale (Michigan) 
College ; and tw^o are deceased. 

Mr. Robbins has a farm of one himdred and sixty-three acres, 
wlnich is supplied with modern equipments, and also owns another val- 



474 lllSlom' Ol" CASS COUNTY 

liable properly nf two liiiinliccl and nine and a half acres on section 35, 
Porter lov\nsliip. ilw lamlcd possessions in all cnilirace Ihree hundred 
and sixty-three and a hall acies, which proiierly returns to him a very de- 
sirable income. 1 lis business is carefully conducted and everything 
alwiul his place is indicalive of a profjrcssivc spirit and practical meth- 
ods, lie has \nicd \\\\\\ llic Republican party since age gave to him the 
ligbl III fiaiulhse and has lakrn an active interest in ])olilical cpieslions 
and issut-s iif Ihc day and Ihe success i.f Ihc party organization, lie has 
held \ariiius lncal Dlticcs. ini'ludiug Ihal nf highway commissii iiici- and 
lownshi]) Irc.iMUci, sci\ ing in Ihr l.alUr piisilinn for l\\o terms. He 
has been a lileloiig residcnl ol ibc connh and bis niiiid bears the impiX'SS 
of its eail\ hisloiic aini.ils. lie can rel.ile ni.iiu' interesting incideuls 
of pioneer ble and i-\pei"ienccs and be is a wmlln re|}resentative of llial 
class III cili/cns whose labors, while jiromoiini;- inili\'i(lual success, have 
al.so ln'cn of beiielit to the connh' in furthering its agricultural dcvel- 
o]itneiil ar.il ;ilso in ])romo|ing its political status. 

Cll AKLb.S W. roi'. 

( harles W. j 'oe has been a ri'sident of Newberg townshi]) for fiflv- 
Ibree \ear^ and therefore ju'-tU deserves to lie cla.ssed with the old 
selllers. Me !ia^ a faiin of one hundred and foi(\-cighl acres, which 
is carefully cidlivaled and in:pro\ed, his entire life baxing been devoted 
to agricnllp.r.al pursuits. This tiact of Kind lies on section _> 1 , Newberg 
P>wnshi]i, ;niil is now a v.ilnnble pro|ierl\\ owini' to (he care and labor 
\xhich he b;is bestowed npon it. Mr. I'oe is one of Michigan's n.alive 
sons, foi' his liirth oeenri(.'il in b'.ibins township, ,Sl. Joseph counlv. oir 
the sih of Au'^nst. iSq^^. Mis f.ithei-, (b.arles K. Toe, w,as a n;Ui\c of 
( rawfonl counlx, ( )bio. .•mn w.-is the son of ( ieori;e Poe. who continued 
bis residence in (r.iwfoid connh until iS:;q and then sonL;bt .1 home in 
Micbig.in. ni.ikiiig bis w.i\- to t'.iss eonnl\, which w.is llien :\ wil 1 .and 
nnimpri M'll region. Most of llu' Land w.as r,i\\ .niil uiiimiII i\ .iled ,inil 
onl\ luri' ;md there b.id .a little settlement been made .amidst Ihe dense 
foi-esl (o sliow that the work of civiliz.ation ;ind impfovcnient had been 
begun. (leorgc Voe located on band on section -'_\ Newberg township, 
entering Ihe same from the goxemmenl on the lOth of September, if>35. 
Not a furrow had liceu lurucd, not ,in impro\enieut made, and the ar- 
duous t.'isk of develo)iing (be land d(-\oI\-cd upon Mr. I'oe and his sons. 
Tie, howe\-er, possessed the spirit of (he pioneer such as was disi)l,aye(l 
by his ancestor, Ail.im roe, (he famous Indian fighter. 

Charles 1\, I 'o(\ (be father of our subject, w.'is re.aied amid (be wild 
scenes of frontier life, sharing with the f.amih in the nsnal h.irdslhps 
■and tri.als incident (o sc((ling in tlu' far west. Me took p.irl in the work 
of (MiltiuL; the timber, clearing (be l:md, ■a\)^] tbronidioiU his entire life 
be followed the occup.ation of farming. Me was h\ ice married, the 
fu'st union being with Miss Cassie Newell. \\ho died leaving ibree chil- 



lIlSrol'JY OF CASS COUNTY 475 

drcii, (iiic (if wlidin yet siii\i\-cs, namely: (jcorge W. I'nc, wlio makes 
his home near Jones. /\l'ter losing' liis hrst wife Mr. I'oe was joined in 
w'cdlociv to Miss Juha Scliall, a n.ilixc of Pennsylvania, wlio came to 
Michigan witli her parents, the famil\- home Ijeing esta1>lished in St. 
Joscpli comity. liiere were two sons and four daughters 1x)rn of this 
marriage and willi one exception ail are yet living. All were horn in 
this county with the exception of Charles W. and George W. i'oe, who 
were young when their parents removed to Newherg township. 

He was reared here to farm life and pursued his education in the 
district scho(jls, wherein he mastered the Iiranches of English learning 
usually taught in such institutions. During the summer months he 
worked in the fields and rcmainc<l at home until twentv-lwo years of 
age, assisting in the task of clearing the farm and placing it under the 
plow. He gained practical knowledge of the hest methods of tilling the 
fields, learned to know what was demanded in tlie soil for the various 
crops and the most favoral)le time of planting, so that he was well qual- 
ified to engage in farm work on his own account when he married and 
estahlishcd a home of his own. 

It was on the 25th of August, 1875, that Mr. T'oc was tnu'led in 
marriage to Miss Cai'rie Thomas, a daughter of William and Delight 
(Galpin) Thomas. Her father was a native of New York and on re- 
moving to Michigan settled in Macomb county. In his family were 
six children, two sons and four daughters, of whom Mrs. Poe was the 
second child. She was thirteen years of age when brought to the west 
and has since lived in Cass county. At the time of their marriage Mr. 
and Mrs. Poe began their domestic life on a farm on section 22, New- 
berg townshiD, and there in the midst of the forest he cleared a tract 
of land. Their first house was a log cabin eighteen by twenty-four feet, 
two stories in height. Mr. Poe continued the work of cultivating the 
place for fourteen years, when be removed to his present farm on sec- 
tion 21, Newherg townsbi|>. TTere he has one hunflrcd and forty-eight 
acres of productive land, which he has brought under a high state of cul- 
tivation. He has been a hard-working man and has lived a busy and 
useful life, his labors resulting in bringing him a comfortable compe- 
tence. 

I'ntn Wr. and Mrs, l^ie ha\'0 been born four daughters: I^wiso, 
the wife fif I^elbert Stephenson, who is living in Newlierg township; 
Minnie, the wife of William Kablcr, also of Newberg township: ATabel, 
the wife of William Meek, of Emmet county, Michigan; and Leon, at 
home. The name of Poe has been closely associated with the history of 
the county through many long years, the grandfather of our subject 
taking a very active and helpfid ])art in the early pioneer development, 
and Poe cemetery was named in his honor. The work of progress was 
carried r)n by the father and has been continued by our subject, who is 
an enterprising citizen, desirous of promoting the best interests of the 
comity. In his political views he is a Democr.'it, but without aspiration 



476 HISTORY' Ol' CASS COL'XTY 

for office, ijreferriui:' to give his undivided attention to his Inisiness af- 
fairs. 1 le is well known in Cass count}-, where he has so long- resided, 
liaxiiig lived continuously on sections 21 and 22 in this township for 
lifty-thiee years, and has an extensive circle of friends. Both he and his 
wife aie estimable peojile and well deserve mention iii this volume 
among the reijresentati\-c citizens of the county. 

ALONZO P. BEEMAN. 

Alonzo I-'. Beenian is a worthy and successful representative of 
agricultural interests, who has long been identified therewith in Cass 
county. He owns here a \-aluable property and in its control and man- 
agement displays excellent business ability and keen foresight. jMore- 
o\-er he deserves mention in this volume because of the active and help- 
ful part which he has taken in matters of public interest, serving on 
\-arious occasions in office, the duties of which he has performed with 
faithfulness, ability and fidelity. He now resides on section 14, New- 
berg township. His birthplace was in Crawford county, Pennsylvania, 
his natal day being February 6, 1841. His "father, Myram Beeman. was 
a native of New York and was a son of Gideon Beeman, whose birth 
occurred in Connecticut and who was of English descent, the family 
having been established in America in colonial days. In the state of 
liis nativity Myram Beeman was reared and educated, and throughout 
his entire life followed the occupation of farming. He was married in 
New ^'l)rk to ^liss Lucena Lilihart, also a nati\-e of New York, and of 
German descent, her father ha\'ing been born in Germany, while his 
death occurred during the infancy of his daughter. Mvram Beeman 
removed from the Empire state to Pennsylvania about 183^, and there 
resided for tw-enty-two vears, when in 1857 he came to Michigan, set- 
tling in Cass county. Here he also carried on farming and his death 
occurred in New-berg township when he was seventy-nine years of age. 
He held membership in the United Brethren church and was one of the 
ministers of that denomination. His acquaintance was a very -wide and 
favorable one and his influence was ever a potent element for good in 
the communities w-here he li\-ed. He stood for justice, truth and right 
imder all circumstances, and bv example as well as liy precept taught 
the noliler principles -which elevate mankind. His wife also passed 
aw-av in New-berg tow-nshiv>. being in her ninetieth veai- at the time she 
was called to her final rest. Tn their famih- were eight sons and two 
daughters, and of that number eight reached years of maturit\-, while 
six are now living, licing residents of various sections of the country. 

Alonzo P. Beenian is the onlv one riow- residing in Cass countv. He 
is the sc\-enth son and eighth child in the fanfilv. His early vouth was 
spent in the state of his nativity, and he is indebted to the public school 
system of New York for the educational privileges which he enioved 
and which prejiarcd hini for life's practical and responsible duties, ^^'hcn 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 477 

a youtli of fifteen years, it being necessitous that he provide for his 
own suppijrt. he started out to make his way in the \\-orld, and chose 
the west as the scene of his labors. Accordingly in 1856 he made his 
way to Centerville, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and in the fall of the 
same year came tO' Newberg township, Cass county. Here he worked 
at the carpenter's trade and assisted in building many houses in the 
township at an early day. In 1863, in resironse to the country's call 
for troops, he enlisted for service in the Union army as a private of 
Company G, Nineteenth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, and served 
throughout the remainder of the war with patriotic ardor and undimin- 
ished loyalty. He was wounded in the left side at the battle of Resaca, 
and was in the hospital for eight months, but as soon as possible returned 
to his regiment and served until the close of the war. He participated 
in many prominent battles which led up to the final victory that crowned 
the Union arms, and was always faithful to his duty under all circum- 
stances. When the war was over he participated in the grand review 
at Washington, D. C. the most celebrated military pageant ever seen 
on the western hemisphere, where thousands of soldiers of the Union 
army marched by the reviewing stand on wdiich stood the president and 
other high officials of the land, greeting the return of the \'ictorious 
troops. 

Mr. Beeman received an honorable discharge at Jackson, Michigan, 
on the 5th of August, 1865, and immediately afterward returned to his 
home in Cass county. He soon purchased a farm in Newberg township 
which he cultivated for about two years and then sold. In 1867 he 
removed to Kansas, where he remained for a short time, after which he 
returned to Newberg township, Cass county. Here be purchased a 
farm upon which he has since resided, his residence here covering more 
than a third of a century. There were no improvements upon the place 
when he took possession, but he has wrought a marked change in its 
appearance by adding good buildings, well kept fences, by tilling the 
soil and otherwise carrying on the farm work along modern, progressive 
lines. The place comprises one hundred and sixty acres of good land, 
which responds readily to the care and cultivation which he bestows 
tipon it, the fields yielding golden harvests in return for the work which 
he puts thereon. 

Before leaving for the front at the time of the Civil war Mr. 
Beeman was married on the 14th of October, 1862, to Miss Nancy V. 
Bogert. a daughter of Thomas Bogert, and a native of Adrian, Michi- 
gan. She was brought to Cass county wdien but seven years of age 
and her girlhood days were passed in Newberg township. Unto this 
marriage have been born fi\'e children : Annie, the wn'fe of Wiley 
Russie; Lewis, who married Ida O'Connor and is now living in New- 
berg township: Stella, the wife of Shermfin Foe. a resident of St. Joseph 
county. Michigan : .\lonzo Guy. who married Lura Waltz and is living 
in Newberg township : and Ned, at home. 



478 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Mr. Beeman is a stalwart Republican, lielieving firmly in the prin- 
ciples of his party, and he has been active in its support, doing all in 
his power to secure its success. His fellow townsmen have rewarded 
him for his party fealty by electing him to various positions of public 
honor and trust, the duties of which he has faithfully performed. He 
was township treasurer for two years, supervisor for fourteen consec- 
utive years, and then resigned that office by reason of his election to the 
position of county treasurer in 1898. He served for two terms and was 
then re-elected in 1900, holding the office to the time limit, for no one 
is allowed to serve for more than two terms in this position. He then 
retired from the office as he had entered it — with the confidence and 
good will of all concerned. He has been school director for eighteen 
years and the cause of education has found in him a warm friend. He 
is a member of May post, No. 65, G. A. R., at Jones, in which he has 
filled all of the chairs, including that of commander. In public office 
as well as in the field of battle he has displayed his loyalty to his country, 
and in an active life has portrayed those sterling traits of character which 
win success and at the same time gain the respect and trust of one's 
fellow men. Starting out in life on his own account when but fifteen 
years of age he has steadily advanced through his own well directed 
efforts and may well be termed a self-made man, for he has been both 
the architect and builder of his fortunes. 

ORREN V. HICKS. 

Orren V. Hicks, following the occupation of farming and also 
serving as supervisor in Milton township, was born on the 27th of 
September, 1869, in the township which is still his home. He rep- 
resents one of the honored pioneer families, being a son of R. V. Hicks, 
who was a farmer by occupation and came to Cass county at an early 
epoch in its development. A native of England, he resided in that 
country until 1837, when he cros.sed the Atlantic to America and made 
his way at once to Michigan. He was a1x)ut eighteen years of age at 
the time, his birth having occurred in Land's End, England, on the 
17th of November, 1819. Having heard favorable reports concerning 
the business opportunities of the new world he made the ocean voyage 
and joined his brother in Ontwa township, where he remained for a 
short time. He then located in Niles, securing a position in a distillery 
owned and operated by John Dodge & Company, with whom he worked 
for a short time, becoming foreman of that place. Further mention 
of Mr. Hicks is made on another page of this work. 

Orren V. Hicks, whose name introduces this review, was reared 
upon the homestead farm and is indebted to the district school system 
of Milton township for the educational privileges he enjoyed. He 
pursued his studies through the winter months and in the summer 
months worked at the laliors of the field, ^^^ish^ng to have a home of 




^^r^ ^. 




(^.(1^ 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY -tT^ 

his (iwii be completed his arrangements tlierefnr by his marriage on 
the 13th ijf January, 1892, to Miss Bertha F. Thompson, a native of 
Ontwa township, born December 3, 1871, and a daughter of B. F. 
Thompson, who followed farming in Ontwa' township. He settled in 
Cass county when it was emerging from pioneer conditions, having 
come to the middle west from Delaware. Mrs. Hicks graduated in 
the High School of Edwardsburg, in the class of 1888, and entered the 
state normal at Ypsilanti. Michigan, taking the English course, spent 
one years there and meant to take a full graduating course, but health 
forbade her. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hicks has been blessed 
with two daughters: Florence B., who was born June 6, 1896, and 
Vivian Leona^ born April 13, 1903. 

At the time of his marriage Orren V. Hicks removed to what 
was known as the Enos farm, comprising sixty-seven acres of land, 
and he has become the owner of forty acres adjoining, also eighty 
acres just north of his present farm, and forty acres of timber, mak- 
ing a total of two hundred and twenty-seven acres in Cass county. 
The eighty acres received only one transfer, and Mr. and Mrs. Hicks 
have in their possession the old parchment deed signed by President 
Andrew Jackson. It bears the date of execution of April i, 183 1, and 
this is the fifth deed of the kind found in Cass county. He now has 
a well improved farm here, equipped with good buildings and sub- 
stantial improvements, while well tilled fields return him golden har- 
vests for the care and lal)or he bestows upon them. For three years he 
filled the oflice of township clerk, having been chosen to that position 
on the Democratic ticket. In 1901 he was elected supervisor and 
served in that office for five years, being the present incumbent. He 
has thus taken an active part in local political affairs and he keeps 
well informed on the questions and issues of the day. He is a charter 
member of Edwardsburg tent No. 723, K. O. T. M., and he enjoys 
the warm regard of his brethren in the fraternity as well as of the 
general public. His wife is also a member of the Edwardsburg Hive 
No. 345, L. O. T. M. He is widely known in the county where has 
entire life has been passed and where he has so directed his labors 
as to win a gratifying measure of prosperity, and at the same time 
make for himself an honorable name. 

FRANKLIN CHAPMAN. 

The agricultural interests of Newberg township find a worthy rep- 
resentative in Franklin Chapman, who is now living on section 17. where 
he owns and operates one hundred and sixty aci'es of land, in connec- 
tion with which he is successfully engaged in stock-raising, making a 
specialty of St. Lambert and Jersey cattle. He was born December 
18, 1853, O" the farm where he yet resides, in a little log cabin which 
was one of the typical pioneer homes of the county. He is descended 



480 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

from an old New England family, his paternal grandfather being Levi 
Chapman, ^vho was a native of Vermont and was of Scotch lineage. 
The father. James M. Chapman, was horn in Medina county, Ohio, 
February 3. 18 18. He came to this state, however, at an early day, 
settling in Cass county in 1844, being the first resident in this part of 
the county, his nearest neighbor being two or three miles away. There 
in the midst of the forest he cleared and developed a farm, cutting away 
the trees l)efore he could plow and cultivate the land. As the years 
passed lie wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the 
lilace, which liecame a well fle\'eloped property, and he resided thereon 
until his death, which occurred when he was in the eighty-first year of 
his age. From the time of the organization of the Republican party he 
was one of its stanch supporters and took an active interest in its growth 
and success. His fellow townsmen frequently called him to office and 
he served as supervisor for a long period, j>erhaps about fourteen years 
in all. He was loyal to every trust reposed in him and his life was in 
entire harmony with his professions as a member of the Baptist church. 
He took a very helpful part in church work, contributed generously of 
his means to its support, assisted in the various church activities and was 
a deacon for many years. He wedded Miss Mary Haggerty, who lived 
to be seventy-four years of age. In their family were two sons, the 
elder being Harvey Chapman, who' died at the age of two years. 

l-'ranklin Chapman, the younger son and the only representative of 
the family now living, was reareil ujion the old farm homestead in New- 
berg township, where he yet resides. At the usual age he began attending 
the district schools and as his age and strength permitted he assisted more 
and more largely in the work of the farm during the summer months, 
aiding in the plowing, planting and harvesting. He was first married 
on the ist of March, 1873, the lady of his choice being Miss Lovina 
Cleveland, who died leaving two children: Mrs. Lulu Van Stallen, who 
is now a widow; and Verna, who is the wife of Arthur Pound, of New- 
berg township. On the 20th of March, 1882, Mr. Chapman was again 
married, his second union lieing with Miss Minnie Williams, a daughter 
of A. H. and Julia .A. (Marshal!) Williams. Mrs. Chapman was born 
in Susquehnnna c(.unty, Pennsylvania, and was brought to Michigan 
when alj-iut five }'ears of age, the family talving up their abode in St. 
Josq^h county. She was f(>urteen years of age when they came to Cass 
county. She pursued her education in Colon, Michigan, and in the In- 
diana Normal .School at Valparaiso, Indiana, and for five years was suc- 
cessfully engaged in teaching in Cass county. She spent two years as 
a teacher in the Vandalia schools and was an able educator, imparting 
readily and impressively to others the knowledge that she had acquired. 
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Chapman have been born three children: Bion 
F., who is at home: Virginia, who is a graduate of the Dowagiac high 
school and of the .\gricultural College and is now engaged in teach- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4,sl 

ing; and Mildred ]., the wife of Leonard R. Norton, a resident farmer 
of Nevvberg township. 

Mr. Chapman is the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of 
arable land on section 17, Newberg township. His farm is divided 
into fields of convenient size by well kept fences and he has good im- 
provements upon the place, including the latest improved machinery 
to facilitate the work of the fields. In his farm work he is practical, 
is systematic in his methods and is accomplishing good results through 
his unremitting diligence. He is now making a specialty of raising 
fine cattle of the St. Lambert and Jersey breeds. In his political views 
Mr. Chapman has always been a stanch and earnest Republican, identi- 
fying himself with the party when age conferred upon him the right of 
franchise. He has served as township treasurer for four years, proving 
a capable officer, but prefers to give his time and energies to his busi- 
ness affairs, in which he is meeting with signal success. 

GEORGE W. HARDY. 

George W. Hardy, the proprietor of the Clover Leaf Dairy Farm, 
situated on section 17, Marcellus township, has prospered in his under- 
takings and is now conducting a successful business. He was born 
near Three Ri\'ers, St. Joseph county, Michigan, on the 17th of Sep- 
tember, 1846, and is a son of George Hardy, Sr., who was a native of 
Yorkshire, England, and came to the United States with his parents, 
who were among the early settlers of St. Joseph county, Michigan, 
locating there when the Indians were numerous and when little was 
done to subjugate the wilderness and convert it into uses for the white 
race. There the father of our subject spent his remaining days, his 
time and energies being given to the development of a farm in the 
midst of the forest and its further improvement as the years went by. 
He lived to the age of sixty years. He married Frances Arney, who 
was born in Pennsylvania, and died in St. Joseph county, Michigan, 
when seventy years of age. She was a daughter of John .Arnev, a 
native of England, who served in the Revolutionary war on the Ameri- 
can side and lost an arm on board ship while acting as a meml^er of the 
na\-y. He received from President Jackson a leather deed to land which 
he entered from the government in St. Joseph county, Michigan, his 
farm lying in Lockport township. This was given him in recognition 
of his military service, and upon this place he remained until called to 
his final rest when he was eighty years of age. In his family were 
four children, including Mrs. Frances Hardy, the mother of our subject. 
In the family of Mr. and Mrs. George Hardy, Sr., were nine 
children : Mar\', deceased ; Joseph, now living in Kansas ; Ruth, de- 
ceased : Mrs. Lydia Dickinson, of St. Joseph county. Michigan : Mrs. 
Jane Fonda, living in Denver, Colorado; John, a resident farmer of 
this county: George W., whose name introduces this record; Charles, 



482 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

who resides in Kalkaska county, this state, and Carrie, who died at the 
age of twenty-six years. 

George W. Hardy spent the period of liis minorit\- upon his 
father's farm and was trained to the labors of the fields, early becom- 
ing familiar through actual experience with all the duties that fall to 
tlie lot of the agriculturist. In 1878 he was married to Miss Lydia A. 
Northrop, who was born in Fairfield, St. Joseph county, Michigan, June 
23, 1858, a daughter of John G. and Maria (Fonda) Northrop, who were 
natives of New York and in their childhood became residents of Mich- 
igan. 

Following his marriage Mr. Hardy began farming on his own 
account, and after a short time he and his wife remo\'ed to the old 
home place near Three Rivers, where they resided until they took up 
their abode on their present place on section 17, Marcellus township, 
twenty-five years ago. Here Mr. Hardy has one hundred and twenty 
acres of land which was partially improved when it came into his pos- 
session. He now has good substantial buildings upon the place, and 
the land has been brought under a high state of cultivation. For some 
years he carried on general farming, but for the past two years has 
made a specialty of dairying, and his place is known as the Clover Leaf 
Dairy. He keeps fifteen Jersey cows and has a wagon from which he 
retails milk in Marcellus, having a good patronage because of the excel- 
lent quality of the milk which he furnishes and his honorable business 
methods. Fie has long been recognized as an active and enterprising 
business man, and his energy and capable management constitute the 
basic elements of his success. 

Mr. Hardy has five children, two by a previous marriage: Orin, 
now living in Chicago ; Minnie, the wife of Milo Vincent, of Porter, 
Michigan; Charles, at home: Elmer, also of Porter: and Lester, at home. 
The father and his four sons are all stanch supporters of the Republi- 
can party, and Mr. Hardy is interested in general progress to the extent 
of giving hearty endorsement and co-operation to those movements 
which are of direct benefit to the community at large and further the 
material, intellectual and political progress of the community. 

ALBERT J. SHANNON. 

Albert J. Shannon is the owner of one of the finest farms in Mar- 
cellus townshi]), situated on an elevation commanding a fine view of 
Fish lake. Moreover he is regarded as a progressive and popular resi- 
dent of this portion of Cass county, and is well known as a successful 
agriculturist and breeder of fine horses. He was born in Huron town- 
•ship, about two miles east of Alton, in Wayne county, New York, 
January 22, 18^4, and is a son of .A.rchibald Shannon, also a native 
of Wavne county, spending his entire life in Huron township, where 
he died when about seventv-seven vears of age. In early manhood he 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4S3 

wedded Miss Mary Hyde, who was Ixirn in Rose, Wayne county. New 
York, and there died, when about twenty-six years of age, a few days 
after the birth of her son Albert, who was her only child. After losing 
his first wife the father married her sister. Miss Jane Hyde, and there 
was one cliild to this marriage, Lester, who is now living in Huron, New 
York. 

Albert J. Shannon was reared in the place of his nativity and 
acquired his education in the public schools. He continued his studies 
in Wayne county until the fall of 1870, when he went to Iowa, spend- 
ing some time in Marshalltown and various other places. A few 
months passed in looking over a favorable location there, but not find- 
ing what he wanted he came to Cass county, Michigan, in the spring 
of 187 1, and bought one hundred and twenty acres of his present 
farm, of which thirty-five acres had been improved. Mr. Sliannon 
cleared the remainder, placed it under the plow, and in course of time 
gathered golden harvests. He also erected good buildings, and he bought 
eighty acres of land adjoining, so that he now has two hundred acres 
in his home place, which is situated on sections 5, 8 and 9, Marcellus 
township. He also bought sixty acres on section 4 of the same town- 
ship, and now has an excellently improved property. He has placed 
under cultivation altogether about one hundred and fifty acres of land, 
and his well developed farm is indicative of his care and labor, his pro- 
gressive methods and the determination with which he carries forward 
to successful completion whatever he undertakes. 

In 1862 occurred the marriage of Albert J. Shannon and Miss Jane 
Gatchell, who was born in Van Buren township, Wayne county. New 
York, a daughter of Elisha and Margaret (Britton) Gatchell. ' They 
have one son, Herbert, who is now living in Calhoun county, Michigan. 
They have also reared an adopted daughter, Kate Moon, who is mar- 
ried and resides in Chicago. The home of the family is a beautiful 
farm, in fact hardly equalled in Marcellus township. The family resi- 
dence is situated on an elevation commanding a splendid view of Fish 
lake, the landscape presenting altogether a beautiful picture. In addi- 
tion to the cultivation and improvement of the farm he is well known 
as an extensive and successful breeder of fine horses, and has placed upon 
the market some splendid specimens of the noble steed. His political 
allegiance is given to the Republican party, and he was its candidate for 
supervisor. He is active in its ranks, and for two years he served as 
highway commissioner. For thirty years he has been a Mason and has 
served as master of the lodge and high priest of the chapter at Marcellus. 
He is a charter member of the chapter, having joined the organization 
when capitular Masonry was first introduced into that town. Mr. 
Shannon is both popular and progressive, a business man of enterprise 
and in his social relations he displays those qualities which win warm 
friendships and high regard. 



484 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



EDGAR J. CARD. 



Edgar J. Card is one of the extensive land owners of Cass county, 
having in one tract three hundred and seventy-three acres, but half be- 
longs to his sister, Mrs. Fulton, upon which he has lived since 1898. 
This constitutes one of the valuable farms of the county. It is located 
on section 20, Volinia township, and is improved with modern equip- 
ments and accessories, many of which have been placed thereon by the 
present owner. Mr. Card is one of the native sons of the township, his 
birth having occurred here on the 9th of February, 1856. The family 
name has figured long and prominently in connection with the develop- 
ment and improvement of this portion of the state. His paternal grand- 
parents were Jonathan and Elizabeth Card, who came from Ohio to 
Cass county in a very early day, locating in Volinia township, where 
Jonathan Card entered land from the government. He was a typical 
pioneer citizen, courageously meeting the hardships and trials of frontier 
life in order to establish a home for his family and his labor proved a 
factor in the substantial development and improvement which has fol- 
lowed the united and concerted labors of the early settlers. 

Isaac N. Card, father of our subject, was born in Ohio, and with his 
parents came to Cass county, here being reared, educated and married. 
In fact he continued a resident of Volinia township up to the time of 
his death, which occurred when he was about seventy-six years of age. 
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Nancy Shaw, still resides in 
Volinia township. By her marriage she became the mother of one son 
and two daughters, namely : Julia, now the wife of Henry Hepworth, 
of Kansas; Mrs. Orley Fulton, and Edgar J., of this review. 

The youngest of the family. Edgar J. Card was reared in Volinia 
township and was given good educational privileges, pursuing his studies 
in the village school of Volinia, also in Decatur and later in the Indiana 
Normal School at Valparaiso. He was thus well equipped for life's 
]")ractical and responsible duties by thorough mental training, which 
stimulated his latent talents and prepared him to meet the business 
duties and obligations that devolved upon him as he started out in life 
on his own account. He lived at home np to the time of his marriage, 
and then settled upon a farm on section 21, Volinia township, where he 
resided imtil 1898, when he Ixiught his present farm, the tract compris- 
ing three hundred and seventy-three acres of rich and valuable land 
all in one body, but half of tliis land belongs to his sister, Mrs. Fulton. 
He has since given his attention to general farming, raising the various 
cereals best adapted to soil and climate. He also has good grades of 
stock upon bis farm and the buildings are in keeping with ideas of 
modern progress. He also owns a sawmill on section 21, Volinia town- 
ship, which he operates in addition to his agricultural pursuits. 

On the 14th (if October, 1879, Mr. Gard married Miss Flora War- 
ner, a daughter of James H. and Rachel (Rich) Warner. She was 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 486 

born in Cass county, her parents being pioneers of this part of the state. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ganl now have one son, Dana \V., who is pursuing his 
education in tlie schools of Decatur. Fraternally Mr. Gard is connected 
with the Knights of the Maccabees, while politically he is a Republican, 
having never faltered in his allegiance to the party since he cast his first 
vote. All his life he has lived in this county and he is a typical western 
man, alert and enterprising. He possesses an indomitable spirit and 
strong will that have been factors in winning for him his present desira- 
ble success, enabling him to overcome all the difficulties and obstacles 
which checker every business career. He is a man of strong convic- 
tions, quick to discern the best course to pursue. Difficulties vanish 
before him as mist before the morning sun and he is penetrative and 
practical in all that he does. 

W. R. KIREY. 

\\'. R. Kirby, filling the office (if supervisor in Volinia township, 
resides on section 21. and his attention is given to the development and 
improvement of his farm, which comprises a good tract of arable and 
productive land. He was born in Otsego county, New York, near 
Cooperstown, December 31, 1843, 'i"'^ 's of English lineage. His 
parents weie John and Mary J. (RousC") Kirby, the former a native of 
England and the latter of New York. _ Mr. Kirby was born in York- 
shire. England, and was only about two years old when brought by his 
parents to Michigan, the family home being established in the Empire 
state, where he was reared. On leaving the east he came to Michigan, 
settling in Flowerfiekl township, St. Joseph county. His wife spent 
her girlhood days in the Empire state and by her marriage she became 
the mother of eight children, three sons and five daughters, of whom 
seven reached years of maturity. 

\\'. R. Kirby, the second child and eldest son in the family, was 
only about three years old when brought by his parents to Michigan. 
His childhood and youth were therefore passed in Flowei-field town- 
ship, St. Joseph county, where he was reared in the usual manner of 
farm lads of that period, working in the fields through the summer 
months, while in the winter seasons he acquired a fair English educa- 
tion in the district schools. He continued a resident of St. Joseph 
countv until 1865, when he came to Cass county, settling in Volinia 
township. He began keeping house on the farm where he now resides. 
and in 1877 he was married to Miss Maiy J. Mack, a daughter of 
William and Theressa (Wykoff) Mack. He brought his bride to the 
farm upon which they yet reside and here he has continuously carried 
on general agricultural pursuits. Year bv year he has tilled his fields, 
and through the rotation of crop.s and the careful management of his 
business affairs he has been able to secure good harvests and to find a 
ready sale for his products upon the market. 



486 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Mr. anil Mrs. Kirby have no children of their own, Ijut have reared 
two adopted children, Joseph M. and Anna B. Mr. Kirby is deeplv in- 
terested iri political issues and ciuestions of the day, and has always kept 
well informed on subjects of vital interest to the community, the state 
and the nation. He has voted with the Republican party since attaining 
his majority and has held various local offices, being first called to the 
position of path master. He has also been township treasurer for two 
years, was town clerk for twenty years, and in 1905 was elected super- 
visor on tlie Republican ticket. His official record has been creditable 
and commendable, and no public trust reposed in him has ever been 
betrayed in the slightest degree. He belongs to Volinia Lodge, No. 
227, A. F. & A. M., of which he is a charter member, and he is in 
hearty sympathy with the purposes of the craft. For more than forty 
years he has lived in the county and he has been found to be trustworthy 
in business and progressive in citizenship, while in social relations he 
is genial, companionable and entertaining. 

JOHN HUFF. 

John Huff, one uf the pioneer settlers of southern Michigan, is 
living on a farm of .two hundred and sixty acres on section 17, Volinia 
township, and his life of activity and well-directed effort is indicated 
by his ownership of this property, for he started out in life empty- 
handed and all that he now possesses and enjoys has been gained through 
his persistent labor and capable management. His natal day was August 
3, 1833, and the place of his birth near Springfield, in Clark county, 
Ohio. His father, Amos Huff, was born in New Jersey, and in his 
boyhood days accompanied his parents to Pennsylvania. He was a 
son of James Huff, of German descent. On leaving the Keystone state 
he removed to Clark county, Ohio, and was there married to Miss Mar- 
garet Case, whose birth occurred in Northumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, but who was reared in Ohio. Her father was John Case, one of 
the pioneer settlers of Butler county, Ohio. Amos Huff came first to 
Michigan in 1833 but did not take up his permanent abode here at that 
time. In 1834, however, he returned with his family to Cass countv 
and identified his interests with those of the pioneer settlers. He 
secured land from the government, entering a claim in Volinia town- 
ship, and as the years passed his attention was directerl to farm labor, 
his fields being placed under a^^igh state of cultivation. Not a furrow 
had been turned nor an improvement made when he took possession of 
his farm, but with characteristic energ}- he began the arduous task of 
cultivation and development, and in the course of years had a valuable 
property. His life was honorable and upright in all things and he was 
regarded as an exemplary and devoted member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, in which he served as class leader, while in the various 
departments nf church work he took an active and helpful interest. He 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4S7 

died in his eighty-tifth year, while his wife passed away when about 
eighty years of age. They were people of the highest respectability, 
and in their death the county lost two of its worthy pioneer representa- 
ti\-es. They had a family of nine children, six sons and three daughters, 
and with one exception all reached adult age, but only three are now 
living, the brothers of our subject being James Huff, a resident of 
Mrmntain View. California, and Clark, who is living in Volinia town- 
ship. 

John Huff was only a year old when brought to Cass county and 
was reared in Volinia township, where he has spent his entire life. 
He has vivid recollections of pioneer conditions when the homes of the 
settlers were largely log cabins. There would be an immense fire-place 
which was used for heating purposes and also served to cook the meals, 
whicli were prepared in huge kettles hung from the crane or else in 
covered iron skillets which were placed among the coals. The first 
school house in Volinia township was built in 1833 in the district in 
which Mr. Huff resided, and there he pursued his early education, 
mastering the tasks assigned in reading, writing, arithmetic and other 
elementary branches. His training at farm labor was not meager, for 
his aid was needed in the development and care of the fields, so that he 
had practical experience when he started out as a farmer on his own 
account. He remained at home up to the time of his marriage, which 
occurred in 1872. Miss Eliza J. Wright becoming his wife. She was 
a daughter of James and .Sarah (Giffis) Wright, and was born in Volinia 
township. Her parents were pioneer settlers of the county and she was 
early trained to household duties. Mr. and Mrs. Huff began their 
domestic life in a log house upon his farm, occupying it imtil the erec- 
tion of the present substantial and commodious frame residence in 1882. 
As the years went by three children were added to the family : Amy 
and Otis were born in the cabin home, and are still living; and Harley, 
who died in his second year. 

The home farm of Mr. Huff embraces two hundred and sixty acres 
of land, wliich through care and cultivation has become very productive. 
He has placed all of the buildings upon his property, including his 
modern home, his barns and sheds. He has also fenced the place and has 
plowed and harvested crops which have found a ready sale on the mar- 
ket, thus bringing to him an enlarged income each year. He has also 
been active in public affairs and for four years served as township treas- 
urer, while for eighteen years he was township supervisor. In all things 
pertaining to the good of the community he has taken an active and 
helpful interest, and he was formerly a member of the Volinia Anti- 
Horse Thief Society, serving as its secretary for thirty years. He yet 
belongs to the Masonic lodge of Volinia and has the kindly regard of 
his brethren of the fraternity. A self made man, as the architect of his 
own fortunes he has builded wisely and well, and his life record proves 



488 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

what can be accomplished wlien one possesses laudable ambition and 
unfaltering determination. He started out in limited financial circum- 
stances but is now one of the prosperous residents of his township. 

GEORGE LONGSDUFF. 

While "the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the 
strong," the invariable law of destiny accords to tireless energy and 
indefatigable effort a measure of success which is gratifying and desir- 
able. The truth of this assertion is verified in the life record of such 
men as George Longsduti', who in his active business career has so 
directed his efforts that he is now enabled to live retired, making his 
home in Vandalia. He was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, 
on the i6th of March, 1826, and has therefore long passed the psalmist's 
span of three score years and ten. His paternal grandfather, Martin 
Longsduff, Sr., was a native of Germany, and in that country was 
reared and married. Crossing the Atlantic to the new world he became 
one of the early residents of Pennsylvania. In his family were ten 
children, of whom Martin Longsduff, Jr., was the eldest. Pie was a 
native of the same state and was there reared and educated. He was 
married twice and in 1834 he removed from Pennsylvania to Ohio, 
taking up his abode in Union township, Logan county, where he secured 
a tract of land and improved a farm. He lemained a resident of that 
state for almost four decades and came to Michigan in 1872. Here he 
spent his remaining days, passing away at the age of eighty-five years. 
In his religious views he was a Lutheran, and he exemplified in his 
life his belief in the teachings of holy writ. The mother of our subject 
bore the maiden name of Matilda Ouigley, and was a natiye of Hagers- 
town, New Jersey, where her girlhood days were passed. She was the 
second wife of Martin Longsduff, his former union having been with a 
Miss Searfoss, by whom he had one daughter, Elizabeth. By the 
second marriage there were I'orn ele\-en children, one of whom died 
in early youth, while ten reached adult age and four of the number, 
two sons and two daughters, are still living and are residents of Cass 
county. 

Mr. Longsduff', of this review, is the fifth child and third son in 
the family. He spent the first eight years of his life in the state of 
his nativity and then accompanied liis parents on their removal to 
Logan county, Ohio, where he remained until he was twenty-one years 
of age. His educational privileges were those afforded by the common 
schools, and when not busy with his text-books he aided his father in 
tilling the soil, caring for the crops and performing such labor as was 
necessary in the development and cultivation of the home farm. The 
year 1847 witnessed his arrival in Cass county, and he then started out 
upon an independent business career. He located first in Penn town- 
ship, and as it was necessary that he provide for his own support he 




'l^-u.-^ c/ c^-^ ej^^ly^,^ 




cLeJi^C Of J-^^-^ ^^'^'^-i^' 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 489 

began working by tbe day, making rails. He also engaged in ditching 
and in otber such work as would yield him an honest living and gain 
him a start in business life. At the time of his marriage he located on 
a farm on section 14, Penn township, his home l^eing a little log cabin 
to which he had to cut a road through the woods for two miles. Not 
a furrow had been turned or an improvement made on, the farm, and 
in the midst of the green forest he began the arduous task of clearing 
and cultivating fields. In the course of time he had cut down the 
trees, grubbed nut the stumps and plowed his land. The seed was 
then planteil and in due course of time rich harvests were gathered. 
He also built a good barn and bouse, and remained upon his farm 
until October. 1872. He was practical in his methods, systematic in 
all that he did. and accomplished through energy and determination 
and assisted by his estimable wife, an excellent work that has contribu- 
ted to the general agricultural progress of the county and at the same 
time brought to him a very desirable competence. In the year 1S72 
he left bis farm and removed to Vandalia. where he has since resided. 
He began with only eighty acres of land, to which he added forty 
acres. Subsequently he sold that property and bought one hundred 
and eightv acres on sections 14. 24, 13 and 23, all, however, being com- 
prised within one tract. After leaving the farm and locating in Van- 
dalia he turned his attention to dealing in grain, fruit and stock, and 
conducted quite extensive operations in those lines of trade. He was 
ever watchful of opportunities pointing to success and his diligence, 
well formulated plans and unremitting attention to his business won 
for him still further success. Within the last two or three years he has 
given little attention to farming, simply supervising his landed interests, 
for he has rented his farm. In connection with his other interests Mr. 
Longsdufif was a promoter of the creamei-y at Vandalia, and is presi- 
dent of the company. This has proved an important productive industry 
of the communit}'-, furnishing an excellent market for farmers keeping a 
large numlier of cows, and at the same time it has been a source of grati- 
fying income to the stockholders. 

On the 9th of February, 185 1, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
Longsduff and Miss Rachel S. Dodge, a daughter of Joseph and Ann 
(DePuy) Dodge. She was born in New York, near Baldwinsville, 
and was about eight years of age when she came w'ith her parents to 
Michigan, the family home being established in Cass county. She has 
thus spent the greater part of her life here, and to her husband she has 
been a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey, ably assist- 
ing him by her encouragement and also by her careful management of 
the household affairs. Unto them was born a son. Charles D., who is 
now deceased. He married Jennie Mulrine, and they had two daugh- 
ters. Lucile and Georgiana. both of whom have been well educated in a 
business wav. 



4i)0 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Charles D. Longsduff, Ijoni January 27, 1861, died September 19, 
1892, and was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery, Cassopolis, Michigan. 
The funeral was conducted by the Masonic order and was one of the 
largest ever held in the place, which was an evidence of the high esteem 
his life had merited, and in which he was held by the whole community. 
He was kind and obliging in all his business transactions with his 
neighbors, a kind and indulgent father and husband, and is very much 
missed by the whole community. At his death he left a wife, two 
daughters and a host of friends. 

The daughter, Lucile, is well educated, having attended the Com- 
mercial College of South Bend. Indiana, and was there employed by 
one of the responsible firms of the city. She is a fine pianist. Georgiana, 
the second daughter, graduated in the Vandalia High School in the 
class of 1906. and was the leader of the class. She passed her teacher's 
examination in the studies before she was eighteen years of age. It is 
expected by her grandparents to fit her for the teacher's life. The grand- 
parents took these little girls and have reared and educated them and 
cared for them as if they were their own children. Surely they have 
fallen into good hands, when Grandfather and Grandmother Longsduff 
have assumed the care and education of them. 

George Longsduff is an earnest advocate of Democratic principles, 
having supported the party since 1840 and taking an active interest 
in its work and progress. He has been called to various local offices, 
serving as supervisor for two years, also as a member of the school 
board and president of the village of Vandalia for about seven terms, 
during which time he has given to the village a public spirited and prac- 
tical administration, resulting beneficially along many Imes. He has 
also been a member of the village board for many years, and throughout 
his official service his course has been prompted by untiring devotion to 
the welfare of his community. He has long been an active member of 
the Masonic fraternity, with which he became identified in 1852. He 
is now the oldest living Mason initiated in Cass county, being the fourth 
member received into the first lodge of the county. He acted as worship- 
ful master of Vandalia lodge for thirteen years, and has been very 
earnest and helpful in his work in connection with the craft. He be- 
came a charter member of the lodge at Vandalia, and both he and his 
wife are members of the Order of the Eastern Star, in which Mrs. 
Longsduff is now serving as chaplain, while Mr. Longsduff is its treas- 
urer. .She belongs to the Christian church, in which she is a very 
active and helpful worker, and although not a member Mr. Longsduff 
has contributed liberally to the support of the church and has been 
active in all things pertaining to the good of the county. His residence 
in Penn township covers fifty-seven years, and he has Ijeen identified 
with the making of the county from an early epoch in its pioneer ex- 
istence down to the present era of progress and prosperity. There was 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4U1 

onJy one public road in the township when he located here. He has 
ever favored good roads, good schools and in fact all interests that tend 
to advance the material, intellectual, political, social and moral welfare 
of the community. In a review of his life history is seen that he has 
ever been busy and active, and upon the substantial qualities of persever- 
ance and diligence he has placed his dependence with good results. 

JOHN LEWIS ROEBECK. 

The farming interests find a worthy representative in John Lewis 
Roebeck, who is living on section 6, Milton township. He has here 
one hundred and twenty acres of land that is arable and productive, 
responding readily to the care and cultivation which he bestows upon it, 
and he has made it a valuable property. Moreover his fidelity to the 
public good is manifest in various offices which he has ably filled. A 
native of Germany, he was bom in the province of Posen on the i ith of 
December, 1840. His father, John Roebeck, was also a native of that 
country and came to Amei'ica about 1873. His last days were spent 
in Niles,_ Berrien county. Michigan, where he departed this life when 
about sixty-five years of age. In early manhood he had married Anna 
Kruger, who was also born in Germany and died in that countrv. There 
were three children in the family, two daughters and a son. 

John Lewis Roebeck, of this review, was reared in his native 
country and attended the common schools until fourteen years of age 
in accordance with the laws of that land. His youth was also given to 
farm labor and when about twenty-five years of age he entered the em- 
ploy of the government, being overseer of the government forest re- 
serve until 1871. Thinking that he would have better advantages in 
the new w^orld and that business opportunities might more readily come 
to him here, he sailed for the United States in 1871, first locating in 
Michigan City, Indiana. He scorned no employment that would jneld 
him an honest living and began here by chopping wood. For six years 
he remained in Michigan City, and then removed to Vandalia, Cass 
county, Michigan, where he entered the employ of the Michigan Central 
Railroad Company as a section hand, being thus engaged for three 
years. He was then appointed night watchman at the handle factory 
in Vandalia. occupying that position for two and a half years, after 
which he purchased a farm in Penn township, comprising eighty acres 
of land. He then located upon this farm, which he sold after two years, 
at the end of which time he rented a farm in Calvin township. There 
he continued to reside for about three years, when he went to Jefferson 
township, where he again rented land, living on three different farms 
in that township during a period of eight years. All this time he worked 
energetically and persistently, and as the result of his earnest labor 
and his industry he acquired the competence that enabled him to purchase 
the farm upon which he now resides on section 6, Milton township. 
Here he owns one hundred and twentv acres of land which has been 



492 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

made araljle and productive l>y reason of the cultivation whicli is be- 
stowed uixin it. Year after year lie has worked hard in order to make 
his farm a valuable property, and is now enjoying the fruits of his toil 
in the ownership of richly cultivated fields which annually return to him 
good harvests. 

Mr. Roebeck was married in 1862 to Miss Amelia Hanke, also a 
native of the province of Posen, Germany. Unto this union have been 
born ten children : Charles, at home ; Anson, a farmer of Berrien 
county ; Frederick, at home ; Flermann, of whom mention is later made ; 
Emma, at home; Bertha, the wife of Yust Reum, of Milton township; 
Augusta, the wife of Wilhelm Reum, of Milton township; Minnie, the 
wife of Edward Geidemann, who is living in Niles; Hattie, at home; 
and Catherine, who is engaged in teaching. The family circle yet re- 
mains unbroken by the hand of death, and five of the children were born 
in Cass county. Hermann Roelieck, who was born in Penn township, 
January 6, 1878, took an active part in politics and was elected recorder 
of deeds in 1900. He held the office for four years, having been re- 
elected in igo2. He was township clerk of Milton township at the time 
he was chosen to the county office, and. at all times he has been found 
faithful and loyal to the trust reposed in him. For one term he was 
school inspector. Tn the spring of 1906 he was elected supervisor of 
Milton township on the Democratic ticket. He now resides in Milton 
town.ship, although he was engaged in the real estate business in Niles, 
Michigan. Fraternally he is connected with the Elks lodge at Dowagiac. 

John L. Roebeck exercises his right of franchise in support of tlie 
men and measures of the Democracy, and has been called upon to fill 
a number of jnililic positions by those of his fellow townsmen who 
recognize in him a trustworthv and progressive citizen. He has been 
justice of the peace for two terms and his decisions were fair and im- 
partial. He was highway commissioner for one term and is now a mem- 
ber of the board of review. INIr. Roebeck has a wide and favorable ac- 
quaintance in this county and with pleasure we present the history of 
his life to the readers of this volume. 

JOHN MARCKFF. 

John ^larckle, one of the leading and energetic farmers of ]\Tilton 
township, who resides on section 20, was torn in Stark county. Ohio, 
December 25. 1841. His father, Peter Marckle, was a native of Ger- 
manv, where he was reared and educated. He came to America prior 
til his niarriase and in Ohio was joined in wedlock to Miss Catharine 
Klein, who <lied during the early bovhood of her son John. There 
were three children in the family, of whom Mr. Marckle, of this review, 
is the second child and eldest son. 

He was onlv six vears of age when he accnnipanied his fatlicr on 
the removal from Ohio to Indiana, locating in St. Joseph county, where 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 493 

he continued until about twenty years of age. No event of special im- 
portance occurred to vary ihe routine of farm life for him in his boy- 
hood days, as he worked in field and meadow during the greater part 
of the year, and in the winter seasons attended school. He then came 
to Cass county, JNIichigan, making his way to Milton township, where 
he worked by the month as a farm hand until after the inauguration 
of the Civil war. He then enlisted for service in the Union army in 
1862 as a member of Company F, Twelfth Michigan Volunteer In- 
fantry. He joined the army as a private, but after about six months 
was promoted to second sergeant and carried the colors for two years. 
He was in the battles of Shiloh, luka, Hatch's Run and many others, 
including the engagements at Vicksburg, Mechanicsburg and Little 
Rock, Arkansas. He reported e\ery da}^ for duty and was always 
faithful to the call made upon him for any sennce that contributed to 
the interests of the army and thus led to the final result which crowned 
the Union arms. Fie was more than four years in active service, 
having enlisted on the 22d of February. 1862. while on the 6th of 
March, 1866, he was honorably discharged. He proved a brave and 
loyal soldier on many a southern battlefield and participated in the 
grand review in Washington. D. C, where the victorious Union troops 
marched through the streets of the city and passed the reviewing stand 
where they were cheered by the president and other distinguished men 
of the nation as well as by thousands of northern people who rejoiced 
that the war was over and that so many soldiers had Ijeen spared. 

When the country no longer needed his aid Mr. Marckle returned 
to Cass county and bought the farm upon which he now resides. He 
has added to this place until he has two hundred and six acres of land 
which is well improved. By following the rotation of crops and care- 
fully cultivating his fields he has made his farm very productive, and 
the rich land returns to him a gratifying annual income from the sale 
of his harvests. 

Mr. Marckle was married in 1867 to ]\Iiss Elizalseth Landgraf. 
a native of Germany and a daughter of Michael Landgraf, who was 
also born in that country. This union has been blessed with two 
children, a son and a daughter. Flora, who is now the widow of Charles 
\y. Zeitter. Mr. Marckle has always taken an active interest in public 
affairs and does everything in his power to promote the best interests 
of the community, displaying the same loyalty which he manifested when 
he followed the old flag on southern battlefields. He has always voted 
with the' Democracy and is firm in support of his honest convictions. 
He believes that the principles of that party contain the best elements 
of good government, and he has never wavered in his allegiance thereto. 
He has been justice of the peace and township treasurer and has held 
all of the school offices. He served as highw-ay commissioner in an early 
day and is interested in evers' movement that pertains to the upbuilding 
of the schools, the improvement of the roads or the substantial devel- 



494: HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

opment of llie county in any direction. He was also a member of the 
grand jur}- in 1905. In a review of his Hfe work we note many sahent 
cliaracteristics which are most commendable. Without extraordinary 
family or pecuniaiy advantages at the outset of his career he has labored 
energetically and persistently year after year. He started out when 
a poor boy, having no capital save his strong determination and willing 
hands. These qualities have constituted the basis of his success, and as 
the architect of his own fortunes he has builded wisely and well. 

GEORGE W. SMITH. 

In a history devoted to the early settlers and the men who in later 
years have been factors in the substantial growth, progress and upbuild- 
ing of Cass county, mention should be made of George W. Smith, who 
at an early day in the development of this part of the state took up his 
abode in Cass county. He now resides on section 16, Milton township, 
where he has good farming interests, owning and operating one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land, which constitutes a neat and well kept 
farm. He was born in Kent county, Delaware, January 10, 1831. His 
father, Manlove Smith, was also a native of that state, and was there 
reared, married, lived and died, passing away when about sixty years 
of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary M. McKnett, 
was a native of Delaware, and died when about fifty-eight years of age. 
In their family were seven children, of whom two passed away in 
infancy, while five reached luanhood or womanhood. Only one daughter 
is now living. 

Mr. Smith is the youngest of this family and was only two years 
old when his father died, and a little lad of but six summers at the time 
of his mother's death. Thus left an orphan he was reared by his eldest 
brother, with whom he remained to the age of sixteen years on the old 
family homestead in the east. He then started out in life for himself 
and whatever success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his own 
enterprise and labors. He worked as a farm hand by the month or day 
and to some extent was employed in a store owned by his brother ar 
Greenville. Delaware. The opportunities of the new and growing west, 
however, attracted him, and he resolved to seek his fortune in Mich- 
igan. Accordingly he made his way to this state in 1854. settling 
in Cass county, and for more than a half century he has resided here, 
being actively connected with its farming interests to tlie benefit of the 
county and to the promotion of his own individual resources. 

.\s a companion and helpmate for life's journey Mr. Smith chose 
Miss Josephine B. Powell, to whom he was married on the i6th of 
December, 1S56, her parents being Thomas and Mariam f Bowman) 
Powell, who were also natives of Kent county, Delaware. They came 
to Cass county in 1834, locating in Milton township, when there were 
few settlers in this part of the state. All around them was wild and 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 41)5 

unimproved. The tinilier was uncut and the land uncultivated, but 
they cast in their lut w ith tiie early settlers and aided in reclaiming this 
district for the uses of civilization. Mrs. Smith was less than a year 
old when brought by her parents to Milton township, and has always 
resided in this county. 

At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Smith locaterl on the 
old family homestead in Milton township, where they remained for 
about four years, when they took up their abode upou the farm where 
Mr. Smith now resides. Here he has lived for forty-six years and the 
splendid appearance of the place with its well tilled fields, good build- 
ings and modern accessories, is indicative of the practical and enter- 
prising spirit of the owner. 

As the years went by six children were torn unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Smith: Truman M., who is now living in Houston, Texas; Thomas F., 
at home; Redora M., the wife of Arza G. Griffin, who resides in Aurora, 
Illinois ; William C, who married Pearl Clark and is living in Granger, 
Indiana; Robert G., deceased, and Clarence P.. who married Miss Ger- 
trude Abbott and is living in Milton township. All were born in Milton 
township, Cass county. 

Mr. Smith has been a lifelong farmer and is now the owner of 
one hundred and sixty acres, constituting a well improved farm. He 
started out in life on his own account empty-handed, but has worked 
earnestly and persistently, and as the years have gone by has achieved 
both success and an honored name. He has been identified with the 
county from its early history, and while carrying on his individual busi- 
ness pursuits has at the same time promoted public progress along lines 
of substantial advancement. He has taken an active and helpful interest 
in matters pertaining to the general welfare, and for many years has 
supported the Republican party. For about sixty years he and his wife 
have been members of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has 
held all of the offices, taking an active part in its work and doing all in 
his power to promote its influence and growth. He has been true to 
its teachings, and his close adherence to its principles has made his life 
an upright and honorable one. He has been straightforward in his 
business dealings, considerate of the rights of others and true to high 
and manly principles, and as one of the early settlers and successful 
farmers of the county he certainly deserves mention in this volume. 

\\TLLIAM E. PARSONS. 

William E. Parsons, prominent among the old settlers of Cass 
county, his home being on section 23, Milton township, has for more 
than a half century resided in this part of the state. He has seen the 
country develop from a wild region with only a few white inhabitants 
to a rich agricultural district containing thousands of good homes and 
acres of growing towns inhabited by an industrious, prosperous, en- 



496 HISTORY OF CASS COUxNTY 

lighteneil and progressive people. He, too, has participated in and 
assisted the slow, persistent work of development which was necessary 
to produce a change that is so complete that the county of today bears 
scarcely any resemblance to the district in which he spent his boyhood 
days. 

Mr. Parsons is, however, a native of Milton township, born Jan- 
uary 1 8, 1851. His father, Benjamin Parsons, was a native of Dela- 
ware and came to Cass county, Michigan, about 1845, settling in Milton 
township. He died when forty-five years of age and w-as long survived 
by his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Abbott and was a na- 
tive of Delaware. Her death occurred in Milton township in 1892, 
when she had reached the age of sixty-five years. They were the 
parents of seven children, one of whom died in infancy, while all the 
others reached manhood or womanhood and are still living. 

William E. Parsons is the second child of the family and was 
reared in the usual manner of farm lads, no event of special importance 
occurring to vary tlie routine of farm labor and school work in his 
youth. He attended the common district schools, thus acquiring a good 
practical education, and he has always followed the occupation tO' which 
he was reared, engaging in general farming. He has also carried on 
threshing for about twenty-five years in this county, and has thus be- 
come well known here. 

Mr. Parsons has taken an active and helpful interest in public 
affairs, his progressive citizenship standing as an unquestioned fact in 
his career. He votes with the Democracy and has held many offices in 
his township. He was treasurer for two years and supervisor for six 
years, being elected to the latter office for several terms. His entire 
life lias been passed in this county and he is closely indentified with 
its farming interests. He now owns ninety-two acres of good land 
on section 23, Milton township, and has brought his farm under a high 
state of cultivation, adding to^ it modern equipments and so developing 
the fields that be now annually harvests rich crops. 

JOHN H. YOUNG. 

John H. Young, residing on section 9. Milton township, and now 
filling the position of township treasurer, was born in St. Joseph county. 
Indiana, September 2. 1861. His father, Jacob Young, was a native of 
Germany and was brought to America when only nine years of age, 
the familv home being established in Ohio. There he was reared to 
the age of sixteen years, when he removed to Indiana with his parents, 
George and Catharine Young, who located in St. Joseph county, being 
among the early families of that part of the state. Having arrived at 
years of maturity Jacob Young was married there to Miss Catharine 
Cocher, who was born in Pennsylvania hut was reared in St. Jo-seph 
county, Indiana, where her people located upon a farm. Mrs. Young 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 4!J7 

passed away in October, 1903. but Jacob Young is still living. There 
were three children in the family: Millie, now the wife of Frank 
KiefYer, of South Bend, Indiana; John H., of this review, and Kittie, 
who is the wife of William Reaves, of South Bend, Indiana. 

John K. Young, the only son of the family, was reared in the 
county of his nativity, and pursued his education in the Harrison 
Prairie schools. He remained at home until twenty-eight years of age, 
assisting in the work of the farm, and the knowledge thus gained of 
the practical methods of tilling the soil and cultivating the fields enabled 
him to successfully carry on general farming when he secured a home 
of his own. 

Mr. Young was married in 18S9 to Miss Cora Butts, a daughter 
of ]\Irs. Mary J. Butts, of Milton township, Cass county, in which 
locality Mrs. Young was born. Mr. Young has been a resident of Mil- 
ton township for sixteen years, and has been active and influential in 
public affairs. He is a stanch supporter of the Democracy, holding 
office for a number of years. He was elected township treasurer in 1905 
and has acted in other local positions. He was also elected highway 
commissioner but refused to qualify. No public trust reposed in him 
has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree, for he is ever loyal to 
the general good and puts forth his best efforts for the welfare and up- 
building of the community. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Young have been born two children, Charlie 
and Lloyd. The family home is on a farm of one hundred and seventy 
acres, all of which Mr. Young cultivates, giving his attention to general 
agricultural pursuits. In tilling the soil he has followed practical meth- 
ods and has secured excellent results, and he annually gathers golden 
harvests as a reward for the care and labor which he bestows upon his 
place. Socially he is connected with the Knights of the Maccabees and 
with the Masons. He is also a member of the Methodist church, and 
these membership relations indicate the character of the man and the 
principles which govern his conduct and are manifest in his daily life — 
principles which in every land and clime command respect and awaken 
confidence. 

LEWIS C. VAN ANTWERP. 

Lewis C. Van Antwerp, who is conducting a meat market in Ed- 
wardsburg, was born in Ontwa township, Mav 10, 1856. His father. 
Simon Van Antwerp, was a native of New York and became one of 
the pioneer settlers of Cass county, Michigan, his youth, however, 
being passed in the Empire state, further mention of whom is made 
in connection with the sketch of G. H. Redfield on another page of this 
Avork. 

Upon the old home farm in Ontwa township Lewis C. Van Ant- 
werp spent the first four years of his life. His father then removed 
to South Bend, Indiana, where his death occurred when the son Lewis 



498 HISTORY OK CASS COUNTY 

was but eleven }-ears of age. Tlie latter afterward returned to Ontwa 
township and has since been a resident of Cass county. He devoted his 
time and energies to agricultural pursuits between the ages of eleven and 
thirty-six years, and also engaged in operating a threshing machine in 
his early mJinhood. About the time he attained his majority he rented 
land from George Redfield and was engaged in farming for several 
years. Later he removed to Mason township, where he rented another 
farm of Mr. Redfield. When his financial resources made other purchase 
possible he added five acres from Mrs. Joy, and then twenty-six acres 
of land to the other tract, buying the latter of George Ketchum. All 
of this was wild and unimproved, but he cleared and cultivated it, 
transforming it into productive fields. As the years went by his labors 
brought to him a good financial return and his farm work resulted in 
the improvement of a splendid property. He resided thereon until 1892, 
when he removed to Cassopolis, where he embarked in the butchering 
business, continuing in the trade there for seven years. In 1899 he 
came to Edwardsburg, where he again opened a meat market, and has 
since been identified with the business interests of the city in this wav. 

Mr. Van Antwerp was married in 1883 to Miss Bertha L. Schutt, 
a daughter of A. S. and Lydia Schutt, and a native of Noble county. 
Indiana, born July 7, 1858. She resided there with her parents until 
about ten years of age when, in 1868, the family removed to Elkhart 
county, Indiana, where Mrs. Van Antwerp lived until she reached 
womanhood. She has become the mother of two children : Blenn, 
who was born in Mason township, April 19, 1885, and HaiTnon, born 
in Cassopolis, December 9. 1898. The elder was graduated from the 
high school of Edwardsburg. 

Mr. Van Antwerp is a Republican and a member of the Woodmen 
camp at Edwardsburg. He has little desire for public office, preferring 
to give his attention to his business affairs, and whatever success he has 
attained is attributable to his close application, earnest purpose and 
honorable methods. 

E. F. LEWIS. 

E. F. Lewis, who for many years was engaged actively in farm 
work, but who now rents his land and makes his home in Vandalia. 
where he took up his abode about 1898. has been associated with events 
which have molded the pioneer history of the county and have contrib- 
uted to its later development. He is one of the older native sons of 
Cass countv, his birth having occurred in Newberg township on the 
8th of November, 1847. His father, J. W. Lewis, was a native of New 
York, in which state he was reared, but was married in Ohio, the 
wedding taking place in Medina county, where he won the hand of Miss 
Emilv Ferguson, a native of that county. In the year 1840 they came 
to Cass county, Michigan, and settled in Newberg township, Avhere 
their remaining days were passed. Both had died at a comparatively 



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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 499 

early age, the father in his forty-fifth year, while the mother was about 
thirty-six years of age at the time of her demise. In their family were 
five sons : Francis S., who, enlisting for service in the Civil war as a 
defender of the Union in the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, Company 
I, gave his life for his country at the battle of Stone River in 1863; 
James H., who also died at the battle of Stone River while serving as 
a member of the Fourth Michigan Cavalry, to which his brother also 
belonged; E. F., of this review; Misael B., now living in St. Joseph 
county, Michigan; and Charles E., who maintains his residence in 
Pennsylvania. 

No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of 
farm life for E. F. Lewis in his boyhood days. He was reared in his 
native township and attended the common schools, his time being divided 
between the duties of the schoolroom, the pleasures of the play-ground 
and the work of the liome farm. However, in 1864, he responded to 
his country's call for aid. His two elder brothers had become soldiers 
and had given their lives in defense of the Union in the previous year, 
and E. F. Lewis, although only sixteen years of age, thrilled with the 
spirit of patriotism, offered his aid to his country, being enrolled with 
the boys in blue of Company H, Nineteenth Michigan Volunteer In- 
fantry, as a private. He served until the close of the war, took part in 
the battle of Savannah, and went with Sherman on the celebrated march 
to the sea, and through the Carolina campaign. Although he enlisted 
during the latter part of the struggle he tasted fully the fortunes and 
experiences of war, and all of the hardships meted out to the soldier. 
Following the fall of Richmond and the surrender of Lee he took part 
in the grand review in Washington. D. C, where the victorious Union 
army marched past the stand upon which the president viewed the 
troops. It was a glad day for the soldiers, knowing that this meant the 
close of their military service, which had been long and arduous, and 
that it also meant that victory had perched upon the Union arms and 
that the country was not to be dismembered, to the dissatisfaction of the 
south. Mr. Lewis received his honorable discharge at Detroit. Michi- 
gan, and was mustered out at Washington. 

Not long after he was again at his work in the fields in Newberg 
township, being employed for some time as a farm hand by the month. 
He also engaged in grubbing stumps and any other work necessary for 
clearing and improving the land. In 1868 he married Miss Narcissus 
T. Pemberton, a daughter of R. S. and Margaret (Miller) Pemberton. 

Reason S. Pemberton died at his son's residence in Marcellus, 
April 27, 1896. after a long and painful sickness, aged seventv-four 
years, one month and four days. He was born in Wayne county, Ohio, 
March 23, 1822, and came to Cass county, Michigan, in 1836, with his 
uncle, Joseph Pemberton, with whom he made his home, having been 
left motherless when very young. Like a great many of the early 



50U HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

pioneers, his advantages for getting an education were very poor, and 
young Reason, like many a poor boy of tliose days, began to use the 
axe, the tool that has felled the forests of Michigan, converting the land 
into vast fields for the present generation. Notwithstanding the meager 
chanches for obtaining an education, he always had a strong desire for 
learning. Having gained a copy of that important factor in pioneer educa- 
tion, Webster's elementary spelling book, he soon learned to read and 
spell. That, with the Testament and a few books he borrowed, constituted 
3-oung Reason's librai-y, which he read and studied by the light of the 
fireplace. Three months of schooling in an old log schoolhouse in 
Indiana, where he had gone from Michigan, completed his early educa- 
tion, during which time he put in good work learning to "cipher." 
After 'having taught a few terms of school he was married, in 1840, to 
Margaret Miller, a German girl of thrifty parentage, and with his wife 
returned to IVTichigan, where they made their home and lived until 
the death of Mrs. Pemberton in 1885. at the age of sixty-four years. 
The hardships and trials of this couple were like those of all pioneers. 
The log cabin, with its fireplace, the small piece of cleared land, sur- 
rounded by the deep tangled wildwood, with its deer, its wolves and its 
Indians, were all well known to the early pioneers. Twelve children 
were born to this couple, seven of whom are now living, and all were 
present at the time of his death but one, Mrs. J. A. Powell, living in 
Oklahoma. Mr. Pemberton and his wife united with the Christian 
church at Vandalia during the early days of its organization. In 1855 
he became a charter member of the Vandalia F. & A. M., in which 
organization he remained an active and faithful member till death. He 
has held, during his career, all the township offices, from supei-visor 
down to constable, and for over twenty years held the important posi- 
tion of justice of the peace. "Uncle Reas," as he was known, had a 
remarkable memory for retaining dates and events and reproducing 
them with clearness. In his official capacity he was frequently consulted 
in matters pertaining to law, and although only self-taught on the sub- 
ject, his opinions on such matters have been a guide to a great many 
people. Being a life-long Democrat, he subscribed for and donated to 
the National Democrat during its early struggles for existence, and the 
paper was always a welcome weekly visitor, furnishing the literary 
matter for the family." 

The Tuneral services were lieM at tlie Christian churcli in Vandalia, 
conducted by Rev. George Barrows, and attended by a large number of 
relatives and friends. The F. & A. M. organizations of Marcellus and 
Vandalia, with visiting members from Cassopolis and Dowagiac, at- 
tended in a body, and with the ceremoiiies of their order interred the 
remains in the Vandalia cemetery, there to await the resurrection mom. 
In his death was lost an honored and respected neighbor, brother and 
father. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 501 

Wisdom and love have ordered all the past, 
All shall be blessedness and joy at last; 
Cast off the cares that have so long oppressed, 
Rest, sweetly rest. 

Margaret Pemberton, wife of R. S. Pemberton, Sr., died at her 
residence in Vandalia, after a short illness. She was the daughter of 
Jacob and Barbara Miller, and was born in the German state of Hesse 
Darmstadt, March lo, 1821. In 1832 she came with her parents to 
America, and the family (father, mother and six children), settled 
near Fredericksburg, Maryland, where they lived until 1836, when they 
emigrated to near Cadiz, Henry county, Indiana, where lier parents 
commenced the laborious task of making a farm in the wilderness, in 
the work of which she bore no small part. In 1840 she was married to 
R. S. Pemberton, and in 1842 she came with her husband to Penn town- 
ship, Cass county, Michigan, where she continued to live until her death. 
After their arrival in Michigan they moved from place to place for a 
time, but in 1847, '^h^Y bought land a short distance northeast of this 
village and began in earnest the experience of the trials and vexations, 
the joys and freedom of pioneer life. They continued to live on the 
farm until 1877, when they moved to this village, where they after- 
ward resided. She was the type of a class of pioneers that are fast 
passing away. She was the mother of twelve children, seven of whom 
are now living, and excepting one (Barbara), were with her in her 
last sickness. Traits of character — a cheerful disposition to do the work 
which fell to her lot, unceasing care for her family, active sympathy for 
those in affliction — these she possessed to a high degree. The funeral 
was held at the Disciple church, of which denomination she was a mem- 
ber for fort}' years, having obeyed the gospel under the ministration of 
Ruben Wilson in 1845. The burial took place at the graveyard near 
the \'illage. Elder Brown officiating. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lewis began their domestic life upon a farm which 
he had purchased in Newberg township, and there he carried on general 
agricultural pursuits for about three years, after which he engaged in 
digging wells, giving alx)ut fifteen years of his time to that business. 
He then began following the more advanced methods of driving wells, 
and he has also engaged in farming in Penn township. He bought 
the property that he now owns about 1875, ^t^' l^^ lived upon the place 
until 1890. He now enjoys a well earned rest in Vandalia, where in 
1898 he erected one of the finest residences of the village. He rents 
his farm and is practically retired from active business, although he is 
now one of the trustees and stockholders of the Vandalia creamery. 
He also loans money and in this has been quite successful. 

Unto INTr. and Mrs. Lewis have been born a son and three daugh- 
ters: Frank E., born August 12, 1870. who is now engaged in drilling 
wells in Cass count)-; and Fancheon D.. bom October 11, 188^, is the 



502 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

wife of William D. Kimmick, who is living upon the old homestead. 
Two daughters are deceased, Birta M., torn April i8, 1874, and died 
May 10. 1874; and Vadie E.. born August 7, 1876, and died June 28, 
1879. The parents are members of the Christian church, taking an ac- 
tive part in its work and contributing generously to its support. Mr. 
Lewis has lieen a life-long resident of Cass county, and has rejoiced in 
the fact that this county has won a place among the leading counties of 
the great commonwealth. The result is due to the aggregate endeavor 
of its many public spirited, energetic and enterprising citizens, in which 
class he belongs. In politics he is an earnest and luifaltering Republi- 
can, and his fellow townsmen have called him to various offices. He 
acted as supervisor of Penn township for four terms and he is now pres- 
ident of the village of Vandalia, serving for the second term in tliat 
position, giving to the city an administration that is characterized by 
the utmost devotion to the general good and by practical and progressive 
methods for the benefit of the town. He belongs to the Grand Army 
of the Republic at Jones. Michigan, W. J. Maple Post, and thus main- 
tains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. Indolence and 
idleness have ever been utterly foreign to his nature, and whatever 
work he has undertaken, whether in his private business life or in be- 
half of the community, has been characterized b)' close application and 
an unfaltering purpose that has enabled him to carry forward to suc- 
cessful completion the task that has claimed liis time and enei'gies. 

ALLISON D. THOMPSON. 

Allison D. Thompson is numbered among the old settlers of Cass 
county and makes his home on section 16, Milton township, where for 
a long period he has carried on general agricultural pursuits. He has 
attained the age of seventy-three years, his birth having occurred in 
Delaware. June 25. 1833. His father, Shelley Thompson, was also a 
native of Delaware, and in the year 1836 sought a home in the middle 
west, settling in Milton township, Cass county, Michigan, where he 
took up land from the government, for at that time much of this 
portion of the state was still unclaimed by settlers or speculators. The 
virgin forests stood in their primeval strength, the streams were un- 
bridged and the land uncultivated. Shelley Thompson became one of 
the pioneers of Cass county and was closely identified with its early 
historv as it was reclaimed for the uses of civilization, and its wild land 
w'as transformed into productive fields. 

Allison D. Thompson was but three years of age at the time of 
his parents' removal to the middle west, and was reared upon the old 
homestead in "Milton township. The mode of life at that day wn« very 
different, for pioneer conditions existed on all hands, and invention had 
not lirought about the revolution in methods of farm life that is now 
familinr. Idis education was acquired in one of the old log school 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 503 

houses coniinun lu ihat day, and he shared with the family in the liard- 
ships of frontier hfe, assisting in the strenuous task of developing a new 
farm. He has always remained a resident of Cass county, and the 
changes which have occurred and the events which have wrought its 
history have left their impress upon his memory, so that he is well in- 
formed concerning the county's development and progress. He has 
been married twice, his first union being with Miss Julia Adams, by 
whom he had two children, a son and daughter. The latter is Mrs. 
Belle Par\is, of South Bend, Indiana, and the son, Jesse, is now de- 
ceased. Tor his second wife, Mr. Thompson chose Mary E. Parvis, 
whom he wedded in 1870. She was born in Delaware, February 23, 
1849, ^"<^ is a daughter of Solomon and Ellen (Fowler) Parvis, who 
came to Berrien county, Michigan, in i860. 

For two years after his first marriage Mr. Thompson was a resi- 
dent of Howard township, and for twelve years lived in Pokagon town- 
ship, where he was engaged in farming, but the greater part of his life 
has been spent in jMilton township and he is well known as one of its 
leading settlers and representative agriculturists. Unto him and his 
wife have been born four children: Bertha, who is now the wife of 
Bert Kizer. of Niles, Michigan ; Arthur, who was born in Berrien 
county, Michigan, where the parents lived for about two years, his 
natal day being December 3, 1874. He was reared, however, in ]\Iilton 
township, Cass county, and was educated in the district schools of that 
township and of Pokagon township. He was married on the ifith of 
May, 1895, to Miss Mary E. Reid, a daughter of Alexander and Emma 
(Dupert) Reid. There is one child of this marriage who is yet living, 
Helen May. Two children of Mr. and Mrs. .\. D. Thompson are de- 
ceased. .\rthur Thompson is now looking after the interests of the 
home farm, which comprises one hundred and fifty-nine acres of rich 
land. It is under a high state of cultivation and is improved with many 
modern equipments and accessories. 

Mr. Thompson, of this review, is a member of the Gleaners and his 
political allegiance is given to the Democracy. He has a very wide 
and favorable acquaintance in Cass county, and through the years of 
his residence here has so lived as to win and merit the esteem and 
good will of all with whom he has been associated. He carried on 
farming actively for a long period and has now given over the super- 
vision of his farm to his son, while he is leading a more quiet life, his 
rest being well merited because of his activity in former years. 

HENRY ANDRUS. 

Henry .Vndrus, editor of the Edwardsburg Argus and a prominent 
temperance wcirker of Michigan, was born in Waterloo township. Lyon 
countv, Kansas, near the town of W^ilmington, on the 26th of October, 
1 86 1. His paternal grandfather. Hazzard Andrus, was a native of 



504 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Kings county, New York, born Octol^er 3, 1788, and in 1835 came to 
Michigan with his family. He had been married in the Empire state 
in 1824 to Miss Fannie Bishop, and they were the parents of nine 
children, five of whom arc deceased. The living are: James H., of 
Edward.sburg ; Mrs. Porter Lybarker, of Mason township, Cass county; 
Nelson, of Dayton, Washington; and Riley, who is living at Dayton, 
Oregon. The grandparents remained residents of Edwardsburg until 
called to their final rest, Hazzard Andrus passing away on the 3d of 
March, 1S62, while his wife, long surviving him, died Januarv 29. 1894. 

James H. Andrus, father of our subject, was born in Ontwa town- 
ship, at the north bank of Eagle lake, July 30, 1837, and remained a 
resident of this township until i8<io, when he went to Kansas, where 
he was married on the 7th of October of that year to Miss Cylinda M. 
Haring, a daughter of Henry and Nanc}' Haring, who had also removed 
from Cass county to Kansas in that year. In 1862 Mr. Andrus returned 
with his family to Michigan, and in the course of years there were born 
unto him and his wife four children, three sons and a daughter. The 
latter. Cora M.. died July 2. 1877. Those still living are: Henry; 
William Riley, of Michigan City, Indiana; and George S.. of LaCrosse. 
Wisconsin. The mother, who was a native of New York, born Decem- 
ber 9, 1840, was but two years of age when brought by her parents 
to Michigan, the Haring family being established in Mason township. 
Her death occurred October 4, 1903. 

James FI. .Vndrus enlisted in Company L, Second Michigan Cavalry 
Volunteers, in 1864, and served till the close of hostilities, when he 
recei\'ed his honorable discharge and returned to don the civilian's garb. 

Henry Andrus was brought by his parents to Cass coimty in 1862, 
the family home being established in Edwardsburg, but after a short 
time a removal was made to Mason township, and later to Calvin town- 
ship. In the year i86q, however, the family returned to Edwardsburg. 
Henry Andrus attended the district schools of Mason and Calvin town- 
ships, and follov/ing the removal to Edwardsburg continued his educa- 
tion in the high school of this city. At the age of eighteen years he 
began working in the office of the Edwardsburg Argus, then published 
by John B. Sweetland. and remained in the employ of that gentleman 
for nearly twenty years, or until the death of Dr. Sweetland on the iqth 
of February, 1899. He then purchased the printing office of the heirs 
and has continued the publication of the paper to the present time. He 
is a well know newspaper man and his journal has a wide circulation, 
which makes it as well a good advertising medium. He therefore re- 
ceives a good patronage in that direction, and the Argus has proved a 
profitable investment. 

Mr. Andrus is widely known as a leading Prohibitionist of Mich- 
igan. Throughout his entire life he has been a strong advocate of the 
temperance cause, and since attaining his majority has given his ballot 
for the snp]-iort of (he party that embodies his views on this question. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 506 

In 1896 he recei\ecl the Prohihition immination tVir heuteiiant go\-ernor, 
and in 1898 was honored by his part}' witii the nomination for auditor 
general, while in 1902 he was a candidate for representative to the state 
legislature. He is now serving as a member of the board of education 
of Edwardsburg and for twelve years has held the position of director. 
Through the columns of his paper, and individually as well, he has 
co-operated in many movements for the general good, and is the cham- 
pion of every plan formulated and measure instituted for the develop- 
ment of his city along the lines of material, individual and moral 
progress. 

On the 31st of December, 1882, Mr. Andrus was united in marriage 
to Miss Ida E. Kitchen, a native of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, and 
a daughter of Nelson and Subrina (Eves) Kitchen, who removed with 
their family to Cass county in the spring of 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Andrus 
have become the parents of two sons: George R., born October 13, 
1883, and Charles H., born June 14, 1894. 

GEORGE HAMMOND REDFIELD. 

George Hammond Redfield, who follows farming and also oper- 
ates a cream separator business at Edwardsburg, is a native of Ontwa 
township, born August 21, 1855, and in the years of an active manhood 
has made a creditable business record. His father, George Redfield, 
was a native of Connecticut, born October 6, 1796, and in 1800 went 
with his parents to Ontario county. New York, where he was reared 
and acquired his education. His youth was spent upon a farm about 
three miles from Qifton Springs, New York, the famous hospital resort. 
In 1825 and 1826 he engaged in teaching school in Milledgeville, 
Georgia, which was then in the heart of the slave country. He after- 
ward returned to his father's farm and aided in its further development 
and improvement up to the time of his marriage, which was celebrated 
in Ontario county. New York, on the 9th of January, 1835, the lady of 
his choice being Miss Julia Mason, of Palmyra, New York. They be- 
came the parents of three children, Ann Maria, Julia and Louis H., de- 
ceased. Coming to the west, they settled in Ontwa township, Cass county, 
Michigan, in 1835, and in August, 1848, George Redfield was called 
upon to mourn the loss of his wife. In September, 185 1, he was again 
married, his second vmion being with Jane E. Hammond, a daughter of 
Judge Hammond, of Essex county. New York. She was reared and 
educated in the Empire state and her death occurred in 1865. By this 
marriage there was one son and three daughters, the eldest being George 
Hammond, of this review. His sisters are : Bertha, now the wife of 
H. E. Bucklen, of Chicago; Myra J., the wife of W. C. Hewitt, a pro- 
fessor in the State Normal School at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and the 
author of a work on political science; and Abby. deceased at the age of 
twenty-six. All of the children of the second marriage were bom in 
Cass county. 



506 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

On coming to jMichigan George Redfield, Sr., took up his abode 
upon a farm, purchasing eight hundred and four acres of raw land 
from the government. He cuUivated this tract, which was located in 
the southeastern part of Ontwa township, and in the development of this 
property contributed largely toward the substantial improvement of the 
county. His attention was given to agricultural pursuits until his death, 
which occurred October 31, 1887. He was a lifelong Democrat, and 
in early life took an active part in politics. In 1841 he was elected rep- 
resentati\e to the state legislature, and in 1842 and 1843 served as 
state senator. He was also presidential elector in 1844 and in 1845 he 
was appointed state treasurer by Governor Barry. In 1850 he was 
appointed secretary of state, and he was a member of the convention 
that framed the constitution of Michigan. Thus he was most active in 
puljlic life, and left the impress of his individuality for good upon the 
measures which have formed the political history of the state. He had 
a very wide and favorable acquaintance among the distinguished citi- 
zens of ^Michigan, and his name is engraved high on the roll of her 
honored men. 

George HamnK:nd Redfield was reared ujion the old farm home- 
stead, wliere he remained until 1873, when he became active in the oper- 
ation of his father's grist mill in Jefferson township, there residing until 
1878. He then removed to Mason township, locating on a farm which 
he received from his father, comprising one hundred and sixty acres. 
whicJT at that time was partially improved. 

Mr. Redfield had been married on the i8th of July, 1875, to Miss 
Julia A. Van Antwerp, a native of Ontwa township, born December 18, 
185 1, and a daughter of Simon and Louisa (Hewitt) Van Antwerp. 
The latter was a daughter of Dethic Hewitt, one of the honored pioneer 
residents of Cass county, who made his home in Edwardsburg and for 
fortv \ears filled the office of justice of the peace. Simon Van Ant- 
wer]i. father of Mrs. Redfield, was a native of the Genesee valley. New 
York, and his wife was born in Pennsylvania. Tliey became pioneer 
residents of Cass county and the present home of Mr. and Mrs. Redfield 
is the house in which they ate their first meal after arriving in this 
county. Mr. Van Antwerp was a Republican and thmughout his active 
business career carried on agricultural pursuits, but at the age of fifty- 
four years retired from farming and removed to South Bend, Indiana, 
where he remained until his death, which occurred in 1866, when he was 
sixty-one years of age. They were the parents of six children, two sons 
and' four daughters, of whom Mrs. Redfield was the third in order of 
birth. The others were: Lynn: Elber, who died in infancy; Louis; 
Daniel: and Lucy. All were' born in Cass county. Mr. Van Antwerp 
was twice married, his first union being with Nancy Halsted, a native 
of New York, whom he wedded in Scotchville, New York. They were 
the parents of three children : Louisa; Jonas, deceased: and F.lsie. The 
wife and mother died in Calhoun county, near Marshall, ^lichigan. and 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 507 

later Mr. Van Antwerp married Louisa Hewitt, wlio liecame tlic mother 
of Mrs. Redfield. 

Following his marriage Mr. Redfield settled in Jefferson town- 
ship, where he lived for three years, and then removed to Mason town- 
ship, where he made his liome until 1904, when he took up his abode in 
Edwardsburg. Fie has led a most busy and useful life, winning suc- 
success as a farmer by the capable manner in whicli he has cultivated his 
fields and cared for his crops. He has also operated a creamery, and 
both branches of his business have proved profitable. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Redfield have been born two sons, but Louis 
Harold, born August 18, 1877, died on the loth of December, 1881. 
The surviving son, George Russell, was born January 8. 189 1, on the 
old homestead farm in Mason township. Mr. Redfield has never fal- 
tered in his allegiance to the Democracy, supporting that party since age 
gave to him the right of franchise. He was justice of the peace in Ma- 
son township for twenty-two years, was township clerk for six years 
and was also township treasurer. He has also been a meml:>er of the 
township board, has taken a most active interest in politics, has proved 
a capable officer and has done everything in his power to promote the 
growth and insure the success of his party. Fie belongs to the Knights 
of Pythias lodge at Bristol, Indiana, and to the Maccabees tent at Un- 
ion, Michigan, and to the Michigan State Grange, and his wife also 
holds membership relations with the last two. Mr. Redfield is a worthy 
and prominent representative of an honored pioneer family and has 
carried forward the work which was instituted by his father, l:>ecoming 
through the careful direction of his business interests one of the sul> 
stantial citizens of this part of the state. 

ALFRED SHOCKLEY. 

In a re\-iew of the history of the county back to pioneer times it 
will be found that Alfred Shockley was a resident here in the early days 
and he now makes his home on section 9, Milton township, where he has 
a good farming property. He has passed the seventy-seventh milestone 
on life's journey, his birth having occurred in Susse.x county, Dela- 
ware, on the 17th of June, 1829. His father. Littleton Shockley, was a 
native of Maryland, where he was reared. By ocaipation he was a 
farmer, thus providing for his family. In the year 1833 he came west- 
ward to Michigan, settling in Milton township. Cass county, where he 
took up land from the government. Michigan was still under territorial 
rule, and there were more Indians than white people in the state. The 
greater part of the land was still unclaimed and the work of improve- 
ment and development had scarcely been begun. At long distances 
could be seen a pioneer cabin to show that an attempt was made to claim 
the district for the uses of civilization. ]^Tr. Shockley cast in his lot with 
the earlv settlers and shared in the arduous task of reclaiming the re- 



^08 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

gion and developing a new farm. .When quite young he was left an 
orphan and he lost all trace of his people, so that little is known con- 
cerning the ancestral history of the family. His death occurred in the 
'Sos, and thus passed away one of the worthy pioneer settlers of the 
community. His wife, who 'bore the maiden name of Emily Messick, 
was a native of Delaware and was there reared. She, too, reached an 
advanced age, passing away in her eighty-second year. There were 
eight children in the family, four of whom reached adult age. 

Alfred Shockley was the sixth in order of birth and was a little 
lad of five summers when brought to Cass county, Michigan, by his 
parents. He was reared in Milton township and early became familiar 
with the experiences of pioneer life. The family had removed from 
Delaware to Richmond, Indiana, when he vi^as only a year old, and in 
1833 they came to Cass county, since which time the family name has 
figured in the records of this part of the state and has been a synonym 
for good citizenship and for progress! veness. The Indians were numer- 
ous in this section of the state during bis boyhood days and he has many 
times seen wigwams and has had in his possession various things made 
by the Indians. He came to know much of their manners and customs 
of living and in course of time saw them supplanted by the white race, 
while they sought reservations farther west. His education was acquired 
in one of tlie old-time log school houses, in which the methods of teach- 
ing were primitive, as were the furnishings of the little building. He 
assisted on the farm when he became old enough and remained upon the 
home place until his father died. On the i6th of September, 1861. in 
response to the country's call for aid, Mr. Shockley offered his services 
and was enrolled as a member of Company L, Second Michigan Cav- 
alry. He served as a private until August, 1865, having re-enlisted in 
the same company in 1862, continuing with the command until after 
the cessation of hostilities. He was offered a promotion but would not 
accept it, content to do his duty in the ranks. He drove a team most of 
the time and was with the Army of the Cmnberland. 

After receiving his final discharge at Jackson, Michigan, Mr. 
Shockley returned to his old home in Milton township. Cass county, and 
engaged in general farming on the place where he now reside^. He 
made further preparation for having a home of his own by his marriage 
on the 5tb of November, 1865, to Miss Victoria Bower, the only child of 
John and Mary (Gardner) Bower and a native of Goshen, Indiana. She 
was reared, however, in Niles, Michigan. Since the war Mr. Shockley 
has resided continuously in the home which he now occupies, with the 
exception of one year spent in Niles. His farm comprises one hundred 
and thirteen acres of land, which is rich and productive and which he 
now rents, th.us leaving the active work of the fields to others. As the 
years went liy the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Shockley was blessed with 
eleven children : Addie, now the wife of James W. Brown, who re- 
sides in Clay township, Elkhart county, Indiana: Emily J., who has 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 509 

passed away; Elizabeth E., the wife of Jehu Huff, of Niles; EHas ].; 
Alfred C, a memljer of the police of Niles; Victoria May, the wife of 
William Needles, of Milton township; George B., who is living in 
Milton township; Sylvester W., of Niles, who served for three years 
with the regular army in the Philippines; Charles H., who is a rural 
mail carrier on route No. i from Niles; Eva E., the wife of Julius 
Leech, of Milton township; and Cora A., who is at home. All of the 
family were born on the farm Avhere Mr. and Mrs. Shockley now reside. 
In his political affiliations Mr. Shockley is a Democrat and has 
served as constable and as a school officer in an early day. He has been 
a resident of the county for seventy-three years and well may he be num- 
bered among its pioneers, having aided in making the county what it is 
to-day. He has been active in its upbuilding and development and has 
done much hard work in clearing land and promoting its agricultural 
interests, especially in his boyhood, youth and earlier manhood. He is 
now the oldest settler of Milton tOAvnship and is well known in the 
cotuity as a man of genuine worth, whose life has been well spent. He 
has always been busy and energetic and his life of usefulness has won 
for him the esteem and confidence of those with whom he has been asso- 
ciated. Almost three-quarters of a century have passed since Mr. 
Shockley came to this county to cast in his lot with its pioneers. Peo- 
ple of the present time can scarcely realize the struggles and dangers 
which attended the early settlers, the heroism and self-sacrifice of lives 
passed upon the borders of civilization, the hardships endured, the dif- 
ficulties overcome. These tales of the early days read almost like a 
romance to those who have known only the modern prosperity and con- 
veniences. To the pioneer of the early times, far removed from the priv- 
ileges and conveniences of city or town, the struggle for existence was 
a stern and hard one and these men and women must have possessed in- 
domitable energy and sterling worth of character, as well as marked 
physical courage, when they voluntarily selected such a life and suc- 
ces'sfullv fought its battles under such circumstances as prevailed in the 
nortliwest. 

M. H. CRISWELL, M. D. 

It is contended by manv that the practice of medicine is the most 
important work to which a man may direct his energies, and all accord 
the profession high rank. Not only must the successful physician pos- 
sess broad and accurate knowledge concerning the great principles which 
underlie the medical and surgical science, but he must also possess a 
broad humanitarian spirit, a ready sympathy and a cheerful nature 
which inspires hope and courage and proves a valued supplement to his 
technical knowledge. In these qualities Dr. Criswell of Cassopolis is 
well equipped. A" native of Knox county, Ohio, he was born on the 
loth of August, 1863, his parents being Benjamin F. -and Mary E. 
(Walker) Criswell, the former a native of Stark county, Ohio, and the 



510 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

latter of Fredericktown, Knox county. The father was a merchant 
tailor by trade and devoted his life to that occupation, passing away 
at Al<ron, Ohio, when seventy-one years of age. He was of Scotch 
lineage. His wife died when only forty-one years of age. In their 
family were six children, of whom one died in infancy. 

Dr. Criswell is the youngest of the surviving members of the fam- 
ily and his youth was passed in Canton, Ohio, where he acquired his 
literary education as a public school student. He began the study of 
medicine under the direction of Dr. A. V. Smith at Canton and subse- 
quently spent one term as a student in a medical college. He afterward 
devoted three years to the business of a traveling salesman, and in 1887 
he resumed his medical studies and was graduated from the Home- 
opathic College in Chicago with the class of 1891. He then located for 
practice in Edwardsburg, Michigan, where he remained for about nine 
years, when he removed to Cassopolis in 1900. Here he has since 
been located, and his business has reached gratifying proportions, as he 
has demonstrated his ability to cope with the intricate problems which 
continually confront the physician in his efforts to check the ravages of 
disease and restore health. He is a member of the Northern Indiana 
and Southern Michigan Medical Associations and also the American 
Medical Association, and through the reports of those bodies he keeps 
in touch with what is being done in the line of medical and surgical prac- 
tice. He is quiclc to adopt any new method or idea which he believes 
will prove of practical benefit in bis work and at the same time he is 
slow to discard the old and time-tried methods whose value has been 
pro\'en. 

In 1 89 1 occurred the marriage of Dr. Criswell and Miss Kate 
.Stophlet, a daughter of Da\"id Stophlet. In social circles tliey occupy an 
enviable position, the hospitality of the best homes of Cassopolis and 
vicinity being extended them. Dr. Criswell is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, the Knights of the Maccabees, of the Modern Woodmen of 
America, and he gives his political supjjort to those men who are pledged 
to support the principles of the Repubjican party. For fourteen years 
he has practiced in Michigan with constantly growing success, and in 
Cass county is accorded a position of prominence among the representa- 
tives of his chosen profession. 

LOT BONINE. 

Few men are more prominent or more widely known in Penn town- 
ship than Lot Bonine, who has been an important factor in agricultural 
circles, having conducted extensive interests as a stock raiser, especially 
in the line of the sheep industry. In him are embraced the character- 
istics of an unbending integrity, unabating energy and industry that 
never flags, and while capably conducting his business affairs he is at 
the same time recognized as a public spirited citizen, thoroughly inter- 



HISTORY or CASS COUNTY 511 

ested in whatever tends to ])rnm()ie the welfare of his adopted county. 
He is a western man l>y birth and training, and in his life has exemplified 
the spirit which has led tt> the rapid and substantial upbuilding of this 
section of the country. He li\-es on section 34, Penn township, and is 
numljered among the old settlers of the county. His birth occurred in 
Richmond, Wayne county, Indiana, on the i8th of July. 1825. His 
father. Isaac Bonine, was a native of Tennessee, Iwrn at the family 
home on the Holstein river. The family is of French descent, and the 
paternal grandfather was Daniel Bonine, who for many years resided 
in Tennessee. There Isaac Bonine was reared and it was subsequent to 
his marriage that he sought a home in Indiana, casting in his lot with 
the pioneer settlers of Wayne county. Again he took up his atede 
upon the frontier, when in 1S40 he came to Cass county. Michigan, 
locating in Penn township. He then purchased a tract of land, a part 
of which had been improved, and he at once laegan the task of its fur- 
ther development and cultivation. In his work he prospered, and as 
his financial resources permitted he purchased more land from time to 
time, becoming the holder of extensive realty possessions. He was 
born and reared in the faith of the Society of Friends (Quakers) 
and was very active and earnest in the church work. He manifested 
the kindly, considerate and gentle spirit so characteristic of the follow- 
ers of that sect, and he bore an unassailable reputation for integrity, 
not only in business, but in all life's relations as well. He voted with 
the Whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the 
Republican part}', continuing one of its stalwart supporters until his 
demise. He was called to the offlce of highway commissioner, but was 
never an aspirant for the honors nor emoluments of office, content to do 
his public serx'ice as a private citizen. He married Miss Sarah Tolbert, 
also a native of Tennessee, and, like her husband, a birthright Quaker. 
She was a daughter of Jacob Tolbert and was of English lineage, so 
that there is an intermixture of French and English blood in the veins 
of our subject. Isaac Bonine lived to be a1x)ut eighty-three years of 
age, while his wife reached the age of eighty-two years, and in the 
passing of this venerable couple Cass county lost two of its most es- 
teemed pioneer settlers. In their family were eleven children, eight 
sons and three daughters, of whom two died in childhood. 

Lot Bonine was the sixth in order of birth and is the only one now 
living. He was fifteen years of age when he came to Cass county, 
Michigan, with his parents in 1840. He had gained his education in 
the schools of Richmond, Indiana, and after coming to Michigan he 
spent the winter months as a student in a little log schoolhouse, which 
was a typical "temple of learning" of a frontier district. Throughout 
the remainder of the year his time and energies were given to farm 
work, as he took his place in the fields when the work of earlv spring 
planting was begun. In fact he assisted in the work of clearing and 



612 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

developing the home farm, upon which he remained until the time of 
his marriage, which was celebrated in 1845, this being one of the early- 
weddings of the county. The lady of his choice was Miss Susan Donnell, 
who died a number of years later. There had been six children born of 
that union, of whom five are still living, namely: Jonathan D., John N., 
Sarah L., James M. and Rose E. The deceased daughter was Estella. 
After losing his first wife Mr. Bonine was again married, his second 
union being with Miss Amanda I. Price, a daughter of James and Rose 
A. (Emery) Price. Her father was born in Clark county, Ohio, near 
Dayton, and came to Cass county, Michigan, in 1829, locating in what 
IS now Penn township, as one of its pioneer settlers. Michigan was 
still under territorial rule at that period. It required men of considera- 
ble courage and determination to brave the dangers and hardships of 
pioneer life in a country wdiere the work of impro\'ement had as yet been 
scarcely begun. There were large bands of Indians still in the state, 
the forests were uncut, the streams unbridged, and the prairies unculti- 
vated. Mr. Price belonged to that class of honored pioneer residents 
to whom the state owes a debt of gratitude for what they accomplished 
in the early development of the commonwealth. He gave his attention 
to farming and was recognized as one of the leading early residents of 
Cass county. His father was John Price, a carpenter by trade, who 
was born in Philadelphia. Pennsylvania, but was reared in New Jersey, 
where he resided until his removal to Ohio, whence he came to Cass 
county in 1828. Mr. and Mrs. Bonine have become the parents of two 
daughters, but one, Effie I., is now deceased. The other, Arlie I. Bonine, 
is living in Penn township, and is the wife of James O'. Graham. She 
graduated in the class of 1901 in the Vandalia High School. 

At the time of his marriage Lot Bonine and his bride began house- 
keeping in a little log cabin which stood upon a tract of land in Penn 
township. There he lived for about a year, devoting his time to the 
cultivation of the farm and then removing to his father-in-law's farm, 
upon which he lived for two years. Following the discovery of gold in 
California he was attracted to that state by its mining and other busi- 
ness opportunities, and went via New York and the isthmus in 185 1, 
but after a year spent in California he returned to Cass covtnty and 
once more settled in Penn townshi'p, locating upon the farm on which 
he now li^'es in that vear — 1853. Again his home was a log cabin, 
but though it was of small dimensions it sheltered brave hearts and will- 
ing hands. With determined courage to make the most of his oppor- 
tunities Mr. Bonine began clearing his land, which he had owned from 
the time that he was eighteen years of age. He now has a valuable 
farm propertv of one hundred and sixty acres, which he has trans- 
formed from a raw state into one of rich fertility and productiveness. 
He has added many modern improvements, including good buildings 
and fences and the latest improved machiner}'. In connection with 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 513 

tlie tilling of the soil he has been largely interested in the raising of 
stock, making a specialty of sheep, having had sheep upon his farm for 
over sixty years. 

Mr. Bonine votes with the Republican party, to which he has 
given earnest and stalwart support since its organization, while pre- 
vious to that time he was an old-line Whig. He has held a number of 
local offices including that of highway commissioner and has opened 
up several roads in his township. In public affairs he has been deeply 
interested and his co-operation could always be counted upon as a help- 
ful measure. He has ever worked for the good of the county, in which 
he has now lived for sixty-five years, and he has paid large sums in 
taxes, whereby the work of public improvement has been carried on. 
He assisted in building the school house at Vandalia and the cause of 
education finds in him a warm friend. He is also a member of the 
Friends church and his life has been in conformity with its teachings 
and faith. There have been many interesting chapters in his record be- 
cause of the connection with pioneer experiences, and also by reason 
of his sojourn in the far west in the early days of mining excitement 
there. Throughout much of his life, however, his labors have been 
concentrated entirely upon agricultural and stock raising interests and 
he has found ample opportunity for the exercise of his talents in the 
every-day duties of life. He has won success through earnest and per- 
sistent labor, and moreover he is rich in the more desirable qualities of 
character — the integrity and justice and consideration which work for 
honorable manhood and have won respect and esteen in every land and 
clime. 

GEORGE W. GARD. 

Cass county figures as one of the most attractive, progressive and 
prosperous divisions of the state of ^Michigan, justly claiming a high 
order of citizenship and a spirit of enterprise which is certain to con- 
serve consecutive development and marked advancement in the material 
upbuilding of the section. The county has been and is signally favored 
in the class of men who have controlled its affairs in official capacity and 
in this connection the subject of this review demands representation as 
one who has served the county faithfully and well in positions of distinct 
trust and responsibility. He is now filling the office of count)' treasurer, 
to which he has been elected for a second term. His birth occurred in 
Volinia township April 4, 1848, and he is a representative of one of the 
honored pioneer families of this portion of the state. His paternal 
grandfather. Jonathan Gard, was bxjrn in Ohio and became a pioneer 
resident of Cass county. He had lived for some time in Indiana and on 
removing to Cass county settled on what is known to this day as Card's 
Prairie. There he entered land and improved a farm, remaining there 
up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was fifty-five years 
of age. His son, M. J. Gard. was born in Indiana and came with his 



514 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

father to Cass county in 1829, being about seven years of age at the 
time of the removal. He was therefore reared and educated here and 
almost his entire life was passed in Volinia township, where he died 
when more than seventy-five years of age. He was a prominent citizen, 
who held all the offices in the township, including that of sui^ervisor, 
while for many years he was township clerk. His study of the political 
issues and questions of the day led him to give a stalwart support to 
the Republican party from the time of its organization until his death. 
Prior to its formation he had voted with the Whig party. In his fraternal 
relations he was a Mason. His wife bore the maiden name of Olive 
Green and her death occurred when her son George was but three years 
of age. The family was well known in the county and the name of 
Gard has been closely interwoven with the history of development and 
progress here from early pioneer times. George W. Gard was the only 
child born unto M. J. and Olive (Green) Gard, but the father was a 
second time married, his second union being with Susan Fox, by whom 
he had seven children. 

In taking up the personal history of George W. Gard we present to 
oiu" readers the life record of one who is very widely and favorably 
known in this part of the state. He was reared and educated in his 
native township and acquired his education in the common schools. He 
afterward engaged in teaching school, which profession he followed for 
one hundred and twenty-two months, devoting the winter seasons to 
that work, while in the summer months he engaged in farming. He had 
charge of the largest district school in the county. There was an as- 
sistant teacher and an enrollment of ninety-seven pupils. His fitness for 
leadership and for public service also led to his selection for various of- 
fices. He served as supervisor for nine vears, was justice of the peace 
for fourteen years and also township clerk. In 1902 he was elected 
countv treasurer and discharged his duties with such ability and fidelity 
that in 1904 he was re-elected and is still holding the office. 

Mr. Card was married in 1872 to Miss Rachel Kirby, a daughter 
of the Rev. John and Mary (Rouse) Kirby and a native of St. Joseph 
countv. Michigan. There is hut one living child of this marriage, Olive, 
who is now acting as bookkeeper for Mr. Smith in Cassopolis. The son, 
Mauley B., died at the age of thirteen years. 

Mr. Gard in connection with his property in Cassopolis owns a 
farm of eighty acres and the income therefrom, together with his salary, 
enables him to provide a very comfortable living for his family. He is 
a stalwart Republican, unfaltering in his devotion to the principles of the 
party, and in addition to the other offices which he has filled he has 
served as secretary of the schools of the county in 1888-9. He is also 
prominent in Masonic circles, belonging to the Blue Lodge of Volinia, 
No. 227, also Kingsbury Chapter at Cassopolis. No. 78, and he was a 
charter member of the Knights of the Maccabees lodge at Volinia. 
While acting as justice of the peace he settled more cases by compromis- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 515 

ing than in any otlier way, always advising such a plan rather than 
recourse to the courts. In all of his public service he has been actuated 
by an earnest desire to serve his constituents faithfully and well and to 
promote the general good of the community which he has represented. 
Men know him as a gentleman of unfaltering honor and integrity, and 
with pleasure we present the record of his life to our readers. 

CHARLES O. HARMON. 

Charles O. Harmon, who since 1898 has teen numbered among the 
representative citizens of Cassopolis, where he is now engaged in the 
practice of law and also in the abstract business, was born in Porter 
township, Cass county, on the 6th of March, 1866. His father, John 
B. Harmon, was a native of Wabash county, Indiana, and came to this 
county with his parents when about six months old. He was reared in 
Porter township and became a teacher by profession, following that 
calling for a long period and contributing in substantial measure to the 
intellectual progress of his community. He was married in Porter town- 
ship to Miss Catherine Eby, a native of Ohio and a daughter of Gabriel 
and Caroline (Wagner) Eby, who were early settlers of Porter town- 
ship, coming to Cass county in 1848. Her father still resides in that 
tow^nship, being one of the honored pioneer settlers and \enerable cit- 
izens of his community. John B. Harmon, the father of our subject, 
was deeply interested in politics and for about eighteen years served as 
supervisor of his township. In 1898 he was elected county clerk and 
served in that office for two years and one month, when his official serv- 
ice was terminated in death on the 28th of June. 1901. He was a most 
earnest and zealous advocate of Republican principles, never faltering 
in his allegiance to the party. In the family were four children. 

Charles O. Harmon, the eldest, was reared in Porter township, 
where the family was established in early pioneer days, his grandfather, 
William Harmon, having been one of the earliest settlers of Cass coun- 
tv, where he followed the occupation of farming throughout the re- 
mainder of his life. He was of German lineage. Mr. Harmon of this 
review acquired his early education in the public schools and afterward 
attended the Northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, Indiana. 
He taught school to a considerable extent between the ages nf sixteen 
and twenty-two years, being thus closely ' associated with intellectual 
progress in Cass county. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth 
and ability, called him to public olifice and he was chosen register of 
deeds in 1888. He entered upon the duties of the position on the ist of 
January, 1889, when only twenty-three years of age, and capably served 
until the ist of January, 1893, when he retired from office as he had en- 
tered it — with the confidence and good will of all concerned. He then 
went to the department of state at Lansing and occupied a position in 
the compiling room until July. 1896. During that time he devoted Iiis 



516 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

leisure hours to the study of law and was admitted to the bar at Lansing, 
alter which he resigned his position there and removed to Dowagiac, 
Michigan, where he opened an office and entered upon general law 
practice. In December of the same year he removed to Marcellus, Mich- 
igan, where he remained until November, 1898, and then came to 
Cassopolis, where he entered into partnership with Judge Harsen D. 
Smith. In December of the same year they bought the abstract books 
of Cass county. This partnership was continued until 1901, when Mr. 
Harmon purchased Judge Smith's interest in the abstract business. In 
April of that year he was elected county clerk to fill the vacancy caused 
by the death of his father and served throughout the remainder of the 
term, or until the 31st of December, 1902, since which time he has 
(lex'oted his attention to the abstract business and the practice of law. 
He has thoroughly qualified himself for the legal profession and his 
labors have been attended with the success that results from close dil- 
igence, unrenn'tting effort and marked capability in handling the in- 
tricate problems that continually confront the lawyer and judge. 

On the 6th of March, 1889, Mr. Harmon was married to Miss 
Catherine Greenawalt, a daughter of Daniel S. and Rebecca (Planck) 
Greenawalt, who was born in Newberg township, Cass county. Her 
parents were early settlers of Cass county, Michigan. By her marriage 
Mrs. Harmon has become the mother of two children, but one died in 
infancy, while Charles Maxwell is still at home. 

Fraternally Mr. Harmon is connected with the Masonic lodge and 
chapter at Cassopolis and also the Knights of Pythias. Pierian Lodge, No. 
126, and in politics he has been an earnest Republican since age gave 
to him the right of franchise. He is likewise a prominent member of 
the Baptist church, active in its work and sersang as superintendent of 
the Sunday-school. Its teachings have been a permeating influence in 
his life and he has done all in his power to promote the church work and 
extend its influence. His business integrity is above question and in 
citizenship and in social life he has displayed those sterling traits of 
character which in every land and clime command respect and confidence. 

ROBERT DOOL. 

Among the enterprising farmers of the county is numbered Robert 
Dool, living on section 3. Jefferson township. His birth occurred in the 
province of Ontario, Canada, near the St. Lawrence river, on the 21st 
of June. 1838, and he comes of Scotch descent. His father, William 
Dool, was a native of Scotland and was a son of Thomas Dool. whose 
birth occurred in the same country. He was a freeholder of Scotland 
and a man of considerable prominence and influence in his community. 
William Dool came to America. He married Miss Hester Dobson, and 
unto them were born ten children, nine sons and one daughter. 

Robert Dool, the fifth in order of birth in this familv, was reared 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 517 

in his nati\-e land and acquired his education in the common schools. 
At the age of twenty-two years he went upon the lakes as foreman on 
an Americcan express boat and was thus employed for two seasons. In 
1863 he came to Cass county, locating in Penn township, where he pur- 
chased a farm, upon which he resided continuously for about thirteen 
years, or until 1876, when he sold that property and bought land on sec- 
tion 14, Jefiferson township. His time and energies were devoted to its 
further improvement and development until about 1901, when he lo- 
cated upon the farm where he now lives, on section 3, Jefferson town- 
ship. His landed holdings are now extensive, comprising four hundred 
and seventy-two acres, of which one hundred and sixteen acres are in 
LaGrange township. He carries on the work of the farm himself and 
it is a splendid property, the land being very productive and responding 
readily to the cultivation which he bestows upon it. His fields are well 
tilled and everything about the place is kept in good repair, showing the 
careful supervision and painstaking efforts of an enterprising owner. 

In 1880 Mr. Dool was united in marriage to Miss Georgiana 
Hafer, a daughter of Jacob Hafer. They have become the parents of 
ten clrildren : Bert, Raymond, Theo, Fred, Charles, Ina May, Georgi- 
ana, Myrtle, Reo, anf! Robert. All were born in Jefferson township 
and were here reared. Bert is now a resident of Seattle, while Theo 
is married and resides in Vicksburg. The others, however, are still 
under the parental roof and most of them are attending school. 

Since age gave to Mr. Dool the right of franchise he has been a 
supporter of Democratic ])rinciples and has taken an active and helpful 
part in the work of the party. He is, however, somewhat liberal in his 
views, being never a bitter partisan. He was elected supervisor of Jef- 
ferson township in 1889 and filled the office for eleven years, his re- 
election being proof of the trust reposed in him by his fellow townsmen 
and his fidelity thereto. He was also superintendent of the poor for 
three years. Forty-two years have come and gone since he arrived in 
this county, during which period he has directed his labors along well- 
defined lines of business activity. He has been energetic, prompt and 
notably reliable and has manifested a genius for devising and executing 
the right thing at the right time. Moreover he has an excellent fund 
of that quality of common sense, which is too often lacking, and which 
proves the reason of failure in many a life record. Added to this he has 
displayed keen perception and honesty of purpose, and thus as the years 
have gone I^y he has worked his way upward from an humble financial 
position to one of aiifluence. 

HENRY BLAKELY HICKS. 

Flenrv Blakelv Hicks is well known as a representative of farming 
interests in Jefferson township, his home being on section 31. where he 
owns and cultivates two hundred and fortv acres of land. This consti- 



51S HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tutes a well improved and valuable farm, which in its thrifty appearance 
indicates his careful supervision and practical progressive methods. He 
realizes that diligence and close application are the basis of all desirable 
success and through this means he has won the prosperity which he is 
to-day enjoying. 

A native son of the county, Mr. Hicks was born in Milton township 
on the 15th of Octoljer, 1845, ^"^ is a son of Richard V. and Catherine 
(Ullery) Hicks. The father was a native of England and spent the 
first seventeen years of his life in that country, acquiring a good educa- 
tion there. Hearing favorable reports concerning opportunities and 
ad\antages in the new world, he resolved to try his fortune here and 
crossed the Atlantic to the United States in 1837, making his way direct 
to Cass county, Michigan, where he first located in Ontwa township. 
He was married, however, in Shelby county. Ohio, and afterward took 
up his abode in Milton township, Cass county, Michigan, where he reared 
his family. He Inas for many years been a resident of Milton township, 
and now makes his home on sectiijn 12. He has been closely identified 
with the upbuilding and progress of the county, where he has lived for 
almost seventy years, during which time great and important changes 
have occurred as this district of Michigan has put aside all the evidences 
of frontier life and emerged into modern civilization, great improve- 
ment being shi.wn in all lines of business development as well as in the 
intellectual jjrogress of the comit)'. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Catherine Ullery and was born in Ohio, lived to be seventy 
years of age. 

Unto this worthy couple were born nine children, of whom Henry 
Blakely Hicks is the second in order of birth. He was reared in Milton 
township and at the usual age began his education, attending district 
school No. I in Milton township. There he mastered the elementary 
branches of learning, whicli well qualified him to meet the practical and 
responsible duties of his business career. Through the summer months 
he aided in the farm work, remaining at home after he had attained his 
majority and carrying on the work of further development and progress 
here for seventeen years. He then purchased his present farm in 1880, 
and in iSrji he located thereon and has since made it his home. 

February- to. i8ot. Mr. Hicks was united in marriage to Miss 
Kate L. Miller, a daughter of Anton and Elizabeth (Herald) Miller and 
a native of Milton township. Cass county. She was born May i. t866, 
and was educated in the common schools, also a student at the Dowa- 
giac high school. She is a lady of more than ordinary education and 
can speak fluently the English, German and Erench languages. She is 
a lady who loves good books and is by nature a poet. Her best compan- 
ions are the best of literature. Her father, Anton L. Miller, was born 
in Ravensburg, Wurtemberg, Germany, Jrine 16, 1821, and died June 
20, 78(56. He was reared in Germany and educated in the national 
schools. He was thirtv-five vears of ajre when he came to America. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 519 

He was a stonenuison by trade, but was also a successful agriculturist. 
He was a kind and generous man and a Roman Catholic in religion. 
Mother Miller was born September 26, 1833, and died October 14, 1885. 
She was bcjrn in Schifferstadt, Bavaria, Germany, and was a young 
woman of twent\- when she came to America. She was a devout Cath- 
olic. Mrs. Hicks is a member of the Royal Neighbors. Unto Mr. and 
Mrs. Hicks ha\'e been born a daughter and son : Hazel A., who is at- 
tending school in the eighth grade and who takes vocal and instrument- 
al music; and Henry B.. who was seven years of age on the 2nd of 
October, 1905. 

The family ha^'e a pleasant and attractive hoiue on section 31, 
Jefferson township, where Mr. Hicks owns two hundred and forty acres 
of land that is rich and arable. He has placed excellent improvements 
upon the property and everything about the farm is kept in good re- 
pair, while the latest improved machinery is used in tilling the soil and 
caring for the crops. A glance from the passerby would indicate that 
the owner is a man of progressive spirit, practical and systematic in his 
w'ork. There is every evidence of careful and painstaking supervision, 
and in his business Mr. Hicks has prospered, being now one of the ener- 
getic men of his community, whose labors have been crowned with the 
acquiiement of a valuable farm. He votes with the Democracy, keeps 
well informed on questions and issues of the day and has taken an active 
interest in the v/ork of the party, for he believes that its principles con- 
tain the best elements of good government. He was supervisor of Mil- 
ton township for four years and in 1902 was elected supervisor of Jef- 
ferson township, to which office he was again elected in 1905, so that 
he is the present incumbent, while in Milton township he was also a 
highway commissioner. He has been a resident of Cass county through- 
out his entire life, covering a period of sixty years, and his labors have 
been a resultant factor in bringing about its present advancement. The 
character of \lr. Hicks is indicated by the fact that he is a Mason in good 
standing, his life being an exemplification of the teachings and tenets 
of the craft, which through many centuries has inculcated principles of 
mutual helpfulness and brotherly kindness among its followers. 

WILUAM S.ALISBURY. 

Upon a farm on section 5, Jefferson township, resides William 
Salisbury, who is numbered among the old settlers and venerable citizens 
of Cass county. He has traveled life's journey for more than eighty- 
two years and has been a resident of Cass county for more than the al- 
lotted psalmist's span of three score years and ten, having come to this 
county se\-enty-two years ago. Respected and honored by all who 
know him and with a wide acquaintance, his life record cannot fail to 
prove of interest to our many readers and with pleasure we present his 
historv in this \-olume. He v/as born in Huron countv. Ohio, August 



5-20 HISTORY Ol'" CASS COUNTY 

8, 1S23. riis paternal grandfather, Emanuel Salisbury, removed from 
the cast to Ohio, where his last days were passed. His father, Robert 
Salisbur\ , was a native of New York, where he was reared and married, 
and in pioneer times he became a resident of Ohio. Removing from the 
Buckeye state to Michigan he settled in Howard township, Cass county, 
where he took up land from the government. Much of the county was 
still unclaimed and he cast in his lot with those who have torne the 
hardships and privations of a frontier existence and have planted the 
seeds of civilization and prosperity now enjoyed by the representatives 
of a later generation. He improved a farm and remained upon the old 
homestead up to the time of his death, which occurred about 1866. 
There was only one store and one grocery in Niles at the time of his 
arrival here. It was a long distance to market and mill and the settlers 
had to depend largely upon what they could produce, not only for food 
but als(5 for clothing. Luxuries were few and oftentimes comforts were 
denied, but it was a day in which hospitality reigned supreme, the latch 
string ever hanging out, while a cordial welcome was extended to friend, 
neighbor or stranger. Robert Salisbury was united in marriage to Miss 
Martha Olmstead, likewise a native of the Empire state. Her death 
occurred in Howard township, Cass county, when she was about sixty- 
six years of age. In the family of this worthy couple were eleven chil- 
dren, four daughters and seven sons, all of whom grew to manhood or 
womanhood. 

William Salisbury, the sixth child and the only surviving member 
of the family, remained a resident of Ohio during the first ten years of 
his life, and then came with his parents to Cass county, the family home 
being established m Howard township, where they lived in a pioneer 
cabin, sharing in tlie hardships, privations and dangers incident to the 
establishment of a home in a frontier district. Only a short time before 
had the Indians been led to leave their hunting grounds in this part of 
the state and seek new fields in which to range and ply their customary 
pursuits of hunting and fishing. In fact Mr. Salisbury has seen many 
specimens of the red men in this part of the state. There were also 
various kinds of wild animals, while deer and other kinds of wild game 
were to be had in abundance by the settler who was a good shot. Few 
roads had been laid out, and at certain seasons in the year these were 
almost impassable, especially during the time of the spring rains. It 
was considered a big undertaking to go to mill and market in those 
days and the time of the settlers was mostly given to the arduous task 
of clearing away trees or brush and improving and cultivating the fields. 
William Salisbury acquired bis education in a log school house seated 
with slab benches and heated by a fire-place. Reading, writing, arith- 
metic and sometimes geography and grammar were taught and the ses- 
sion ui the school was held for only a few months during the winter 
season wlicn the cliildren's aid was not needed upon the home farm, for 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 521 

crops had heen harvested and the work of the farm was practically over 
until the coming of another spring. Mr. Salisbury remained at home 
until twenty-two years of age. doing his share in the work of the fields, 
and then started out in life on his own account. He was employed by 
the month as a farm hand for a time and then with the money which 
he had saved from his earnings he bought a tract of land in Jefferson 
township, which was entirely raw and undeveloped, but he at once be- 
gan the task of clearing, plowing and planting, and in due course of 
time had some well cultivated fields. He resided upon that property 
from 1845 ""til 1866, when he purchased the farm upon which he now 
resides and vv'hich has lieen his home through forty consecutive years. 
A great change has been wrought in its appearance, as he has cleared 
the land and placed it under cultivation, adding substantial buildings 
and all modern equipments. 

On the 2ist of October. 1845, Mr. Salisbury was married to Miss 
Caroline J. Milliman, a native of Ohio, who came to Cass county in 
1842. They have become the parents of four children, who are yet liv- 
ing: Anne, the wife of Henry Messenger, of Cassopolis; Eliza, who 
is the wife of James H. Farnum and also lives in Cassopolis ; Arthena 
M., the wife of Willet Verry, who is living in California; and Guy L., 
of Chicago. After losing his first wife Mr. Salisbury was again mar- 
ried, his second union being with Miss Anna Cissna, a daughter of Jo- 
seph Cissna, who was born in Detroit, Michigan, is of French de- 
scent and is new living at the very advanced age of ninety-seven years. 

"Mr. Salisbury has been a resident of Cass county for seventy-two 
years and has aided in making the county what it is to-day, one of the 
leading sections of this great commonwealth. He has always voted for 
men and measures rather than party and has held various local offices. 
He served on the school board for twenty-two years and has always 
taken an active part in public affairs, doing evei7thing in his power to 
promote the work of general progress and improvement. He has lived 
peaceably with his fellow men, has ever been straightforward and hon- 
orable in all his dealings and would sacrifice his own interests rather 
than take advantage of ajiother. He has never had a lawsuit in all his 
life and has long been recognized as a devoted, faithful and exemplary 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has lived during what 
has been the greatest age of invention in all the history of the world, 
has seen the building of the railroads, the introduction of the telegraph 
and telephone, the construction of the interurban lines, while a revolu- 
tion has also been wrought in modes of living, both upon the farm and 
in the city, because of improved machinery and the introduction of 
steam and electric power. It is a marvelous age and Mr. Salisbury has 
been an interested witness of what has been accomplished and in his 
special department of life has kept in touch with uniform progress. 



522 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 



JESSE H. AUSTIN. 

Jesse H. Austin, superintendent of the Cass County Infinnar)% is 
a native of tlie neighboring state of Indiana, his birth having occurred 
in Soutli Rend on the 7th of November, 1875. His father, W. H. 
Austin, was a native of Calhoun county, Michigan, while his mother, 
who in her maidenliood was Mary Hartsell, was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania. The former died when fifty-four years of age. 

Jesse H. Austin, their only son, was reared in the city of his na- 
tivity until about thirteen years of age, when he came with his father 
to Cass county, settling in LaGrange township upon a farm. His moth- 
er had died during their residence in South Bend and the father after- 
ward married Agnes Townsend, subsequently removing to Grand Rap- 
ids, Michigan, where his last days were passed. Jesse H. Austin re- 
mained with his father until he had attained his majority and was en- 
gaged in farming through the period of his youth when not busy with 
the duties of the schoolroom, wherein he acquired a good English edu- 
cation. He w'as appointed to liis present position in 1904 and has since 
hten keeper of the poor farm, in which position he has displayed good 
business aljility and discernment. Under his guidance the farm is made 
a paying p'-operty, the fields being well tilled, wb.ile good stock is raised 
and garden products are also cultivated. 

In 1903 Mr. Austin was united in marriage to Miss Maude Reams, 
a daughter of George Albert and Adella (Salisbury) Reams. In his 
political views Mr. Austin is an earnest Republican, supporting the party 
since age gave him the right of franchise. He served as deputy sheriff 
in 1901, 1902, 1903 and a part of 1904, and during that time was a 
resident of Cassopolis. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity 
in tlie county seat and has recently united with Backus Lodge, No. 55, 
F. & A. M., and has taken all three degrees, making him a Master 
Alason and a member of the Blue Lodge. He has a wide circle of friends 
in this county, where he has lived from the age of thirteen years. Most 
of his life has been devoted to the public service and he is regarded both 
as a capable officer and a popular citizen, having social, genial qualities 
which win him warm and enduring friendships. 

AMOS SMITH. 

Amos Smith, now deceased, was born in Erie county, Pennsylva- 
nia, August 7, 1S29, and died in Battle Creek, Michigan, at seven o'clock 
in the evening of September 18, 1900, at the age of seventy-oiie years, 
one month and eleven days. He was a son of Charles F. and Emily 
(Leach) .Smith, the latter a daughter of James Leach, one of the brave 
soldiers of the war of 18-12, who was killed at the battle of Niagara 
Falls on the 26th of July, 1814. 

•Amos Smith acquired an academic education in the county of his 




■,.y) .^^<^^' 



'"■^'' •''^'■'■^.^ f ^^^-^ 




•-^^^ 




HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 523 

nativity and in the year 1848 came to Michigan, where his first work 
was teaciiing m the Geneva district school in Penn township, being 
then about nineteen years of age. The following winter was devoted 
to teaching in Yazoo, Mississippi, and upon his return to his native state 
he taugJit writing and bookkeeping for a time and completed his own 
education in Clinton, New York. He had received instruction in writing 
from P. R. Spencer, the originator of the famous Spencerian system. 
In the fall of 1852 he returned to Cass county and was once more en- 
gaged in teaching. He likewise extended his efforts to surveying, for 
he had made a study of that profession in the meantime, and he became 
assistant to the county surveyor. Later he was made deputy county 
surveyor, and in 1854 was elected to the office of county surveyor, 
discharging the duties incumbent upon him in a very satisfactory 
manner. During the next fourteen years his time was largely given 
to teaching and surveying, and so well did he discharge the duties of the 
different offices entrusted to him, and so greatly were his services ap- 
preciated by the public that he was recognized as well qualified for 
further ix3litical honors, and in 1868 was chosen by popular suffrage to 
the responsible position of state senator, being elected by the Republi- 
can party, to the principles of which he was devotedly attached. He 
was also supervisor of his towftship and he was frequently appointed 
guardian and administrator of estates, performing the duties of those 
positions in connection with other official service. Ever alive to mat- 
ters of public importance, he was one of the most influential and promi- 
nent men of his county, and his efforts proved of far reaching value. 

On the 22nd of November, 1855, Mr. Smith was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Martha Jane East, who was born in Wayne county, In- 
diana, and died at their home in Cass county in 1882, leaving a family 
of three sons : C. F., Fred E. and George D. Smith. On the 4th of 
October, 1883, Mr. Smith was again married, his second union being 
with Miss Sue Bogue, who, with the sons, mourn the loss of a devoted 
husband, loving father and wise counselor. In the year of his first 
marriage he purchaseil forty acres of land, which he continued to make 
his home up to the time of his death, although he steadily increased the 
boundaries of his farm by additional purchase until he owned over three 
hundred acres of rich, productive and valuable land. In connection 
with the tilling of the soil and the production of the cereals best adapted 
to the climate he made a specialty of fruit raising, and some of the best 
fruit of Michigan was produced upon his place. He was ever a lover of 
the beautiful, especially as manifest in ilowers, and he had around him 
many superb specimens of floriculture. He took great delight and 
pleasure in working with his flowers and his study of conditions and 
needs of plants led to splendid results. 

Mr. Smith was a member of the Masonic fraternitv and several 
times served as worshipful master. At tlie time (jf his demise he was 



524 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

also a member of the Royal Arch chapter at Cassopolis. The first 
master of his lodge, he was chosen on various occasions to act as its rep- 
resentative to the grand lodge, and at all times he was deeply interested 
in Masonry and in the work of the order, which finds the exemplification 
of its principles in the honorable manhood and stalwart devotion of its 
representatives. A man of much public spirit, Mr. Smith ever endeav- 
ored to advance the best local interests and perhaps labored for no 
other cause more efficiently than for the public schools of Vandalia, 
the upbuilding of which is due more to him than to any other man. His 
life was indeed of value to his fellow townsmen because of his reliability 
in business, his faithfulness in office, his devotion to the work of gen- 
eral progress and his strict regard for all the obligations and privileges, 
of friendship. He was highly esteemed wherever known, and most of 
all where best known, and while he ever displayed commendable char- 
acteristics, his best traits were reser\'ed for his family and his imme- 
diate fireside. 

AI-AMANDEL J. TALLADAY. 

Alamandel J. Talladay, whose name is enrolled among the old set- 
tlers of the county, resides on a farm of one hundred and twenty acres 
on section 3, Jefferson township, and is one of the best known citizens 
of the community. He was for twenty-five years in charge of the coun- 
ty farm, and over the record .of his public service there falls no shadow 
of wrong or suspicion of evil, for he was ever actuated by fidelity to the 
general good and by zeal in the faithful performance of the work en- 
trusted to him. He has always lived in the middle west, his birth hav- 
ing occurred in Osceola township, Elkhart county, Indiana, on the 31st 
of October. 1845. His father, Jesse Talladay, was a native of New 
York and became one of the early settlers of Indiana, whence he after- 
ward removed to Michigan, settling in Cass county in 1845. They set- 
tled in Mason township. Mr. Talladay was engaged in farming up to 
the time of his death, which occurred in his forty-ninth year in Jeffer- 
son township. He married Miss Sophia Mechling, a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, who went to Indiana with her parents and there gave her hand 
in marriage to Jesse Talladay. She lived to be alxiut sixtv-five years of 
age. Tn their family were ten children, seven of whom reached years 
of maturity. 

Alamandel J. Talladay, the third child, was about two weeks old 
when iirought to Mason township, Cass county. He was reared upon 
the old family homestead there until he reached the age of twelve years, 
when he became a resident of Jefferson township. His education was 
acquired in a district school near the family home and through the va- 
cation periods he worked in the fields and assisted in the farm labor un- 
til after he had attained his majority. At the death of his father he was 
appointed administrator of the estate and managed the business in ca- 
pable and energetic fashion. In 1874 he took charge of the county 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 525 

farm, continuing' in the position for eight years, after which he be- 
gan farming on his own account in Jefferson township, where he car- 
ried on the wnric of tilling the soil for five years. He then once more 
took charge of the county farm and was its superintendent for seven- 
teen years, so that his service in that position all tog-ether covered twenty- 
live years. His long incumbency stands in incontrovertible evidence of 
his capability and the trust reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. He 
brought to bear in the discharge of his duties the same earnest purpose 
and indefatigable energy that have always characterized him in the man- 
agement of his private business interests, and he not only carefullv 
looked after those who were dependent upon the county's bounty but also 
by his capable control made the farm a paying institution. 

On the i8th of September, 1877, ^^''- Talladay was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth George, a native of Monroe county, New York, 
born on the 14th of August. 1857. Her parents were Luke and Maria 
(London) George, both of whom were natives of near London, Eng- 
land. Crossing the Atlantic, they became residents of the Empire state, 
and in 1S65 arrived in Cass county, Michigan, taking up their abode in 
Cassopolis. The father was a farmer by occupation, following that 
pursuit in order to provide for the needs and wants of his family. Un- 
to him and his wife were born nine children. Mrs. Talladay being the 
eighth in order of birth. She was only eight years of age when brought 
to this state, so that the greater part of her life has beenpassed in Cass 
county. The marriage of our subject and his wife has been blessed with 
three sons : Gideon W., a successful merchant now engaged in the 
hardware and furniture business at Cassopolis, was educated in the com- 
mon schools and graduated in the Cassopolis city schools in the class 
of 1895. ^^ is '^^so a graduate of the Valparaiso Normal in the class 
in the winter of 1896-97. He wedded Miss Jessie Bachelor and they 
ha\e two little daughters. Loween and Myrn. He is one of the suc- 
cessful merchants of Cassopolis. Jesse L., who received a common 
school education and also graduated in the Cassopolis high school, has 
lieen on the lakes six or seven years as a sailor. Ray G., who grad- 
uated in the eighth grade, and was in the eleventh grade of the Cassop- 
olis high school, was also a student at the Valparaiso Normal. He 
is at home. All were born in Jefferson township. Mrs. Talladay has 
an old oaken chest which her great-grandmother brought from England, 
and it is harid carved and over a century old. They also have an old 
almanac published in 1838. 

Mr. Talladajr is the owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land 
and carries on the farm work in energetic and able manner, so that he 
annually harvests good crops. He also has good grades of stock upon 
his place and his farm is divided into fields of convenient size by well 
kept fences. In his work he is svstematic and methodical and hi? 
sound business judgment is manifest in the excellent results which have 
attended his labors. In politics he has been a lifelong Democrat where 



526 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

state and national questions are involved, but at local elections votes 
independently, considering only the efficiency of the candidate. He be- 
longs to Backus lodge. No. 55, F. & A. M., of Cassopolis, also Kings- 
bury Chapter, R. A. M., and his wife is a member of the Baptist church. 
They are highly esteemed in the communitiy where they reside, the 
hospitality of many of the best homes being cordially extended them. 
Mr. Talladay is one who is well known because of his fidelity to public 
trust and his many good qualities have gained for him a favorable 
position in the regard of all wlio know him. 

H. C. DAVIS. 

Among the thrifty and prosperous farmers of Cass county is num- 
bered H. C. Davis, residing on section 35, Jefferson township. Fie dates 
his residence in the county from 1840, being a young lad of but four 
years of age at the time of his arrival here. His mind bears the im- 
press of many of the eaiiy historic annals of the state as well as of later 
day progress and development. He is familiar with conditions which 
existed when this county was a frontier district, when most of its res- 
idents lived in log houses and when the homes of the settlers were wide- 
ly scattered. Only here and there was a mill or business establishment 
which could furnish the settlers with needed supplies of wearing ap- 
parel or food products. Journeys were taken very infrequently be- 
cause of the poor condition of the roads and the fact tliat the labor 
of all the people was needed upon the farms in the reclamation of the 
wild land for the uses of civilization. 

Mr. Davis of this review, who for long years has successfully car- 
ried on farming, was Ivirn in Clark county, Ohio, on the 13th of Novem- 
ber, 1836. His father, Reutei B. Davis, was a native of West Virginia, 
in which state he remained until early manhood. When about twenty- 
two years of age, however, he removed westward to Clark county, Ohio, 
where he secured a tract of land and engaged in farming. He was mar- 
ried in that state to Miss Susanna Smith, whose birth occurred in Clark 
county on the ist of Feliruary, 1813. She was a daughter of Henry 
Smith, who was born in New Jersey and became one of the pioneer res- 
idents of the Buckeye state. His marriage, however, was celebrated 
in Virginia. He was of German descent, while the Davis family is of 
Welsh lineage. Reuben B. Davis lived to the advanced age of eighty 
years, while his wife passed away at the extreme old age of ninety years, 
liev death occurring in Jefferson township. Thev had removed from 
Oiiio to Cass county about 1840 and became identified with pioneer 
interests, sharing in the arduous task of developing the land and estab- 
lishing a home in the midst of the forest. In their family were seven 
children, of whom only three sons reached adult age, these being: H. 
C. of this review: James, a resident farmer of Jefferson township; and 
Elijali P.. who is living in Boulder City, Colorado. 



HISTORY OU CASS COUNTY 527 

H. C. Davis, who was the eldest son and second child of the fam- 
ily_, was only four years of age when brought by his parents to Mich- 
igan. The family home was established in Cass count^' and he has re- 
sided upon his present farm for sixty-five years. It is dear to him 
through the associations of his boyhood and youth as well as of his 
later manhood. In early life he received loving care and attention from 
his parents, and in their declining days he gave to them filial affection, 
thus repaying them for their devotion in his youth. At the usual age 
he entered the public schools and acquired a knowledge of the common 
branches of learning that equipped him for life's practical duties. His 
training at farm labor was not meager, for when not busy with his 
text-books he worked in the fields, assisting in plowing, planting and 
hai'vesling as crops were brought to their fruition. When he had at- 
tained man's estate he chose a companion and helpmate for life's jour- 
ney, being married on the 15th of June, 1863, to Miss Samantha Ros- 
brough, one of the native daughters of Jefferson township, who has 
spent her entire life in this part of the county. Her parents were John 
and Mary (Richardson) Rosbrough, and the mother came of Irish 
lineage, while the father was of German descent. The home of Mr. and 
Mrs. Davis has l^een blessed with three sons and two daughters, name- 
ly: Charles E. ; Henrietta, now the wife of H. K. May, of Minnesota; 
Fred S., a resident farmer of Jefferson township; Carrie, the wife of 
Dr. J. F. Condon, who is living in Breckenridge. Colorado, about one 
hundred and ten miles from Denver; and Pliny, of Dowagiac. 

Mr. Davis is now the owner of one hundred and sixty-nine acres 
of good land constituting a well improved farm. His entire life has 
been given to the occupation to which he was reared and he has found 
in this work a good source of income, resulting from his close applica- 
tion, capable management and straightforward dealing. His first home 
was a log cabin that is still standing upon the place. It was erected in 
1834 and is a mute reminder of tlie great changes that have occurred. 
It was, however, a hospitable home, in which friends, neighbors and 
strangers were always made welcome. As the financial resources in- 
creased, however, this primitive dwelling was replaced by one of more 
modern architecture and also more commodious. There have also been 
great changes in methods of farming. In his youth the sickle was used 
in the harvest field and the sheaves were bound by hand, while the 
threshing w-as done upon the barn floor, the grain being tramped out by 
horses or oxen. Invention, however, brought improved farm machin- 
ery and Mr. Davis has kept in touch with the universal progress along 
such lines. He now has a splendidly improved farm, the products of 
which find a ready sale upon the market, and thus his income is mate- 
rially increased annually. 

In his political views Mr. Davis is an earnest Democrat, active in 
the work of the party where issues are involved, though at local elec- 
tions he frequently votes independently, considering only the capabil- 



628 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ity of the candiuate. In 1885-6 he was township treasurer, and from 
1900 until 1904 inclusive he was supervisor of his township. He was 
also school officer for twenty-seven years and the duties that have de- 
volved upon him in these connections have been promptly, faithfully 
and capably performed. He is never remiss in citizenship nor negli- 
gent in business, and he has based his business principles and actions 
upon strict adherence to the rules which govern industry and unswerv- 
ing integrity. By constant exertion associated with good judgment 
he has raised himself to the position which he now holds, having the 
friendship of the man} and the respect of all who know him. 

NELSON E. THATCHER. 

The agricultural interests of Penn township find a worthy repre- 
sentative in Nelson E. Thatcher, who is living on section 20. Here he 
owns eighty acres of land and is carrying on farming along modern 
lines of progressive agriculture. He was born in Ontario county. New 
York, on the 30th of January, 1851, and comes of English ancestry, 
tlie family, however, having been founded in the new world at an early 
period in its colonization. His paternal grandfather, Israel Thatcher, 
was a native of Greenfield, Massachusetts, and removed from that state 
to New York*, where occurred the birth of Lyrnan Thatcher, father of 
our subject. He was reared to the occupation of farming in the Em- 
pire state, where he resided until about 1883, when he came to Mich- 
igan, spending his remaining days within its borders. His death oc- 
curred in Lansing in 1900. His wife, who bore the maiden name of 
Annie E. Trembley, was born in Ontario county. New York, and there 
spent her girlhood days, her father being John Trembley, who was of 
French lineage but was born in Paterson. New Jersey. Mrs. Thatcher 
passed away in the same year in which her husband's death occurred, 
being called to her tinal rest on the 2nd of February, 1900. In their 
family were eleven children, five sons and six daughters, of whom 
one son and one daughter died in childhood, while the others grew to 
manhood or womanhood. 

Nelson E. Thatcher, who was the sixth in order of birth in this 
family of eleven children, was reared in his native county and is in- 
debted to the public school system for the educational privileges he en- 
joyed in his 3'Oiith. During the summer months he assisted in farm 
labor and remained at home until twenty-one years of age. when he 
started out upon an independent business career. He has since won a 
fair measure of success, which is attributable entirely to his own well- 
directed labor and unfaltering diligence. He was married in 1874 to 
Miss Mary E. Fenton, who died in March, 1884, leaving four sons, the 
youngest being about sixteen months old. These were : Sylvester F.. who 
is now a resident of Portland, Oregon: Nelson E., deceased; Holester W.. 
also living in Portland; and Ernest M., who was a soldier in the United 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 529 

States army and died in tlie Philippine Islands. After losing his first 
wife Mr. Thatcher was again married in 1896, his second union being 
with Lillian S. Brody, the widow of Frank White and a daughter of 
Hugh and Annie Brody. Her parents and grandparents were pioneer 
residents of Cass county and she was born upon the farm on section 20, 
Penn township, where she has spent the greater part of her life. Mr. 
Thatcher came to Cass county in 1895. He afterward went to North 
Dakota, locating at Sheldon, where he accepted a clerkship in a general 
store. On the expiration of that period he returned to Cass county and 
located on the farm where he now resides, purchasing the interest of the 
old Brody homestead from the other heirs. He has built a good barn, 
has improved the place in many ways and has now an excellent prop- 
erty, attractive in its appearance and equipped with all modern acces- 
sories. He has been offered a good price for his farm, showing that 
it is one of the valuable properties of the locality. In politics he is a 
Democrat and he belongs to the Masonic lodge at Vandalia. Although 
his residence in Cass county covers a comparatively brief period he has 
become widely and favorably known and the circle of his friends is 
constantly growing. 

NATHAN JONES. 

Nathan Jones, a retired farmer and one of the old settlers of Cass 
county, is living on section 21, Penn township. He has passed the 
eighty-first milestone on life's journey, his birth having occurred in 
Preble county, Ohio, April 6, 1824. His father, George Jones, was a 
native of Georgia and was a son of George Jones, Sr., whose birth like- 
wise occurred in the same state, whence he removed to Ohio on account 
of slavery in the south, establishing his home in Preble county. He was 
a Friend or Quaker in his religious faith and he lived to be about sixty- 
six years of age. After spending some years in Ohio he sought a home 
in Michigan, locating in Penn township, Cass county, in 1829, which 
was several years before the admission of the state into the Union. He 
was accompanied by four of his sons and the)^ took an active and help- 
ful part in the development and early progress of the county. The fam- 
ily is of Welsh descent, but the first representatives of the name in 
America came from England to the new world. 

George Jones, the father of our subject, was a young man when his 
parents removed to Preble county. Ohio, and there he was reared to the 
occupation of farming, which he has made his life work. He came to 
Cass county, Michigan, at the same time his father and brothers sought 
a home in this state, and from the government he entered a tract of land 
in Penn township, upon which not a furrow had been turned nor an im- 
provement made. With characteristic energy. hoAvever, he began till- 
ing the soil and planting crops and in due course of time had developed 
a good farm. He had hved for six years in the county before he could 
enter his land and he took a helpful part in the work of early improve- 



530 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

iiieiit and progress. He died when a comparatively young man, pass- 
ing away at the age of thirty-two years. His wife bore the maiden name 
of Mary Bogue and was born in North CaroHna, where her girlhood 
days were passed. She removed with her parents to Ohio. Her father 
was Joseph Bogue, also a native of North Carolina, who was of Quaker 
faith, adhering closely to that religious denomination up to the time of 
his demise. Mrs. Jones reached the very advanced age of eighty-two 
years, thus long surviving her husband. In their family were six chil- 
dren. 

Nathan Jones, the third in order of birth, was only five years of 
age when brought by his parents from Preble county, Ohio, to Cass 
county, Michigan, and he was reared in Penn township amid the wild 
scenes of pioneer life, sharing with the family in all the hardships, 
privations and trials incident to the settlement of the frontier. When 
a boy he pursued his education in a log school house, sitting upon a 
slab bench. In one end of the room was a large fire-place and the 
desks were made of slabs laid upon pins driven into the wall. The 
methods of instruction were also primitive and he frequently made 
his way through the snow for three miles in order to attend school. 
The family were left in somewhat limited financial circtunstances, so 
that his privileges were comparatively meager. He assisted his mother 
upon the old home farm up to the time of his marriage, which occurred 
in 1847, Miss Lydia Bonine becoming his wife. She was a daughter 
of Isaac and Sarah Bonine, who settled in Cass county in 1842. Mrs. 
Jones was born in Wayne county, Indiana, and died in this county in 
1899 when alDOut seventy-one years of age. By her marriage she had 
become the mother of six children, namely: Mary E., Sarah Inda, 
Isaac B., George, Warner D. and one who died in infancy. In 1900, 
Mr. Jones was again married, his second union being with Louisa Jones, 
who was born in London, England, but was brought to the United 
States during her infancy. 

Mr. Jones has been a resident of Cass county for seventy-six years 
and throughout that entire time has been connected with agricultural 
pursuits. He owns three hundred acres of land in Penn township and 
his valuable farm with its excellent improvements and richly cultivated 
fields indicates a life of thrift and enterprise. He is a stanch Pro- 
hibitionist in political matters and formerly was a Republican, and 
for many years has served as township supervisor of Penn township. 
In his religious faith he holds to the church of his ancestors and is a 
Friend or Quaker. His life has been ever honorable and upright and 
he has never been known to take advantage of the necessities of his 
fellow men in any trade transaction. Few of the citizens of the county 
have so long resided within its borders and his name is indelibly en- 
graved upon the pages of its history. His memory goes back to the 
time when there were few roads through the forests and the traveler 
often found his wav bv means of a blazed trail. There were no rail- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 531 

roads, no telegraphs nor telephones and only here and there would be 
found a little clearing to indicate that the work of improvement had 
been begun. The few homes were mostly log cabins and similar struct- 
ures were used for school purposes or houses of worship. The farm 
machinery was very crude as compared to that in use at the present day. 
The mowing was done with a scythe or sickle, the grain bound by 
hand and was threshed out with oxen or horses. Most of the cooking 
was done over a big fire-place and much of the clothing of the family 
was woven by the women of the household. Great changes have oc- 
curred and Mr. Jones has kept in touch with the universal progress, 
rejoicing in what has been accomplished as Cass county has won a 
place among the leading counties of this great commonwealth. 

GILBERT WHITE. 

Gilbert White, a retired farmer living in Cassopolis, was born in 
Allegany county, Xew York, on the i8th of September, 1835, and in 
both the paternal and maternal lines comes of Irish and English an- 
cestry. His parents were Albert and Rhoda (Castleman) White. The 
father was born in Seneca county. New York, and in the year 1843 
emigrated westward to Cass county, Michigan, reaching his destina- 
tion on the loth of September. As a pioneer settler he was identified 
with the work of early progress and improvement and his aid could 
always be counted upon to further any measure for the local good. 
His time and energies were devoted to farming and he contributed to 
the agricultural prosperity of the community. He voted with the 
Whig party until its dissolution and then became a stanch Democrat. 
His death occurred November 25, 1876, when he was in the seventy- 
fourth year of bis age. His wife, also a native of the Empire state, 
died in Cass county when about fifty-five years of age. Tliev were 
the parents of five sons and one daughter, all of whom reached years 
of maturity, but the daughter died when about twenty-two years of 
age, and the sons have also passed away with the exception of Gilbert 
White and his brother, Nathaniel White, Avho is now living in Penn 
township. 

Gilbert White was the youngest son and fifth child in the familv 
and was but eight years of age when he became a resident of Cass 
county. His youth was passed upon the old family homestead, where 
he early began work in the fields, aiding in the work of plowing, plant- 
ing and harvesting. The district schools afforded him his educational 
privileges and he had to walk two and a half miles to the little old 
school house in Penn. His education was therefore acquired under 
.somewhat unfavorable circumstances. His training at farm labor, how- 
ever, was not meager and he remained at home assisting in the work 
of the farm until twenty-one years of age, when he started out in 
life on his own account. As a companion and helpmate for life's 



53-2 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

journey he chose Miss EHzaheth Broner, whom he wedded in 1857. 
She was born in New York city and was a daughter of Jacob and Mary 
Broner. She came to Cass comity in 1857 and the same year gave 
her hand in marriage to Mr. W'liite. 

FoUowing his marriage Gilbert White purchased his father's farm, 
took up his abode thereon and was engaged in general farm work until 
the fall of 1880, when he came to Cassopolis. He then retired from 
active business and enjoyed a well earned rest for a number of years, 
but in 1S90 once more entered the field of business activity and has 
since been engaged in dealing in agricultural implements in addition 
to looking after his farm property in Penn township, comprising one 
hundred and forty acres of land. He carries a good line of farm ma- 
chinery of the best makes and his patronage is extensive and is con- 
stantly growing. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. White have been born three children : Frank 
A., now deceased; Evadell, the wife of Aaron Reinhart, who resides 
upon the old family homestead; and Floyd B., who is living in Cassop- 
olis. Mr. White belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, 
with which he has been connected for twenty-three years. He also 
holds membership relations with the Benevolent & Protective Order of 
Elks and since attaining his majority has given his support to the 
Democracy. He has held the office of justice of the peace and other 
local positions and for aliout twenty years has been a member of the 
school board, taking an active interest in the cause of public education 
and in various movements and plans for substantial advancement in 
the county. He has lived in the county for sixty-three years and his 
position in public regard has been won through a strict adherence to 
high and manly principles. In his business dealings he- has never been 
known to take advantage of the necessities of his fellow men in any 
trade transaction, but in the legitimate channels of trade has gained 
the competence which he now enjoys. He has traveled life's journey 
with his wife for almost a half century and they are regarded as a most 
estimable couple whose names should be engraved high upon the roll of 
honored pioneer settlers and who justly deserve prominent mention in 
the history of this part of the state. 

THOMAS J. LTLLEY. 

Thomas J. Lillev is numbered among the earlv settlers of Cass 
county who for many years has been an interested witness of the 
changes that have occurred here and the transition that has been wrought 
as time and man have brought the county to its present position of 
advancement and development. He lives on section 18, LaGrange 
township, and is the owner of four hundred and forty-six acres of rich 
and valuable land, but leaves the work of tilling the soil to others, 
wliile he is now living retired in the enjoyment of a ■well earned rest. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 533 

His birth occurred in LaGrange townsliip on the 13th of October, 1844, 
and he is therefore among the older of the native sons of the county. 
His parents were David and Sarah (Simpson) Lilley, in whose family 
were four children. The father was a native of Ohio and emigrating 
westward cast in his lot with the pioneer residents of Cass county. He 
entered a small claim from the government, was married in LaGrange 
township and reared his family upon his home farm here. He was 
identified with the making of Cass county, with its permanent improve- 
ment and substantial development, and his fellow townsmen recognized 
in him a citizen of worth and value. His political allegiance was given 
to the Democracy. It was in this county that he was married to Miss 
Sarah Simpson, a native of Virginia, who was brought to Michigan by 
her parents when about four years of age. Her father was Thomas 
Simpson, one of the earliest settlers of this part of the state, living in 
LaGrange township, ^^■here he aided in the reclamation of the wild 
land for the purposes of civilizatiim. ]\lr. and Mrs. David Lilley l<ing 
traveled life's journey together, the former passing away when in bis 
eighty-first year and the latter when seventy-nine years of age. Of 
their children three are nnw living, Thomas J. being the eldest and 
the onlv suiwiving son. His two sisters are: Matilda, the wife of 
Austin Charles, of Decatur, Michigan: and Catharine, now the wife 
of Orville Wales, of Chicago. 

In taking up the personal histor_\' of Thomas J. Lilley we present 
to our readers the life record of one who has a wide and favoralile ac- 
quaintance in Cass county, for during long years he has lived within 
its borders, shaping his life in accordance with rules of upright conduct, 
of honor in business, loyalty in citizenship and devotion to all that is 
commendable in friendship and home life. In the period of his yrmth 
he assisted his father in carrying on the work of the farm and in 
early manhood sought a companion and helpmate for life's journey, 
being married in 1867 to Miss Nancv Hurdle, a daughter of Jacob and 
Catherine (Brown) Hurdle. Her father was born on the ocean while 
his parents were crossing from Germany and the mother was a native 
of Ohio. They became residents of Cass countv in 1833, settling in 
Wayne township, where they cast in their lot with the pioneer settlers. 
Mr. Hurdle did his full share in improving and developing this region 
and his value in the work of reclamation was acknowledged by all who 
knew of his career. Mrs. Lilley was born on the family homestead in 
Wayne township, June 29, 1848, and has lived all her life in Cass 
county. In their family were three daughters : Lora, the wife of 
John Shephard, who resides upon the old homestead in LaGrange town- 
ship : Birdie, at home: and Sadie, the wife of Dr. L. C. Simmons, of 
Shelbyville, Indiana. All Avere born in LaGrange township, where Mr. 
Lilley has spent his entire life. He has carried on farming throughout 
his entire business career, but leaves the more active work of the fields 
to others at the present time. His possessions embrace four hundred 



534 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

and forty-six acres of rich and arable land under a high state of culti- 
vation and well improved with modern equipments. He has prospered 
in his business affairs and he now rents his farm, resting in the en- 
joyment of the fruits of his former toil and in the competence which 
comes to him from the rental of his place. He has erected many build- 
ings in the county and has lived a life of untiring industry and enter- 
prise resulting in success. He votes with the Democracy hut has never 
sought or desired oflice, preferring to give his undivided attention to 
his business affairs. He started out on his own account at an early age 
and has steadily wor-ked his way upward undeterred by the difficulties 
and obstacles that one always meets in a business career. These on the 
other hand seemed to serve as an impetus for renewed effort and his 
purposeful action and sound judgment have made him one of the 
prosperous residents of the community. 

JOSEPH H. JOHNSON. 

Joseph H. Johnson, living on section 8, Penn township, is a native 
of Monroe county, New York, his birth having occurred about six miles 
east of Rochester on the 2nd of March, 1840. His father. Job John- 
son, was a native of England, and when a young man came to America, 
for he had heard favorable reports concerning business opportunities 
in the United States and hoped to better his financial condition by emi- 
grating to the new world. When a young man in England he learned 
the blacksmith's trade and thus had a good foundation upon which to 
build the superstructure of success after crossing the Atlantic. Being 
favorably impressed with his adopted land, he afterward returned to 
England for his bride and was married there to Miss Andulusia Greg- 
ory, a native of England, whom he then brought with him to the United 
States, arriving here about 1838. They located in Monroe county, New 
York, where they resided continuously until the spring of 1852, when 
they came to Cass county, Michigan. Mr. Johnson secured land about 
a mile south of Vandalia, where he was engaged in farming. There he 
died at the age of fifty-three years, while his wife passed away in her 
fiftieth year. By the first marriage of Mr. Johnson there were born 
five children, and by his second marriage — Miss Fannie Doyle becoming 
his wife — there were born three children. 

Joseph H. Johnson is the eldest of the first family, and in Monroe 
county. New York, he spent the first twelve years of his life, becoming 
a public school .student there. Subsequently he continued his studies in 
Cass county following the removal of his parents to Michigan. His 
niotlier died, however, when he was only about thirteen vears of age, 
and he then started out in life on his own account. He worked by the 
month during the summer seasons and in the winter attended school. 
Desirous of gaining a good education and realizing its value as a 
factf)r in ;i successful business career, he attended Hillsdale Colleere in 




' 1^ 'J^c/rI^^^^t^^^~iy^^n^^ 




HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 535 

1864, i)rovii!ing for the expenses of the college course bv his own labor. 
After his marriage he rented the Bonine farm for six years, and then 
with the capital which he had acquired through his own earnings he 
bought a tract of land of eighty acres. Later he spent four years in a 
jewelry store at Columbu.s, Indiana, after which he returned to Cass 
county and purchased a second farm, becoming owner of the property 
which he now occupies. Later he again spent two years in Columbus as 
a lx)okkeeper in a large flouring mill, but once more he again took up 
his abode in Cass county, making his home with his brother. 

In 1867 Mr. Johnson married Miss Caroline Davis, a daughter 
of Allen and Hannah Davis. She died December 25, i86g, leaving one 
child that died in infancy. 

Mr. Johnson is now the owner of one hundred and thirty acres of 
land in Penn township and also forty acres in LaGrange township. He 
is likewise one of the directors of the First National Bank of Cassopolis, 
in which he has been a stockholder for over thirty years. In fact he is 
one of the oldest stockholders of the institution. In his business life 
he has been thoroughly reliable and all that he possesses is attributable 
to his energy and careful management. Since age gave to him the right 
of franchise he has been a Republican, actively interested in the work 
of the party and its success and doing all in his power for the extension 
of its local influence. He has served as township supervisor for one 
term and was also township treasurer for two years, and he is now a 
member of the county central committee, with which he has been thus 
allied for a number of years. His interest in behalf of public progress 
and improvement has been manifest by active co-operation in many 
movements for the general good. Starting out in life for himself at the 
early age of thirteen years, he soon became acquainted with earnest and 
unremitting toil and gained a realization of the fact that only through 
close and persistent effort may honorable success be achieved. He has 
used his opportunities to the best possible advantage, and as the years 
have gone by he has wisely invested in property that is now classed with 
the fine farms of Penn township. 

BENJAMIN F. GARWOOD. 

Among the early settlers who have long been witnesses of the 
growth and development of Cass county is numbered Benjamin F. 
Garwood, who now makes his home on section 3, Penn township, where 
he OW'US a Vv-ell improved farm of ninet}- acres. He still gives personal 
supervision to the property and the cultivation of the fields and his life 
record in this respect should put to shame many a man of much younger 
years, who, ba\ ing grown weary of the struggles of a business career, 
would relegate to others the burdens that he should bear. Mr. Gar- 
w'ood has now passed the seventy-ninth milestone on life's journey 



530 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

hut is yet a factor in agricultural circles here, giving stipervision to the 
care of his farm. 

A nati\e of Lajgan county. Ohio, he was Iwrn on the 19th of 
I\hiy, 1827, and was third in order of birth in a family of eleven chil- 
dren, five sons and six daughters, all of whom with one exception 
reached adult age. Their parents were William and Elizabeth (Brown) 
riarwood, the father born in Virginia and the mother in North Caro- 
lina. The father was reared, however, in Logan county, Ohio, and 
was there married to Miss Brown. They resided for a long period in 
Ohio, wlience they came to Cass county, Michigan, about T845, locat- 
ing in JefYerson township, but Mr. Garwood soon afterward purchased 
one hundred and twenty acres of land in Penn townshi]>. to which farm 
he removed his famih', but afterward was a resident of Missouri for 
some time, continuing there about two years, when he returned to 
Penn township to reside up to the time of his demise. His widow sur- 
vivefl him and died in Missouri. 

Benjamin F. Garwood was about eighteen years of age when 
be came with his parents to Michigan. He had attended the district 
schools of Logan county and he continued his studies in the district 
schools of Jefiferson township, Cass county, which he attended through 
the winter months, while during the remainder of the year he worked 
at farm labor. He continued to assist in the cultivation of the fields 
and in harvesting the crops until bis marriage on the 27th of October, 
1853, to Miss Catharine Lamb. There were four sons and four 
daughters born of that marriage: Elvira, Mary Ann, William, Charles, 
Lydia, Warren, Euceba and John A. The mother passed away Octo- 
ber S, 1881. On the 12th of April, 1883, Mr. Garwood was again 
married, his second union being with . Malinda T. Bonine, who was 
born in Henry county, Lidiana, December 2, 1835, and was a daughter 
of Simeon and Olive (Elliott") Thomas. Her first husband was Jacob 
Bonine and to them were born two children : Lot J. and Olive. ]\Irs. 
Garwood came to Michigan about 1854. Both Mr. and Mrs. Garwood 
are old settlers of Cass county and are widely and favorably known. 
His first presidential vote was cast for a Reptiblican candidate. He is 
a member of the Friends' Church and his life has been in svmpathy 
with that religious sect, whose followers exemplify a spirit of Christian 
patience, consideration and virtue that has made them widely know'n 
and has awakened a universal feeling of respect for the denomination 
which thev represent. 

LTLY5SES S. FBY. 

T'l'h-sses S. Ebv, engaged in the practice of law in Cassopolis, 
where his thoroutjb understanding of iudicial principles and careful 
preparation of cases have been manifest in the able manner in which be 
has handled in the courts the litigated interests entrusted to his care, 
was born in Porter township, this county, on the 7tb of August. 1864, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 537 

his parents lieiiig Gabriel and Caroline (Wagner) Ehy. The father 
came to this county in 1842 anil has remained on his farm ever since. 
He was born in Ohio, while his wife is a nati\e of Germany, having 
been born near the Rhine. 

After attending the common schools L'. S. Eby became a student 
in Valparaiso University at Valparaiso, Indiana, and was graduated in 
law in June, 1900. Prior tn this time he had successfully engaged in 
teaching scliool in Cass county and following his admission to the bar 
he entered at once uixm the active practice of his profession, in which 
he has continued since with a large and distinctively representative 
chentage. The true measure nf success is determined bv what one has 
accorn])lished and. as taken in contradistinction to the old adage' that 
a prophet is nrt without honor sa\-e in his own country, there is par- 
ticular interest attaching to the career nf the subject (if this review, 
since he is a native son of the county \\'here he has passed his active 
life and so directed his ability and efforts as to gain recognition as one 
of the representative citizens and able lawyers of Cassopolis. In 1806 
he was elected county clerk and held the position for two years. In 
1900 he was chosen by popular suffrage to the office of prosecuting at- 
torney, in which capacity he also served for two years, while for tlu'ee 
years he has been a member of the board of education. 

On the 26th of September. 1888. Mr. Eby was married at Union, 
Michigan, to Miss Clara A. Toupee, a daughter of Oscar Loupee, of 
Vandalia, Michigan, and tliey have one son, Ulysses Guy Eby, born 
August 25, 1889. Mr. Eh}' is a member of the Knights of the Modern 
Maccabees, which he joined in 1892 as a charter member at T'^nes, 
Michigan. For two years he was commander of the tent. In politics 
he is a stalwart Democrat, although his seven brothers are all Re- 
publicans. In 1890 he joined the Free Baptist church at Union, Mich- 
igan, and is still identified therewith. He is a respected and worthy 
citizen of Cassopolis, where his professional labors, his political service 
and his fidelity to social and moral obligations have made him a man 
worthy of the high regard and esteem which is uniformly accorded 
him. 

PETER EBY. 

Peter Eby, who for fifty-eight years has been a resident of Porter 
township, may well be termed one of the old settlers of the county and 
has demonstrated his right in many ways to rank with its represent- 
ative citizens, for he belongs to that class of men who in the faithful 
performance of each day's duties of every public task devolving upon 
him, manifests his loyalty and interest in the general good. He re- 
sides on section 6. south Porter township, and is a native of Elkhart 
county, Indiana, born on the 9th of August. 1848'. He is the eldest 
son nf Gabriel and Caroline ("Wagner) Eby, and was only about two 
months old when the parents removed from Indiana to Michigan, 



538 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

settling in Porter townsliip. He has therefore been a lifelong resident 
of Cass county and yet resides in the township where his boyhood and 
youth were spent. He remained at home until twenty-one years of 
age and assisted in clearing up and improving the farm. When he was 
about twenty-five years of age he bought the land upon which he now 
resides. In the winter seasons he attended the early schools of the 
township, spending about three months each year in school, while 
the remainder of the time was given to the task of plowing, planting 
and harvesting. He continued to work in the fields for the benefit 
of his father until he attained his majority. 

Mr. Eby won a companion and helpmate for life's journey when, 
in 1871, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. Carman, a daughter 
of Chauncey and Elsie J. (Adams) Carman, who was born in Win- 
nebago county, Illinois, and was there reared to the age of thirteen 
years, at which time she came to Porter township, Cass county, with 
her parents. Mr. Eby has a farm of eighty acres, upon which he has 
made all of the improvements. There are now substantial buildings 
upon the place, good machineiy and well tilled fields. He raises the 
cereals best adapted to soil and climate and also has some good stock 
upon his place, but his attention is chieflv given to the cultivation of his 
fields. 

X^nto Mr. and Mrs. Eby have been born three children: Florence, 
the wife of George Wagner, of Mason township; Raymond, who is 
upon the home farm and who married Lois E. Richardson, a daughter 
of Jesse and Clara Richardson, well known residents of Porter town- 
ship; and Ralph C, who is attending college in South Bend, Indiana. 
The attractiveness of Cass county as a place of residence is indicated 
by the fact that many of her native sons have remained within her 
borders and Mr. Eby may be classed with this number, as he was but 
two months old when brought to Michigan. He early became familiar 
with the best methods of cultivating and improving land and on at- 
taining his majority determined to devote his life to the occupation to 
which he was reared. Not to the fact of any fortunate combination of 
circumstances has he prospered, but through his own unfaltering labor, 
perseverance and diligent effort — qualities which may be cultivated by 
all and which ever produce the best results. In his political views Mr. 
Eby is a Republican, active in the support of the party, with which he 
has been allied since attaining his majorit}'. He has never been away 
from his present farm for more than four weeks at a time and with 
persistent purpose has carried on his work, being today one of the 
representative agriculturists of the community. 

HIRAM SMITH. 

Hiram Smith, who is engaged in farming on section 20, Calvin 
township, was born in Genesee county. New York. January 5, 1836. 
His father, Samuel Smith, was a native of the Empire state and came 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 5:39 

to Cass county in 1835. locating his land in Calvin township. He 
found here a pioneer district, but was pleased with its prospects and in- 
dications for future development and resolved to make his home here. 
He then returned to the Empire state and brought his family to Mich- 
igan, taking up his abode upon the farm now known as the James 
Bullen place. He lived to be seventy-two years of age and his life was 
devoted to agricultural pursuits, whereby he provided a comfortable 
living for his family. His wife bore the maiden name of Fannie Fore- 
man and was also a native of New York. She died in 1893. 

Hiram Smith of this review was the eldest of a family of thir- 
teen children, eleven of whom reached adult age and only one was 
born outside of Cass county, that being the subject of this review, who 
was but six months old when he was brought to Michigan. The family 
home being established in Calvin township, he was reared under the 
parental roof and pursued his education in the public schools, the little 
"temple of learning" being a log building such as was common in the 
early days. He continued to make his home with his parents until 
twenty-one years of age, but in the meantime worked as a farm hand 
by the month or day. his earnings going to his father. He early 
learned the value of earnest, unremitting toil and upon that quality has 
builded his success in later life. 

Mr. Smith was married the first time in 1859. the lady of his 
choice being Mrs. Hannah J- Haden, a daughter of Samuel Lincoln 
and the widow of Joseph Haden. She died leaving three children who 
were born of her second marriage, Avhile by her first marriage she 
had six children. These were : Esther Ann. who died when about 
two years old : George, also deceased : Addie. the wife of Jesse Parker, 
of Calvin township; William B.. a hardware merchant of Cassopolis; 
James G., a prominent and distinguished citizen of this coimty, who is 
represented elsewhere in this work; and Mattie, the wife of Jacob Keen. 
The children born unto Mr. and Mrs. Smith were: Charles, a resident 
of Cassopolis; Freddie, a farmer of Calvin township; and Edward, of 
Elkhart. Indiana, who is in the employ of the railroad company. After 
losing his first wife Mr. Smith wedded Miss Alfretta Allen, a daughter 
of Jerry Allen, and unto them were born five children: Stephen: Dell, 
deceased : Harmon ; Clark ; and Frank. 

Mr. Smith has been a resident of Calvin township for seventy 
years and is its oldest citizen who was not born in this county. He 
has a very wide and favorable acquaintance and has always taken an 
active and helpful part in measures and plans for the public good. His 
political allegiance has been given to the Republican party since its 
organization and he has held several school offices in the township, the 
cause of education finding in him a warm and stalwart friend. He be- 
longs to Mathews .Artin Post. G. A. R.. at Calvin Center, being en- 
titled to membership therein by reason of the fact that he enlisted in 
1864 as a member of the Twelfth Michigan Vnhmteer Infantry and 



^40 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ser\ed until the close of the war. He has been equally loyal to his 
country in days of peace, and local advancement and national progress 
are both causes dear to his heart. Through his business career he has 
carried on farming and is now the owner of ninety-two acres of good 
land under a high state of cultivation. Everything about his place is 
neat and thrifty in appearance and his labors are attended with a 
measure of success that nidicates his capable management and unremit- 
ting diligence. 

REV. WALTER CLARK. 

Rev. Walter Clark is numbered among the capable agriculturists of 
Penn township, living on section 5 and for many years he has also de- 
voted much of his time to the work of tlie ministry as a preacher of 
the Brethren church. His life record is indeed worthy of emulation, 
commanding for him the respect, confidence and good will of all. He 
was 1)1 nil in Xew York, September 23, 1837. His grandfather, EH 
Clark, was a natixe of the Empire state and died in Ohio. His father, 
William L. Clark, was a native of New York and removed to Cass 
county, Michigan, aliout 1S44, settling on section 4, Penn townsliip, 
where he developed a tract of land hitherto wild and unimproved. He 
turned the first fiu'rows upon various, fields, planted his seed and in 
due course of time gathered good crops. After residing there for a 
numlier of years he removed to Bertrand township, Berrien county, 
Michigan, liut afterward returned to Cass county and settled in Silver 
Creek tnwnship. This was about 1852, and in 1856 he removed to 
Penn tnwnshi]), where he resided until 1861. In that year he became 
a resident of Pipestone toAvnship, Berrien county, IMichigan, where his 
remaining days were passed, his death occurring when he had reached 
the age of al)out seventy-eight years.. The wife of William L. Clark 
was in her maidenhood Miss Almira West and she, too, was born in 
the Empire state, while her death occurred in September, i860, when 
she was forty-six years iif age. In their f.amily were eight children, of 
whom Walter Clark is the eldest son and also tlie eldest now living. 

When about seven years of age Walter Clark of this review re- 
moved with his parents to Cass county and here he has since lived with 
the exception of the brief intervals spent in Berrien county when a 
small boy. He returned to Cass county in 1856 and was married here 
in 1861 to Miss Maria Gould, who was born in the state of New York. 
They began their domestic life upon the farm where they yet reside 
and their marriage was blessed with one daughter, .\1mira, now the 
deceased wife of Samuel Rice. There was one daughter by this mar- 
riage, Verna Rice. 

Re\-. Clark has a farm of one hundred and fourteen acres situated 
on section 5. Penn township, and his land is productive, yielding good 
liarvests annually. He has also added many modern improvements to 
his ])1acc and he uses good machinerv in cultivating the fields and 




hr^diZ'x Mcta^k 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 541 

caring for tlie crops. He also has good grades of stock upon his 
farm and the property is the visible evidence of his well-directed labor 
and life of Uirift. He cleared the land, erected a residence and barns 
and has fenced the tract, first enclosing it with a rail fence made of 
rails which he himself split. Industr}- has been the dominant factor in 
liis life and his Christian faith has been the keynote of his character. 
He has long been a member of the Brethren church, in which he has 
served as elder and minister and in the work of which he has taken a 
very active and helpful part, devoting about forty years to the work 
of the ministry, during which time he has exerted a wide and beneficial 
influence in behalf of the religious development of the community. 
He has also been instrumental in erecting three houses of worship in 
Cass county. In politics he is a stalwart Republican, casting his bal- 
lot for Abraham Lincoln in i860 and again in 1864 and for each presi- 
dential candidate of the party since that time. He has been officially 
connected with the schools, and while serving as a member of the board 
of education has done all in his power to promote the cause of public 
instruction in his locality. 

SAMUEL B. HADDEN. 

Samuel B. Hadden. who is engaged in general agricultural pur- 
suits in Ontwa township, is a native son of New York, his birth hav- 
ing occurred on the 5th of October, 1837. His father, Charles D. 
Hadden, was born in Westchester county. New York, in 181 1 and he, 
too, w^as a farmer by occupation, devoting the greater part of his life 
to the work of tilling the soil. In early manhood he was married in 
Tompkins county. New York, to Miss Nancy Blythe, a native of Ire- 
land, who came to this country when a little girl and was reared in 
New York. Mr. and Mrs. Hadden became the parents of six children, 
four sons and two daughters, Mar\^ George M., Charles A., deceased. 
Elizabeth and James G., all of whom are natives of the Empire state. 
In the year 1867 the father left New York and came with his family 
to Cass county, Michigan, settling on section 7, Ontwa township, where 
he secured three hundred and ninety-seven acres of rich land, much 
of which had been improved. With characteristic energy he took up 
the task of further cultivating and developing this place and con- 
tinued to make it his home tmtil his death. He took an active interest 
in political questions and in the work of the party, and was a stanch 
Republican. \\'hile residing in New York he seiwed as supervisor of 
his township for three years but he never sought office after coming 
to the west as his time was fully occupied by his business cares in 
relation to the farm. He died January 2Q, 1878, and was sur\nved by 
his wife until December, 1887, when she, too, was called to her final rest. 

Samuel B. Hadden was reared in New York and was brought up 
as a farmer, assisting his father in the cultivation of the fields upon 



542 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tlie old homestead until the time of his marriage, which occurred Feb- 
ruary lo, 1870, the lady of his choice being Miss Matilda Hadden, a 
daughter of Gilbert and Harriet (Adams) Hadden, who came from 
Westchester, Putnam county, New York, to Michigan. She was 
reared, however, upon her father's farm in Putnam county. Mr. and 
Mrs. Hadden of this review began their domestic life upon the old 
farm homestead, where they lived for a year and then removed to 
Jefferson township, settling on a farm of eighty acres, where they 
resided for four years. On the expiration of that period Mr. Hadden 
sold his property and returned to Ontwa township, locating on his 
farm here, and he built a pretty home on the seven acres just west of 
Edwardsburg. He owns all together one hundred and seventy-seven 
acres in this township, the greater part of which is well improved, 
constituting a productive property, from which he annually gathers 
rich harvests, that, finding a ready sale on the market, bring him a 
very gratifying income. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hadden have been born five children: Hen- 
rietta, who was born June 14. 1873. is the wife of Frank Stophlett, a 
mail clerk of Cass county; John 13., bom May 12, 1875; Carrie, born 
August 7, 1877; Fred, November 7, 18S0; and Martha, December 24, 
1882, all at home, and all were born upon the present farm in Ontwa 
township with the exception of Henrietta, whose birth occurred in 
Jefferson township. 

Mr. Hadden is a Republican, activelv interested in the success and 
growth of his party, and he belongs to the Presbyterian church of Ed- 
wardsburg. Coming to Cass county at an early period in its develop- 
ment he is numbered among its pioneer settlers and has been a wit- 
ness of the progress that has been made as pioneer conditions have 
given way before the advancing civilization. He has done his full 
share for the improvement of the county along agricultural lines and 
in the careful management of his business affairs has won a just re- 
ward for his labor in a comfortable competence. 

DON A. FLETCHER. 

Don A. Fletcher is numl^ered among the old settlers of the county, 
having for fifty-five years resided within its borders, so that he has been 
a witness of many great changes here. His memory goes back to the 
time when much of the land was still in its primitive condition, when 
there were no railroads or telegraph lines and when the now thriving 
towns and cities were but little villages or had not sprung into existence. 
Today the country has been divided up into many farms and the fields of 
waving grain and the well kept stock all indicate a population of pros- 
perous and contented people, while churches, schools and other evidences 
of culture are numerous. 

Mr. Fletcher is a native of Wavne countv, New York, born on the 





^^^^ a. ^vfe^d^ 




-^^ ^.^ ^ Ad^x:, 



AND DAUGHTER. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 543 

7th of April, 1837, and comes of English ancestry, the family having 
been established in New England at an early period in its colonization. 
His paternal grandparents were Russell and Rachel Fletcher, who re- 
sided for a number of years in Vermont and afterward removed to 
Wayne county, New York. In the year 1846 Russell Fletcher made his 
way westward to Kalamazoo county, Michigan, and on to Cass county, 
where his last days were passed. William R. Fletcher, father of our 
subject, was born in the Green Mountain state, where he remained 
until eighteen years of age, when he accompanied his parents on their 
removal to New York. He was married in Wayne county to Miss 
Sarah A. Stearns, whose birth occurred in that county. Following his 
marriage William R. Fletcher located on a farm in Wayne county, New 
York, and in 1846 he removed to Michigan, journeying westward in 
Ihe fall of that year. He spent the winter in Cass county, and in the 
following spring removed to Kalamazoo county, where he remained for 
three years. On the expiration of that period he returned to Cass 
county, settling in LaGrange township, and for many years he was 
numbered among the agriculturists of this part of the state. In all of 
his work he was practical and enterprising, and he assisted in large meas- 
ure in the development and upbuilding of this part of Michigan. He 
died at the home of his son, D. A. Fletcher, in his eighty-fourth year, 
respected and honored by all who knew him. He had been supervisor 
and commissioner of highways, and whether in office or as a private citi- 
zen he was aKvays interested in the welfare of his community and could 
be counted upon as a co-operant factor in measures for the general 
good. He voted with the Democracy. His wife lived to be about 
seventjr-four years of age. She came of an old Canadian family of 
French ancestry. I^nto Mr. and Mrs. William Fletcher were born five 
children, three daughters and two sons, all of whom are li\'ing at this 
writing. 

Don A. Fletcher, the eldest of the family, was but nine years of 
age when he came to Michigan with his parents, and he has resided con- 
tinuously in Cass county from the age of thirteen years. In his boy- 
hood days he attended the common schools and in the summer months 
was trained in the work of the fields. He remained with his parents 
until twenty-five years of age, when in 1862 he was united in marriage 
to Miss Sarepta D. Shurte, a daughter of Isaac and Mary (Wright) 
Shurte. She was born in LaGrange Prairie, in Cass county, October 
29, 1838, her people having been pioneer settlers of this section of the 
state. They came here when only a few homes had been established 
within the borders of Cass county, and were closely identified with its 
early development. The year following his marriage Mr. Fletcher 
located upon the farm where he now lives and has resided here contin- 
uouslv since, although he spent one year in California. In 1864 he went 
across the plains with a horse train by way of Salt Lake City, traveling 



5U HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

across tlie long, hot stretches of sand and through the mountain passes. 
He returned, however, by way of the water route, crossing the Isthmus 
of Panama and tlience saihng to New York City, after which he jour- 
neyed into the interior of tlie country and ultimately reached his home 
in LaGrange township. He is today the owner of two hundred and 
sixty acres of valuable land in the old homestead and one hundred and 
twenty-six acres on section i6, LaGrange township. He has on his 
home property good improvements, while the fields yield to him rich har- 
vests in return for the care and labor he bestows upon his land. Every- 
thing about l:is place is neat and thrifty in appearance, and his work 
has been characterized by the most practical and resourceful methods. 

Unto Mr. and I^Irs. Fletcher have been born three sons and a 
daughter. William Isaac is now a resident of Oregon. Mary Lyle, 
the wife of Byron Poor, of Dowagiac, Michigan, is a graduate of the 
Dowagiac High School in the class of 1886. She has been one of 
Cass county's successful teachers for over twelve terms, having taught 
six terms in one district. She received her diploma from the South 
Bend Commercial College in the class of 1890. Ross A. took a course 
in the Dowagiac High School and graduated in the South Bend Bus- 
iness College in the same year as his sister Lyle. C. Clare is a grad- 
uate of the Cassopolis High School in the class of 1895. Both are 
assisting in the cultivation of the home farm. Mr. Fletcher can look 
back into a remote era of the county's development and progress, having 
for fifty-five years resided here, and he has taken an active part in the 
work of making the county what it is today. He can remember the 
time when few of the roads had been laid out, when few bridges had 
been built and when only here and there could be seen a settlement to 
indicate that the work of development and cultivation had been begun. 
He has always voted with the Democracy, and has served as road com- 
mis.^ioner and as a member of the board of reviews. Fraternally he is 
connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He is well 
known in the county where he has lived so long and where he has so 
directed his efforts that signal success has attended his labors. 

SAMUEL J. LINCOLN. 

.Samuel J. Liiicnln, wlio i^; filling the oftice of tnwnship superx'isor 
in Ptnn township and follows the occupation of farming on section 13, 
was born upon the old homestead farm on this section May 23, 1850. 
ITis father, Bela Lincoln, was a native of New York and became a resi- 
dent of Cass county before Michigan was admitted into the L^nion, the 
year of his arrival being 1833. He came in company with his parents, 
Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Lincoln, who located near Vandalia. Samuel 
Lincoln was a scythe maker and also engaged in shoeing oxen in the 
earl)- days. An industrious man, he took an active and helpful part in 
the early dexxlopment of the county, performing much of the arduous 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 545 

task incident to tlie settlement of a frontier district and its conversion 
to the uses of civilization. His son, Bela Lincoln, was only eleven 
years of age at the time of the arrival of the family in Michigan and 
was therefore reared amid the environments of pioneer life, sharing in 
the hardships and trials incident to establishing a home in a frontier 
district. Returning to Ohio, he was there married to Miss Achsah 
DeCou, who was born in Green county, Ohio. After their marriage 
they located for a short time on Young's Prairie in Cass county, but 
soon afterward removed to section 13, Penn township, Mr. Lincoln 
trading a horse for forty acres of land. He went in debt for the horse, 
paying for it at the rate of six dollars per month. For four years 
Mr. Lincoln was in the employ of Charles Jones at farm labor. He 
was a carpenter by trade and he built the first union schoolhouse in 
Cassopolis. He also laid out the plan from draft and put in the founda- 
tion for the Custard House in Cassopolis and prior to that he built 
a sawmill in Penn township, after which he operated it for a number 
of years or until it was destroyed by fire. He thus figured promi- 
nently in industrial interests in the county. Rebuilding his mill he con- 
tinued in the manufacture of lumber for a few years, when he sold 
out and again resumed work at the carpenter's trade and at the same 
time followed the millwright's trade. In his business life he was very 
industrious and energetic, was reliable and trustworthy and his good 
workmanship and known honesty secured for him a liberal patronage. 
He was highway commissioner at one time and always gave his political 
allegiance to the Republican party, taking an active interest in its 
work and doing all in his power to promote its growth and insure its 
success. Living in Cass county from early pioneer days he was one of 
the best known citizens within its borders and at his death in 1881 the 
communitv lost one of its honored and representative men. In the 
family were two children who grew to adult age, the sister of our sub- 
ject being Mrs. Beulah Green, the wife of Elam E. Green, of Penn 
township. 

Samuel J- Lincoln, whose name introduces this review, was reared 
and educated in Penn township, attending the district schools, wherein 
he mastered the common branches of learning usually taught in such 
institutions. He then remained at home until twenty-four years of 
age, assisting his father in carpenter work and following that pur- 
suit for about thirty years. He was thus an important factor in build- 
ing operations in the county and in many places are seen evidences of 
his skill and ability in that direction. He was always a thorough and 
accurate workman and won an excellent reputation in that direction. 

In 1875. Mr. Lincoln was united in marriage to Miss Florence A. 
Tompkins, a daughter of Jabez Tompkins. Mrs. Lincoln was born in 
Ohio and when about five years of age was brought to Cass county 
bv her parents. At the time of their marriage the young couple located 
on section 12, Penn township, where they lived for about four years, 



546 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

when his father died and he returned to the old homestead to care for 
his aged mother, who is still living, having reached the advanced age 
of seventy-nine years, her birth having occurred in 1828. Unto Mr. 
and Mrs. Lincoln have been born three sons and a daughter: Neva J.; 
Bela J., who is married and now studying law in Detroit; Clayton D., 
a stenographer now employed by the Dodge Pulley Company at Misha- 
waka, Indiana ; and Raymond A., who is attending school. There is also 
one granddaughter, Mildred D. Barney. 

Mr. Lincoln now gi\-es his attention to the produce shipping busi- 
ness at Penn and rents his farm, which returns to him a good income. 
Moreover he is actively interested in public affairs and his worth and 
ability are widely recognized by his fellow townsmen, who have there- 
fore called him to public office. He was elected supervisor of Penn 
township in 1903. and was re-elected in 1904 and again in 1905, so 
that he is the present incumbent in the position. He belongs to the 
Masonic lodge at Vandalia, and his life is in harmony with the teach- 
ings and tenets of the craft. He has always been an earnest Repub- 
lican and his public-spirited interest in the general welfare has led to 
hearty co-operation in many plans and movements for the welfare of 
the community. For fifty-five years he has resided in Penn town- 
ship, either upon his present farm or within a quarter of a mile of his 
present home. His life has been one of untiring and well-directed 
activity resulting in gratifying success. 

LEVI J. REYNOLDS. 

Levi J. Reynolds, residing in Vandalia, is well known because of 
an active and honorable business career and also by reason of capable 
and faithful service in public office in this county. He is numbered 
among the worthy citizens that Ohio has furnished to Michigan, and 
he has now passed the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey. His 
birth occurred in Portage county, Ohio, July 18, 1830. His father, 
Edward Reynolds, was a native of Ireland and his parents were of 
the Catholic belief and because Edward Reynolds would not accept the 
faith he was driven away from home and came to America when a 
young lad of about fourteen years. He made his way to New York 
and in the Empire state was employed at farm labor. Eventually he 
became a resident of Cass county, Michigan, where he arrived in 
1847. He located on a farm on the borders of Calvin and Porter town- 
ships and throughout his remaining days devoted his attention to gen- 
eral agricultural pursuits. He was truly a self-made man. for he 
started out in life amid unfavoring circumstances and with no influen- 
tial friends or inheritance to assist him. He early developed a self 
reliant character, however, and determined spirit, and with these qual- 
ities to aid him in his business career he made steady advancement and 
won not only a comfortable competence but also an imtarnished name 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 547 

by reason of his genuine worth of character. He married Betsy Miner, 
a native of Massachusetts, and both hved to be sixty-two years of age. 
Mrs. Reynolds was twice married and by her first husband, Mr. lies, 
she became the mother of six children, while by her marriage to Mr. 
Reynolds seven children were born. Twelve of her thirteen children 
reached adult age, Mr. Reynolds being the third child of the second 
marriage. 

He was reared in Knox county, Ohio, until nine years of age, when 
he accompanied his parents to Steuben count}^ Indiana, and when a 
young man of seventeen years he left the Hoosier state for Cass county, 
Michigan, where he was employed at farm labor. In this way be made 
a start in life and when he had saved enough from his earnings to 
justify his purchase of a farm he invested in land in Calvin township. 
As an agriculturist he displayed practical methods, was systematic in 
all of his work, and in the tilling of the soil and also in his care of 
his stock, he showed himself to be an energetic farmer with good 
business qualifications. He w^as also an auctioneer for many years, 
met with success in that business and thus became one of the best 
known men of the county. 

Mr. Reynolds has been married three times. In Cass county in 
185 1 he wedded Miss Martha A. East and they became the parents of 
two sons : Austin M. and Albert. For his second wife Mr. Reynolds 
chose Sarah A. Story, the widow of Albert Kennicott. By this mar- 
riage there were two daughters. For his third wife Mr. Reynolds 
chose Mary A. Royer, and at her death the following lines were written; 

"Mary A. Royer was torn March 20, 1842, in Stark county, Ohio, 
and died March 17, 1905, in Vandalia, Cass county, Michigan, aged 
sixty-two years, eleven months and twenty-seven days. In early child- 
hood she moved with her parents to Indiana, where she resided a 
number of years. The latter part of her life was spent in Vandalia, 
Michigan, where she was united in marriage to Levi J. Reynolds in 
1886. In early youth she liecame a Christian and has since been a 
consistent and faithful follower of Christ, having been identified with 
the Church of Christ since 1885 in Vandalia. She leaves a kind and 
affectionate husband and loving brothers and sisters to mourn their 
loss. Her pastor frequently called to see her during her sickness and 
ever found her the same kind, patient and Christian sufferer, submitting 
her will to the will of the Divine. The night before the Angel of 
Death came to bear her Christian spirit home she left the following 
beautiful lines : 

" 'WHien the waiting time is over. 

When from sin and sorrow free. 
We shall meet beyond the river, 
There to dwell eternallv.' 



548 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

"In the death of Mary A. RejTiolds, Vandalia Chapter 235, O. E. 
S., lost an lionored and greatly esteemed charter member." 

In his political affiliation Mr. Reynolds is a stanch and unfaltering 
Republican, who has taken an active interest in political affairs and 
keeps well informed on all the questions and issues of the day. He 
served as sherifif of Cass county for two years and then owing to the 
ill health of his wife he would not accept a second nomination. As 
justice of the peace he rendered decisions which were strictly fair and 
impartial and during many years" service as supervisor of Calvin town- 
ship he worked earnestly for the general good of the community. He 
belongs to the Masonic fraternity, holding membership in the lodge 
and chapter, and he is a most earnest and devoted member of the 
Christian church, in which he is now serving as elder, while in its 
work he takes an active and helpful part. His influence is ever given 
on the side of right, justice, truth and progress and at all tiines he 
has been found worthy of the confidence and tmst which have been 
uniformly given him. 

Calvin K. East, who married the sister of Levi J. Reynolds, 
was born in Calvin township, Cass county, Michigan, October 7, 1834, 
and died at his home in Vandalia, April 17, 1906, aged seventy-one 
years, six months and ten days. He was married December 25, 1854, 
to Mabel P. Reynolds. To this union were born seven children, five 
of whom are still living: Oscar J., of Muskegon; Rollie M., of Niles; 
Bertha Wright and Mary Williams, of Traverse City; and Harley 
M., of Vandalia, all of whom were present to comfort their mother, up- 
on whom the affliction falls so heavily. He was a member of the 
Friends' church and a faithful attendant until disease laid its heavy 
hand on him, and had for a few months kept him confined to his home. 
He leaves Ijesides a wife and five children, ten grandchildren and many 
other relatives and friends to mourn his loss. Rev. Stephen Scott of 
Penn conducted the funeral services. Interment in Birch Lake cemetery. 

JACOB McINTOSH. 

On the roll of pioneer settlers of Cass county appears the name of 
Jacob McLitosh and his personal qualities and life of activity entitle 
him to the position of prominence that is uniformly accorded him. 
He resides on section 33, Penn township, not far from the place of 
his birth, which was on section 32 of the same township, his natal day 
being March 15, 1840. His paternal grandfather was Daniel Mcintosh, 
a native of Scotland. He was a wagon-maker by trade and in early 
manhood emigrated with his family to the new world, settling at 
Baltimore. Maryland, where he carried on business for some time. He 
afterward took up his abode in Ohio and in 1832 came to Cass county, 
Michigan, locating on Young's Prairie in Penn township. He was one 
of the pioneer settlers of this section of the state and became identified 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 54'J 

with the territorial interests of jMichigan, for the state had not at 
that time been organized. He purchased a claim of one hundred and 
sixty acres of land and at once began its improvement. At the time 
of the purchase there was a double log house upon the farm and this 
was the original home of the family in Cass county. As the years 
passed he added more modern improvements and continued his farm 
work along progressive lines of agriculture. On one occasion he met 
with an accident while on his way to Tecumseh. He had a herd of horses, 
some of which got away, and he went to hunt them, becoming lost in 
the woods. For seven days and six nights he wandered around unable 
to find his way to a settlement. The horse which he rode also got away 
from him and he was in a severe snow storm and his feet were frozen 
so badly that they had to be amputated and for many years thereafter 
he walked upon his knees, but he possessed an indomitable spirit and 
unfaltering energy and he did a man's work without feet. His death 
occurred when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years. 
William Mcintosh, the father of our subject, was born in Inverness, 
Scotland, and was only three years of age at the time of the emigration 
of his parents to America. He lived with them in Baltimore, Mary- 
land, and eventually removed to Ohio, whence they came to Michigan 
about the time of the removal of Daniel Mcintosh to this state. 
However, he afterward returned to Oiiio and was there engaged in 
the operation of a sawmill for several years. Eventually, however, he 
returned to Cass county and was married at Three Rivers, St. Joseph 
county, to Miss Sarah McIntaiYer, who was a native of the Buckeye 
.state and in her girlhood days was brought to Michigan by her father, 
Jacob Mclntaffer, who was of German descent. He settled in St. 
Joseph county, becoming one of the pioneers of that part of the state, 
"and in connection with a man by the name of Buck he entered nine 
hundred acres of land, upon which the town of Three Rivers has since 
been built. He built the first- log house and sawmill upon its site 
and took a very active and important part in the work of early de- 
velopment and improvement leading to the present prosperous condi- 
tion of that section of the state today. He died there from exposure 
and was buried at Three Rivers. His daughter. Mrs. William Mcin- 
tosh, died when seventy-five years of age. By her marriage she had 
become the mother of nine children, five daughters and four sons, one 
of whom died at the age of eight years and another when about six- 
teen years of age, while the remaining members of the family reached 
years of maturity. 

Jacob Mcintosh is the eldest son and fourth child and was reared 
in Penn township in the usual manner of lads of pioneer times. He 
now resides upon a portion of the farm upon which his birth occurred. 
In his youth he enjoyed the educational advantages afforded in a log 
school house. But few branches of learning were taught and it has 
been largely through reading, experience and observation in later years 



550 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

that he lias become a well informed man. He walked to school two 
miles in tlie winter seasons and in the summer months aided in the 
work of the farm, assisting his father in the fields until twenty-one 
years of age. In 1861, having attained his majority, he responded to 
his country's call for troops and enlisted as a member of Company D, 
Sixth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front 
but was afterward transferred to the heavy artillery. He served for 
three years and was promoted from a private to the rank of corporal 
and afterward to sergeant. At the battle of Port Hudson on the 27th 
of May, 1863, he was wounded in the upper part of the right leg 
by a minie ball. He was then detailed as assistant cook so that he 
would not be sent to the hospital. He participated in the entire siege 
of Port Hudson and was one of about forty who charged over the 
works on the 30th of June, 1863, a military movement that has be- 
come famous in history as Dwight's charge. When the siege was 
begmi the troops were under command of General Butler, hut at the 
time the charge was made over the works General Banks was in com- 
mand. 

Following the close of the war Mr. Mcintosh received an honor- 
able discharge at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and with a most creditable 
military record returned to his old home in Penn township, where he 
resumed farming. Throughout his active business career he has car- 
ried on general agricultural pursuits and as a companion and helpmate 
for life's journey he chose Miss Emily J. Rivers, to whom he was mar- 
ried on the 28th of November, 1865. She is a daughter of James and 
Delilah (Chase) Rivers. Her birth occurred in New York, in which 
state she remained until twelve years of age, when she accompanied 
her parents on their removal to Mokena, Illinois, whence they came 
to Cass county, Michigan, in 1864. At the time of his marriage Mr. 
Mcintosh located on the farm where he now resides, but after a year 
removed to Cassopolis, where he followed the trade of carpentering, 
becoming a well known contractor and Ijuilder of that city. He was 
awarded a number of important contracts and continued his identifica- 
tion with building operations until about 1870, when he returned to 
the farm. He has cleared his land here and erected all of the barns and 
outbuildings as well as the residence and in connection with the culti- 
vation of his fields and the improvement of his property he has also fol- 
lowed the business of moving and raising barns and other buildings for 
about eight years. He is also the patentee of a ratchet gate and is 
quite extensively engaged in its manufacture, it being now in general 
use in this and adjoining counties of Michigan and also in Illinois. 
The gate is one of the most complete of the kind ever placed upon the 
market. It can be raised over a drift of snow and until Mr. Mcintosh's 
invention was perfected this was one of the great problems of the 
farmer, who would find that the snow would drift against the fences, 
making it almost impossible to open a gate. His farm comprises eighty 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 551 

acres of land, which responds readily to the care and cultivation placed 
upon it, for the land is arable and productive. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mcintosh have been born the following named : 
Minnie B., now the wife of Dr. Don A. Link, of Volinia, Cass county; 
and J. Howard, of Chicago, who for three years was located in Ann 
Arbor, Michigan, but is now engaged ni the abstract business in the 
former city. 

Mr. Mcintosh was reared in the faith of the Democratic party, 
but is now a stanch Republican and is deeply interested in the political 
issues and questions of the day, keeping well informed upon all such, 
and at the same time putting forth every effort in his power to promote 
Republican successes. He has been called to serve in several local 
positions, has been highway commissioner, was township treasurer and 
in 1886 was elected sherifi" of Cass county, in which position he dis- 
charged his duties with such promptness and fidelity that he was re- 
elected in 1888. He was also justice of the peace and constable for 
seventeen years and his official service has ever been characterized by 
promptness, accuracy and thorough reliability. He is now undersheriff. 
He is a charter member of Albert Anderson Post No. 157, G. A. R., 
in which he has filled several positions and is now officer of the guard. 
Through his association therewith he maintains pleasant relations with 
his old army comrades and greatly enjoys the reminiscences of the 
campfires. He likewise belongs to the Ancient Order of United Work- 
men and to the Indejiendent Order of Odd Fellows, both of Cassopolis, 
and he holds membership in the Baptist church at Brownsville and 
erected the house of worship there. He is president of the Anti- 
Horse Thief Association of Penn township. His son. J. Howard Mc- 
intosh, is a member of Backus Lodge No. 50, \. F. & A. M., and 
has attained the 32nd degree of the Scottish rite in Chicago Consistory, 
S. P. R. S. At one time he was president of the Wolverine Club at 
the University of Michigan for two years. Sixty-six years have been 
added to the cycle of the centuries since Jacob Mcintosh began his life 
record in Penn township, where he has lived almost continuously since. 
He has never made his home beyond the borders of Cass county, so that 
he is widely known here. His best friends are those who have known 
him longest, a fact which indicates an honorable life and exemplary 
principles. His work has been of a character resulting beneficially to 
the county as well as to himself and he belongs to that class of rep- 
resentative American men who while promoting individual welfare also 
contribute in substantial measure to tlie good of the community with 
which they are connected. 

GEORGE M. KINGSBURY. 

G. M. Kingsbury, president of the Cassopolis Manufacturing 
Company and a well known resident of Cassopolis. was for many 
vears a leading merchant of the city and was a valued and prominent 



55l> history of CASS COUNTY 

factor in its business interests because of his connection with its manu- 
facturing affairs and its Ijanking business as a director of the First 
National Bank. He was born in LaGrange township, this county, on 
the 23rd of x-Xpril, 1862, and represents one of the pioneer famihes. 
His father, Asa Kingsbury, was a native of Massachusetts, and came 
to Cass county, Miciiigan, during an early epoch in its development 
and progress. EstabHshing his home in Cassopolis, he became a prom- 
inent merchant and banker here, and was closely identified with the 
early upbuilding and progress of the village. He belonged to that 
class of representative American citizens who while promoting individual 
success also contribute in large measure to the general prosperity. His 
fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability and his devotion 
to the general good, several times called him to the office of county 
treasurer. His death occurred when he had reached the age of seven- 
ty-six yars, and he left laehind him the record of an honorable, upright 
and successful life. He was married twice, and in his family were 
fourteen children, G. I\I. Kingsbury being the ninth in order of birth. 

Under the parental roof in Cassopolis Mr. Kingsbury of this re- 
view spent his boyhood and youth, his time being divided between the 
duties of the schoolroom and the pleasures of the playground. He 
afterward attended the Jackson High School, from which he was 
graduated in the class of 188 1, and, returning to Cassopolis, he here 
embarked in merchandising, having become somewhat familiar with 
the business by assisting at odd times in his father's store. For eighteen 
years he was a representative of commercial life here, conducting a 
large and well stocked store which brought to him a good patronage 
because of his reliable business methods and his earnest efforts to please 
his customers. In the spring of 1900, however, he sold his store to 
G. L. Smith, since which time he has given his attention to manufactur- 
ing interests, being president of the Cassopolis Manufacturing Com- 
pany, which was organized in the fall of 1899. He is also one of the 
directors of the First National Bank of Cassopolis, and his name is an 
honored one on all commercial paper. 

October 18, 1882, Mr. Kingsbury was united in marriage to Miss 
Stella Powell, a daughter of Francis I. and Mar\^ (Huff) Powell and 
a native of LaGrange township. Her people were early residents of 
the countv, the name of Powell fignring in connection with many of 
the early events which constitute the pioneer history of this part of 
the state. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kingsburs' has been born a daughter, 
Charlotte, who is now at home. 

In his political views Mr. Kingsbury is a stalwart Democrat, un- 
faltering in his devotion to the party and active in its work. In 1892 
he was a delegate to the national convention at Chicago. He has 
several times served as a village officer, being president of the village 
board for four years, was treasurer for a number of years, had also 
been trustee and is a member of the board of tnistees of the cemeterv. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 553 

Whatever tends to promote the permanent improvement and material 
progress of the city receives his strong endorsement and hearty co- 
operation. He belongs to Backus Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Cassopolis, 
has also taken the degrees of capitular and chivalric Masonry and is 
now a member of the Mystic Shrine. Prominent in the ranks of the 
craft, he is acting as grand scribe of the grand chapter. He is a 
member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and is widely 
recognized as one of Cassopolis' leading and influential citizens. He 
possesses keen business discernment and an ability which enables him 
to readily comprehend a Inisiness situation and its possibilities. He 
has therefore wrought along lines that have led to affluence and is today 
one of the substantial residents of his community. 

Since the above was compiled. Mr. Kingsliury passed awav and 
the following Masonic obituary is appended : 

"Grand Chapter Royal Arch Masons of Michigan. 
"Jackson, Mich.. March 2, 1906. 
"To all Royal Arch Masons zvheresoevcr dispersed: 

"For the second time within the year are we called upon to mourn 
the loss of one of the active officers of our Grand Chapter and to join 
the funeral cortege to pay the last sad homage to a beloved companion. 

"George M. Kingsbury, 
"r. e. grand scribe. 

Died at his h.ome in Cassopolis. Mich.. Tuesday evening, February 27, 
1906. Companion Kingsbury's failing health has been regarded with 
much anxiety by his friends for several years, but the dread scourge 
consumption secured too firm hold on his system and the inevitable 
has resulted. 

"George M. Kingsbury was born at the old family home in Cas- 
sopolis, April 23, 1862. At the age of 14 he went to Jackson to 
finish his schooling, afterwards embarking in the mercantile business 
which he followed until 1900. At the organization of the Cassopolis 
Manufacturing Co. in 1899, he was made its president and general 
manager and continued in that office until a short time before his death. 

"Companion Kingsbury was always alive to the business interests 
of his home village, and many times was called to serve it in official 
capacities. He was president for four years, treasurer for six years, 
member of the school board six years, and was member of cemetery 
board at the time of his death. In ever)' position he gave his best 
efforts and his administration was always marked by a move in the 
line of progress. 

"October 18. 1882, he was united in marriage to Miss Estelle 
Powell, of Dowagiac, and to them was born one daughter. Miss Lottie, 
who with the devoted wife are left to mourn their irreparable loss. 

"The Masonic record of Companion Kingsbury- has been a bright 



554 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

one. He was raised to the degree of Master Mason in Backus Lodge 
No. 55, F. & A. M., Decemljer 10, 1883. He was exalted to the subhme 
degree of Royal Arch Mason in Kingsbury Chapter No. 78, R. A. M., 
June 18, 1885, and tirst appeared in Grand Chapter as High Priest 
in 1892, serving his Chapter in that position for twelve years. He 
was elected Grand Master of the Second Veil January 17, 1900, and 
has been steadily advanced by his companions until at his death he 
was acceptably filling the station of Grand Scribe. 

"He was Knighted in Niles Commandery No. 12, K. T., Novem- 
ber 20, 1885, and received the degrees of Royal and Select Master in 
Niles Council No. 19, R. & S. M., April 16, 1903. He was made a 
member of Saladin Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., October 18, 1895. 

"The funeral of Companion Kingsbury was held at his home 
March 2, 1906, and he was buried in Prospect Hill Cemetery with 
Masonic honors under the auspices of Backus Lodge No 55, Niles 
Commandery No. 12, headed by a military band acting as escort. The 
officers of the Grand Chapter of Michigan were in attendance to honor 
the memory of a beloved Companion. 

"As a token of respect to the memory of this distinguished Com- 
panion and of our affection for him it is ordered that this memorial 
be read at the first regular convocation after its receipt, and that it be 
preserved in the Memorial Record of the Chapter prepared for that 
purpose. It is further ordered that the Chapter and Altar be draped 
in mourning for sixty days thereafter. 

"Thomas H. Williams, 

Grand Hight Priest. 
"Attest : 

"Charles A. Conover, 

Grand Secretary. 

JUDGE C. E. CONE. 

The bench and bar have ever been a civilizing influence in the 
history of state and nation and Judge Cone is actively connected with 
a profession Avhich has important bearing upon the progress and stable 
prosperity of any section or community and one which has long been 
considered as conserving the public welfare by furthering the ends of 
justice and maintaining individual rights. The present probate judge 
of Cass county is a gentleman whose superior educational attainments 
and understanding of the law have given him prominence in connection 
with his chosen profession and won him the position which he now 
fills through appointment of Governor Warner, who recognized his 
ability and merits. Li his social and official relations he is well known 
in Cassopolis and Cass county. C. E. Cone has much to do with 
public interests in Cassopolis. He is director of the school board and 
has been a helpful factor in many movements for the general good. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 555 

His business interests have been in the hne of law practice and he is 
recognized as one of the most able attorneys of the county, possessing 
m large measure the qualities which contribute to success at the bar, 
including perseverance and an analytical mind, which is at the same 
time readily receptive and retentive of the fundamental principles and 
intricacies of the law. 

Mr. Cone is a native of the Empire state, his natal place being 
Oswego, New Y'ork, his natal day April 25, 1867. His father, Chester 
Cone, was also born in New York and was a cooper by trade. Emigrat- 
ing westward, he settled in Van Buren county, Michigan, about 1868 
and afterward removed to Elkhart, Indiana. He has resided in south- 
ern Michigan and in northern Indiana since that time, making his 
home at present, in 1906, in Goshen, Indiana. His wife, who bore 
the maiden name of Maggie Rourk, was a native of Canada, where her 
girlhood days were passed. She died wlien her son, C. E. Cone, was 
about five years of age, leaving three children, namely: C. K Cone; 
Mrs. Millie Keller, who died in Enid, Oklahoma ; and William Cone, 
who is a resident of Elkhart. 

C. E. Cone, the eldest of the family, was only about a year old at 
the time of his parents' removal from the Empire state to Michigan. 
He began his education in Elkhart and continued his studies in the 
schools of Goshen and of Bristol, Indiana. He engaged in teaching in 
the village school at Bristol and for seven months in the district schools 
of the Hoosier state. Locating at Vandalia, he spent about fifteen 
months in a general store owned by W. R. Merritt, after which he 
engaged in teaching for one year as assistant principal. During this 
year he studied and earned a first grade teacher's certificate and was 
elected principal the following year, which position he filled for four 
years. Under his guidance the schools made satisfactory progress, 
for he maintained a high standard of excellence and put forth prac- 
tical effort to improve the schools and worked for their permanent 
good. He attended the Agricultural College at Lansing, Michigan, 
where he studied chemistry, physics, geologv' and astronomy. Follow- 
ing this work he took the state teachers' examination and won a life 
certificate in 1891. He was elected county commissioner of schools in 
1893 and came to Cassopolis. For eight years he occupied that posi- 
tion and the cause of education has ever found in him a stalwart friend, 
whose labors in its behalf have been effective and far reacliing. In 
1896 he began the study of law and was admitted to the bar in April, 
1899. Following the expiration of liis term of office he entered at 
once upon the active practice of the law. opening an office in the Chap- 
man building on the 8th of July, 190 1. In his practice he is gifted 
with a spirit of devotion to wearisome details and is quick to com- 
prehend the most subtle problems, while in his conclusions he is en- 
tirely logical. He is also fearless in the advocacy of any cause he 
may espouse and few men have been more richly gifted for the achieve- 



55G HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

nient of success in the arduous and difficult profession of the law. 
He has twice been elected circuit court commissioner and is filling 
that position at the present time. On the election of Probate Judge 
L. B. Des Voignes to the circuit bench, Mr. Cone was appointed by 
Governor Warner to fill the vacancy and entered upon the duties of 
the probate office September 7, 1906. He is also a member of the 
village council and has been found a co-operant factor in many move- 
ments and plans for tlie promotion of the best interests of Cassopolis. 
On the 1st of December, 1886, Mr. Cone was united in marriage 
to Miss Grace Fergus, a daughter of Wellington and Anna (Evans) 
Forgus and a native of New Jersey. Her father was a minister of the 
Episcopal church. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cone have been born five chil- 
dren, the eldest. J. Gorton, being now eighteen years of age. The 
others are Grace. Muriel. Wellington and Esther. Mr. Cone is a prom- 
inent worker in Republican ranks and has been secretary of the Re- 
publican county central committee. He is secretary of Kingsburv 
Chapter No. yS. R. A. M., and belongs to a number of other frater- 
nities. 

HON. JAMES M. SHEPARD. 

Hon. James M. Shepard, whose marked individuality and strength 
of character well entitle him to the position of leadership which is 
accorded him in Cass county, is now American consul at Hamilton, On- 
tario, and has figured prominently in political and business circles in 
Cass county for many years. He is a native of North Brookfield, 
Massachusetts, where he was born on the 24th of November, 1840. 
The paternal grandfather, Jared Shepard. was a descendant of Thomas 
Shepard, the founder of Harvard College. The family is of English 
lineage and among its members have been many who have figured prom- 
inentlv in public life in one wav or another. Thomas Shepard came 
to America in 1638. To this family belonged General Shepard, who 
put down Shay's rebellion. The father of our subject. Rev. James 
Shepard, was a native of Hampden countv, Massachusetts, born in 
1802, and was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was 
graduated from Westfield Academy and in his holy calling he exerted 
a wide and beneficial influence, contributing in substantial measure to the 
growth and development of his party and at the same time taking a pro- 
nounced stand upon the slavery question, his influence being far reach- 
ing in behalf of opposition to that institution of the south. At length 
on account of ill health he was forced to leave the ministry and his 
last davs were passed on Bunker Hill, Charlestown. Massachusetts, 
where he died at the age of fifty-two years. His wife bore the maiden 
name of Lucy Bush, and was a native of Westfield, Massachusetts, 
born in 1808. She, too, was of English lineage and lived to the ad- 
vanced age of eightv years. Tn the maternal line she was descended 
from the nohilitv of England. By her marriage she became the mother 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 55T 

of four children, one of whom died in infancy. Jared, the eldest, was 
at the head of what was known as the Foreign Money Department of 
the Suffolk Bank of Boston, the original "Clearing House," but put 
aside business ambitions at the outbreak of the Civil war and joined 
the Union army as a lieutenant, his death occurring near New Orleans 
while he was in the service. Esther is the wife of Rev. Daniel Richards, 
of Somerville, Massachusetts, her husband living a retired life there. 

Hon. James M. Shepard, the youngest of the family, was edu- 
cated in Cambridge, Massachusetts, attending the Latin school, after- 
ward the Wilbraham Academy and subsequently the Wesleyan Univer- 
sity. He studied medicine and dentistry in Boston and was connected 
with the medical department of the navy during the war of the rebellion. 
He went out first with the Mansfield guards, a regiment of Connecticut 
militia, and later joined the medical department of the navy, with 
which he continued until the cessation of hostilities. On the 3rd of 
September, 1868, Dr. Shepard came to Cassopolis, where he opened 
an office for the practice of dentistry, which he followed continuously 
until 1876, when he purchased the Vigilant and has been sole proprietor 
since 1878. As a journalist he is well known and through the publica- 
tion of his paper has done much to mold public thought and opinion. 
He is' the champion of every progressive movement and his labors 
have been effective in securing the adoption of many measures that 
have contributed largely to the public good. 

Mr. Shepard is even more widely known because of his activity in 
political circles. He was elected to represent the twelfth district, com- 
prising Cass and Van Bnrcn counties, in the state senate in 1878, re- 
ceiving five thousand two hundred and fifty-seven votes against twelve 
hundred and eight cast for Josiah R. Hendryx, the Democratic can- 
didate, and four thousand two himdred and thirty for Aaron Dyckman. 
the candidate of the National or Greenback party. While a member 
of the upper house of the general assembly Mr. Shepard was made 
chairman of the standing committees on the liquor traffic and printing 
and also a member of the committees on education, on mechanical in- 
terests and on engrossments. He proved an active working member of 
the senate and did all in his power to promote the welfare of the com- 
monwealth. In 1882 he became clerk of the committee on territories in 
the house of representatives of the forty-seventh congress and he was 
private secretary to Senator Palmer during the sessions of the forty- 
eighth, forty-ninth and fiftieth congresses. He was also clerk of the 
senate committee on agriculture during the discussion of the legisla- 
tive movements leading up to the formation of a department of agricult- 
ure, and he was secretary to the president of the World's Columbian 
Commission at Chicago from June, i8go. until the final official report 
was rendered in i8<56. He served as one of the commission of chari- 
ties and corrections for the state of Michigan under the administrations 
of governors Rich and Pingree, which position he resigned upon accept- 



558 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ing the appointment as American consul to Hamilton, Ontario, on the 
iGth of July, 1897. 

In 1870, James M. Shepard was united in marriage to Miss Alice 
Martin, the eldest daughter of Hiram and Margaret (Silver) Martin. 
They have two children. Melville J., who was born November 18, 
1872, is assistant bookkeeper in the Beckwith estate at Dowagic, Mich- 
igan. He married Pearl Lum, of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and has one 
son, James L., born March 20, 1902. The daughter, Blanche, born 
November 2, 1878, is the wife of Ernest W. Porter, of Newark, New 
Jersey. 

Dr. Shepard is a member of Albert Anderson Post, G. A. R., of 
which he is a past commander. He is also past chancellor commander 
of the Knights of Pythias fraternity, a member of the Knights of the 
Maccabees, and is a 32nd degree Mason. He has a very wide and 
favorable acquaintance among the prominent men of the state and 
nation, and has always kept in touch with the great and momentous 
questions which involve the welfare of the country. Moreover in local 
affairs he is deeply interested, and his influence and aid are ever given 
on the side of progress and improvement. While he enjoys the respect 
of many with whom he has come in contact in connection with important 
public service, in his home town where he has long lived he has that 
warm personal regard which arises from true nobility of character and 
deference for the opinions of others. 

JASPER J. ROSS. 

Jasper J. Ross, filling the office of township supervisor in Mason 
township and residing upon a farm on section 14, was born April 2, 
1858, upon this place which is yet his home. He therefore belongs to 
one of the old families of the county. His father, Richard C. Ross, was 
a native of Stark county, Ohio, and at the age of fourteen years accom- 
panied his parents, Jacob and Betsy Ross, to Cass county, settling first 
in Edwardsburg, in Ontwa township. There Jacob Ross took up forty 
acres of land, which wns wild and unimproved, and began the devel- 
opment of a farm. Richard C. Ross also secured a claim from the 
government, and Mr. and Mrs. Ross have in their possession one of the 
old parchment deeds bearing date and execution of September 10, 1838, 
and bearing the signature of President Martin Van Buren, the fourth 
deed of the kind found in Cass county. Tt is a valuable document and 
heirloom in the Ross household. This was in December, 1832, and 
they were among the original settlers of the county. The most far- 
sighted could not have dreamed of the development and progress which 
were soon to transform the district into a region of rich fertility and 
productiveness, and yet there were to be many years of arduous toil on 
the part of the pioneers and subsequent settlers before this result could 
be accomplished. The grandfather and father of our subject were both 




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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 559 

active in reclaiming the wild land for the purposes of civilization, and 
turned the first furrov^' ujxin many an acre. Having arrived at years 
of maturity, Richard C. Ross was united in marriage in 1848, in Mason 
township, to Miss Mehitable Bougart, who was born in Geneseo, New 
York, April i, 18 15, and was a daughter of John O. and Mehitable 
Bougart, who came from the east to Michigan in 1829, settling in 
Edwardsburg, Cass county. Mrs. Ross was then a little maiden of 
eight summers, and was therefore reared in Michigan amid pioneer sur- 
roundings and environments. The homes of the settlers were largely 
log cabins and the furnishings were very primitive and meager as 
compared to the homes of the present day. Mrs. Ross proved to her 
husband a faithful companion and helpmate for life's journey and pos- 
sessed many excellent traits of character of heart and mind, which en- 
deared her to all who knew her. She reached the advanced age of 
eighty-five years and nine months, while Richard C. Ross departed 
this life on the 22d of April. 1901, at the very venerable age of eighty- 
seven years. His early political allegiance was given to the Whig party, 
and upon the organization of the new Republican party, formed to pre- 
vent the further extension of slavery, he joined its ranks and continued 
one of its stalwart advocates until his demise. He took a very active and 
helpful part in the settlement and upbuilding of Cass county, and his 
name is enrolled among those to whom the citizens of the later day 
owe a debt of gratitude for what the pioneers accomplished in the early 
period of development here. Unto him and his wife were born two 
daughters and a son, the sisters of our subject being Mrs. Julia Ort, 
who is living in Mason township, and Mrs. Samantha Luse, whose home 
is in Elkhart, Indiana. 

No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of 
farm life for Jasper J. Ross in his boyhood days. He was reared upon 
the farm where he now resides, and at an early age he took his place 
in the fields, aiding in the plowing, planting and harvesting. His edu- 
cation was obtained in the old brick schoolhouse in district No. 5. He 
has never been away from the farm for an entire week in his life, but 
has applied himself earnestly and faithfully to his farm labor, and is the 
owner of one hundred acres of rich and productive land, which is de- 
voted to general farming. He has good grades of stock upon his place 
and is enterprising in his work, which has brought him the success which 
he to-day enjoys. 

On Christmas day of 1887 Mr. Ross was united in marriage to 
Miss Nettie Cormany, a daughter of Jonathan and Lydia (Garl) Cor- 
many, and a native of Elkhart county, Indiana, although her girlhood 
days were largely passed in this state. Mr. Ross cared for his parents 
until their deaths. By his marriage there have been born two daughters, 
Bessie M. and Shirley M., both at home. Tlie family are held in high 
esteem in the community, having many warm friends. 



560 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Mr. Ross is an earnest Democrat in his political views, active in 
the interests of the party, and has held all of the township offices to 
which he has been called by his fellow townsmen, who recognize his 
ability and his loyalty to the public good. He has served as township 
treasurer two terms, has been highway commissioner and in 1905 was 
elected township supervisor, being the present incumbent in the office. 
Mr. Ross is a member of the United Brethren church, in which he has 
served as trustee, and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend, 
who has done effective service in behalf of the school as a member of 
the school board during nine years incumbency in that office. He has 
been a life-long resident of the county, living for forty-eight years upon 
the same farm and has been closely identified with its development, its 
agricultural interests and its political welfare. 

JOHN H. PHILUPS. 

John H. Phillips, an enterprising citizen and merchant of Pokagon 
township, who is also filling the office of township supervisor and exerts 
strong and beneficial influence in behalf of public affairs, was born in 
the western part of Germany on the 12th of July, 1841. His father, 
John Phillips, was a native of the same country and was a shoemaker 
by trade. He married Miss Helen Hill, likewise a native of Germany, 
and they became the parents of five sons, John H. being the fourth in 
order of birth. In the year 1856 the father crossed the Atlantic to 
America, locating first in New Buffalo, Berrien county, Miichigan, 
where he purchased forty acres of raw land. This was covered with 
timber, which he cleared away, and as the years advanced he placed his 
farm under a very high state of cultivation and made it a productive 
property. There he remained until his death, which occurred in 1868. 
His political support was given to the Democracy, and he was a worthy 
and public spirited citizen. 

John PI. Phillips spent the first fifteen years of his life in the land 
of his birth and then accompanied his parents on their emigration to the 
new world. Farm work early became familiar to him and he gave his 
attention to general agricultural pursuits until 1864, when, at the age of 
twenty-three years, he enlisted as a member of Company F, Eighth 
Michigan Cavalry, in defense of the Union. He served with that com- 
mand until the close of the war, being mostly engaged in scouting, and 
in October, 1865. he was mustered out, having made a creditable record 
bv his faithful performance of every duty that was assigned him. 

When the country no longer needed his aid Mr. Phillips returned 
to Berrien county and entered upon his active business career as clerk 
in the freighting office of the Michigan Central Railroad Company. He 
was there employed until 1872, when he came to Cass county, Michi- 
gan, settling in the village of Pokagon. Here he was also in the employ 
of the Michigan Central Railroad Company until 1885, when, with the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUXTY 561 

capital he had saved from his earnings, he estabhslied a general store, 
which he has since conducted, being an enterprising merchant and meet- 
ing with very desirable success. His earnest efforts to please his patrons, 
his reasonable prices and his straightforward dealing constitute the 
basis of his prosperity since he became a factor in mercantile circles in 
Pokagon. 

Mr. Phillips had been married in Berrien county in 1865 to 
Miss Mary Raiza, a native of Germany, who was brought to America 
when four years of age, and was reared in Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. 
Phillips have become the parents of thirteen children, seven sons and six 
daughters. In his religious faith Mr. Phillips is a Catholic, and in his 
political affiliation is a stanch Democrat. In 1897 he was elected town- 
ship supervisor and has since held the office by re-election. He has 
also been township clerk for a number of years. His fraternal relations 
are with the Odd Fellows and Masons, and he is true to the teachings of 
these orders, exemplifying in his life the beneficent spirit upon which 
the lodges rest. He has been found capable in public office, trust- 
worthy in his business relations and faithful in his friendships, and thus 
the consensus of public opinion concerning L. H. Phillips is most 
favorable. 

JAMES M. EMMONS. 

James M. Emmons, wlio after long years of active connection with 
farming interests is now living retired in the enjoyment of a well 
earned rest, is one of the old settlers of Cass county, having from an 
early period been a witness of its development and progress as modern 
conditions have replaced those of pioneer life. He was born in Giles 
county, Virginia, on the 6th of April. 1827. and has therefore passed 
the seventy-eighth milestone on life's journey. His father, William 
Emmons, was also a native of the Old Dominion and was there reared, 
turning his attention to agricultural pursuits as a life work after he 
attained his majority. In the fall of 1828 he came with his family to 
^lichigan, settling in Berrien county, which was then a largely unim- 
proved tract, the work of development and progress having scarcely 
been begun within its borders. All around stretched the native forests 
or the unbroken prairie land, and it remained for the pioneer settlers to 
convert the district into a productive region wherein agricultural and 
commercial interests might be profitably conducted. Mr. Emmons was 
a leading representative of industrial interests, operating a sawmill in 
Berrien county until 1834, when he removed to Cass county, settling in 
Pokagon township. Here he took up forty acres of land from the gov- 
ernment, upon which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement 
made, and he also bought eighty acres from Mr. Ritter. This place 
he improved, carrying on the work of the fields vear after year, or until 
called to his final rest. He was married in Virginia to Miss Elsie Kirk, 
a native of that state, and unto them were horn eight children, three 



562 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

sons and five daughters, of whom James M. Emmons was the sixth 
child and second son. One of the number died in infancy. The father 
voted with the Democracy and kept well informed on the questions and 
issues of the day, but had little desire for public office. 

James M. Emmons was about five years of age when his father 
came to Cass county, and here he was reared amid the wild scenes of 
frontier life. He acquired his education in one of the little old-time log 
school-houses, where the methods of instruction were almost as primi- 
tive as the building in which the sessions of school were held. His train- 
ing at farm lator, however, was not meager, for he early began work in 
the fields and remained at home during his father's life, assisting him in 
the arduous work of the farm. There he remained until his marriage, 
when he removed to his present place of residence, comprising two hun- 
dred and seventeen acres of land in Pokagon township. He has since 
given his attention to the further development of this propertv. He 
built first a log cabin in which he lived until after the Civil war, when 
the pioneer home was replaced by a frame residence. He has also built 
barns and outbuildings and has added equipments that facilitate the 
farm work and make his labor more profitable. 

On the 22d of Februar}', 1S52, Mr. Emmons was married to Miss 
Phebe Hawkins, who came from Ohio to Michigan with her parents, 
Daniel and Alvira Hawkins, who were early settlers of Cass county, 
where Mrs. Emmons spent the days of her girlhood. She has had no 
children of her own, but out of the kindness of their hearts Mr. and 
Mrs. Emmons have given homes to four orphan children, two sons and 
two daughters: Emma, now the wife of Solon Straub and acting as 
housekeeper on Mr. Emmons' farm; Richard Parsons ; Ah'ira ; and 
Orson. 

Mr. Emmons has always been actuated by high and honorable prin- 
ciples, by a conscientious regard for his obligations to his fellow men 
and by a loyalty to duty that is above question. For twenty-one years 
he has given earnest support to the Prohibition party Ijecause of his firm 
belief in temperance princi]5les and his opposition to the liquor traffic. 
He is well known and for many years was accounted a leading farmer of 
Pokagon township, but at the present writing has given over to others 
the care and improvement of his farm, while he is enjoying a well earned 
rest. This is certainlv as nature intended, and he is not only a retired 
citizen of Cass county, but also one of its respected and honored men, 
well known in this part of the state from pioneer times down to the 
present. 

TOSEPFI HARPER. 

Tn all those affairs which touch the general interests of society, 
which work for civic integrity and virtue and for loyalty in citizenship 
as well as for material progress, Joseph Harper was deeply interested, 
and though he did not win national renown and was perhaps not widely 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 563 

known in the state, he was in his home community a man of prominence 
whose influence was ever found on the side of progress and improve- 
ment. A native of Washington county, Pennsylvania, he was born on 
the 19th of December, 1805, and when about thirty years of age came 
to CassopoHs, Michigan, the year of his arrival being 1835. Here his 
remaining days were passed, and on the 28th of August, 1894, when in 
the eighty-ninth year of his age, he was called to his final rest. By 
trade he was a carpenter and joiner, and for nearly sixty years was a 
prominent figure at Cassopolis. He built the first courthouse and was 
one of the five contractors for the building of the second courthouse. 
Many evidences of his superior handiwork are seen in substantial 
structures in the county, for his work was of a most enduring character, 
and in business circles he sustained an unassailable reputation for relia- 
bility. The year following his arrival at Cassopolis Mr. Harper was 
married, in October, 1836, to Miss Caroline Guilford, whose birth 
occurred in Northampton, Massacliusetts, September 4, 1816. They 
traveled life's journey together for more than fifty-seven years, and 
Mrs. Harper survived her husband until the 29th of January, 1902. 
They were the parents of four daughters, all born in Cassopolis. Emily 
S., born March 31, 1838, was married August 20, 1857, to Jeremiah 
B. Chapman, and died January 7, 1902. Melissa C, born March 3, 
1841, was married March 28, i860, to Joseph Graham, who was born in 
Erie county, Pennsylvania, February 5, 1838, and died May 23, 1905. 
Janette, born October 27, 1843, became the wife of Charles L. Morton, 
February i, 1870, and died February 27, 1880. Maryette, born April 
12, 1846, was married October 3. 1865. to Lowell H. Glover, the his- 
torian. All of the deaths in tlie family occurred in Cassopolis, and the 
marriages were here celebrated. 

Mr. Harper continued his building operations in the county seat 
and surrounding districts until the early days of the gold e.Kcitement 
in California, when he made his way to the Pacific coast and spent 
several years working in the mines. He afterward went to Pike's Peak 
and later to Montana, where he remained for about three years, en- 
gaged in mining operations. At the time of the Civil war he left 
home to serve as captain of Company A, Twelfth Michigan Volunteer 
Infantry, and with his command did valiant service in defense of the 
Union cause. 

Mr. Harper gave his political allegiance to the Whig and then to 
the Republican party, and was one of the first justices of the peace 
elected after the admission of the state into the Union. At different 
times he was called to the office of register of deeds, treasurer and 
sheriff of the county, and following the election of General Grant to the 
presidency Mr. Harper was appointed postmaster at Cassopolis, and 
served for nine years. His official duties were ever discharged with 
promptness and fidelity. He and his wife were among those who united 



564 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

with the Presbyterian church the day foUowing its organization in 1842. 
He was a man of positive opinions and of incorruptible integrity, and 
was respected by all with whom he held social or business relations. 

LEANDER BRIDGE. 

Leauder Bridge was for many years an enterprising and prominent 
farmer of Cass county, where he took up his abode in pioneer days 
and before the seeds oi civilization had scarcely been planted in the 
western wilderness. He bore his full share in the work of development 
and progress and gained and retained the honor and respect of his fellow 
men as the years went by. He was born in Angelica, Allegany county, 
New York, December 26, 1827, a son of Samuel Bridge. His early 
boyhood and youth were spent in the Empire state, but when nineteen 
years of age he came to Cass county, Michigan, with his parents, and 
spent his remaining days upon what became known as the old Bridge 
homestead farm, the then site of the village of Marcellus. However, 
at the time of his arrival here there was no village, and the entire dis- 
trict was covered with the native growth of timber. At twenty-four 
years of age Leander Bridge was married. He started in life on his 
own account with forty acres of land, which he brought under a high 
state of cultivation, performing the arduous task of developing the fields 
and making the farm productive. As his financial resources increased" 
he added to his property from time to time until within the boundaries 
of his place were comprised one hundred and sixty acres of good land. 
Throughout his entire life he carried on general agricultural pursuits, 
and for about six years he was also engaged in the grain business. For 
several years he devoted his energies to the conduct of a grocery store 
and for two years was proprietor of a meat market. He was likewise 
express agent for a time, and in all these varied interests he conducted 
his business affairs with capability and enterprise, realizing that close 
application and unfaltering diligence constitute a sure and safe basis 
upon which to build prosperity. 

It was in 1852 that Leander Bridge was united in marriage to Miss 
Harriet A. Bair, who was born in Newberg, Cass county, Michigan, on 
the 23d of January, 1835. His death occurred August 11. 1880, while 
his widow, surviving for more than two decades, passed away on the 
i6th of April, 1902. They were people of the highest respectability, 
enjoying in highest regard the esteem and friendship of those with 
whom tliey came in contact through business or social relations. Mr. 
Bridge was a stalwart champion of Republican principles, and in his 
fraternal relations was a Mason. He was also a very active and help- 
ful member of the United Brethren church and assisted in building the 
house of worship at Marcellus. These connections indicate much of the 
character of the man and show forth the motive power that prompted 
his actions, making him a man whom to know was to respect and honor. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ,565 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bridge were born two children: William, 
who was born March 17, 1855, died in infancy, while Mary Alice, bom 
March 20, 1856, is the wife of Collins J. Joiner. Her husband was born 
in the western reserve of Ohio, on the 23d of January, 1850, and was a 
son of J. C. and Mary (Stafford) Joiner, in whose family were four 
daughters and three sons. He came to Michigan with his parents in 
his boyhood days, and after acquiring a good education engaged in 
teaching school in early life for a number of terms. He was also for 
a number of years station agent and telegraph operator on the Michigan 
Central Railroad. In 1883 he was married to Miss Mary Alice Bridge 
and removed to Jonesville, where he engaged in merchandising for four 
years. He afterward went to Quincy, Michigan, where he edited and 
published the Quincy Herald for five years, later conducting the dry 
goods store there for some time. On the first of April, 1896, he entered 
into partnership with F. T. Ward and purchased the Hillsdale Standard 
of F. W. Rolston, continuing in charge of the paper until the time of 
his demise, which occurred December 17, 1898. He always published a 
thoroughly modern and up-to-date paper, devoted to general interests 
and the dissemination of local news, and he ever stood for public 
progress and improvement, using his influence as a journalist for the 
betterment of the communities with which he was connected. ■ While 
living in Hillsdale he also conducted a toot and shoe store for a few 
months prior to his death. 

Mrs. Joiner has devoted her life to art for the past fifteen years, 
having been a student under Professor Knight, of Hillsdale, and Pro- 
fessor Harding, of Jonesville. She does now superior work in oil and 
water colors and pastel, and has produced some highly artistic work 
in landscape and marine views, flowers and portraits. She was also a 
teacher of music for many years, but now gives her attention to paint- 
ing and has gained much more than local reputation in her art. Mrs. 
Joiner is well known in this part of the county both by reason of per- 
sonal worth and the fact that she is connected with one of its most hon- 
ored pioneer families, and she deserves prominent mention in this 
volume. 

ARTHUR E. BAILEY. 

Arthur E. Bailev. editor and proprietor of the Marcellus News, 
was born in Liverpool, Medina county, Ohio, in 1864, his parents being 
James E. and Hannah Sophia (Kirby) Bailey, both of whom were 
natives of the Buckeye state. The father was of English lineage, was a 
wagon maker by trade and died three years after the birth of our sub- 
ject, passing away in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church, of 
which he was a consistent member. His wife, who was also of English 
lineage, survived her husband for but a brief period. She was a mem- 
ber of tlie Baptist church. In their family were a daughter and a son, 
the former, Alice, being a resident of Marcellus. 



566 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

The son, Arthur E. Bailey, largely acquired his education in the 
schools of Cassopolis, for his mother removed to the vicinity of that 
city after her husband's death, and the children were reared by relatives. 
He mastered the branches taught in the high school of that place, after 
which he learned the printer's trade in the office of the Vigilant of 
Cassopolis, under the direction of Messrs. Shepard & Alansheld. He 
entered the ottice in the capacity of "devil" and gradually worked his 
way upward until he had become manager of the paper. He was ap- 
pointed postmaster at Cassopolis under President Harrison, holding the 
position for four and a half years as a successor of L. H. Glover. After 
retiring from that position he purchased the Marcellus Nezus of C. E. 
Davis and is now its editor and proprietor. The paper was founded in 
1877 and at present is a six-column quarto, published weekly. It has a 
large circulation, has a good advertising patronage, is a non-partisan 
sheet and is ably edited. 

In October, 1892, Mr. Bailey was married to Miss Fanchon Stock- 
dale, who was born in Jefferson township, Cass county, in February, 
1872, and is a daughter of Anthony and Jeanette (Smith) Stockdale. 
Her father was one of the pioneer settlers of Jefferson township. Mr. 
and Mrs. Bailey have two children : Agnes, who was born in August, 
1893; and Harold, born in July, 1896. The parents are consistent and 
faithful members of the Baptist church, in the work of which Mr. Bailey 
takes a very active part and is now serving as one of its officers. He 
belongs to the Masonic fraternity and in politics is a Republican. He 
has held village offices in Marcellus and is now serving as a trustee. He 
is the champion of everything pertaining to the welfare and upbuilding 
of this part of the state, and his efforts in behalf of public improvement 
in Marcellus have been far-reaching and beneficial. 

HENRY H. BOWEN. 

Henry H. Bowen. one of the old settlers of the county, who has 
assisted in clearing and developing four farms, and thus contributing 
in large measure to the agricultural improvement of this section of the 
state, is now the owner of one hundred and fifty acres of good and well 
improved land on section 16, Porter township. He is, moreover, one 
of the native sons of Michigan, his birth having occurred at Plymouth 
Corners, near Detroit, in W^asbington county, on the 20th of March, 
1839. He was the fourth member of a family of nine children born of 
the marriage of Joseph and Sallie Ann (Austin) Bowen, both of whom 
were natives of New York. In the year 1840 Joseph Bowen came with 
his family to Cass county, settling in north Porter township, and 
throughout his remaining days his attention was devoted to general 
agricultural pursuits, which indeed he made his life work. He passed 
away at the advanced age of seventy-nine years, respected and honored 
liv all who knew liini, and his wife, who was a most worthy and esti- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 567 

mable lady, also deixirted this life in Cass county, her remains being 
interred in Porter township. 

H. H. Bowen, of this review, lacked eight days of being a year old 
when brought by his parents to Cass county, and upon the old home 
farm in Porter township he was reared. At the usual age he liegan his 
education, the little "temple of learning" being a log building such as 
was common in the early days. Its furnishings were primitive, con- 
sisting of rude benches and a table, behind which the teacher sat ruling 
over the little kingdom. The room was heated with a large fireplace 
and the school work was ungraded, the pupils studying the branches 
that they wished. The larger pupils attended only through the winter 
months, for their services were needed upon the farms during the spring, 
summer and fall seasons. Mr. Bowen remained continuously on the 
old farm until the age of eighteen. He has assisted in clearing four 
different farms in the county. In his youth he aided in the arduous 
task of developing new land, turning the first furrows on many an acre. 
His early boyhood was largely a period of strenuous toil, but he de- 
veloped thereby the practical knowledge, and gained the experience that 
enabled him to carefully and successfully carry on farming interests 
when lie started out upon an active business career. He remained 
at home through his minority and when twenty-four years of age was 
united in marriage on the 6th of April, 1863, to Miss Diana Charles, 
a daughter of Rufus K. and Emeline (Joy) Charles, the former a native 
of North Carolina and the latter of New York. Mrs. Bowen, who was 
the eldest of their three children, was bom in Porter township, Cass 
county, September 13, 1842, her parents having there located at an 
early day in the pioneer epoch of Michigan's history. The family home 
was upon the farm and she was trained to the duties of the household, 
so that she was well qualified to take charge of a home of her own at 
the time of their marriage. The young couple began their domestic 
life upon a part of the old Bowen homestead, where they yet reside, and 
Mr. Bowen devoted his time and energies to the tilling of the soil until 
the early part of 1865, when, in response to the country's call for further 
aid in the suppression of the rebellion in the south, he offered his serv- 
ices and was assigned to duty with Company A, of the Twenty-fourth 
Michigan Volunteers, serving with that regiment until the close of the 
war. He is now a member of William J- May Post, No. 64, G. A. R., 
at Tones, and thus maintains pleasant relations with his old army com- 
rades. He has filled various offices in the post, including that of com- 
mander. His political allegiance has always been given to the Repub- 
lican ]iartv, of wliicli he is a stanch advocate, and he has labored 
earnestly and effectively for the welfare of the party in this locality. 
His first presidential ballot was cast for Abraham Lincoln in i860, and 
he again voted for the martyred president in 1864. In fact he has 
assisted in electing every Republican president of tlie nation. Called 
to public office, he has served as constable in the township, was also 



5GS HISTORY 01<" CASS COUNTY 

treasurer and lilled the oflice of township clerk for about seven years, 
the duties of the different positions being disdiarged in a capable, 
prompt and able manner. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bowen have been born three sons, two of whom 
are yet living, namely ; Barnard, of Constantine, Michigan, and Frank 
Raymond, who is living in Townsend, Montana, where for about ten 
years he has occupied a ixjsition as clerk in the employ of one firm, 
a fact which indicates his fidelity to duty. Rufus K. died at the age 
of nineteen years. The home farm comprises one hundred and sixty 
acres of land on section i6. Porter township, and he has a well im- 
proved property, equipped with many evidences of progress along agri- 
cultural hnes. With the exception of his first year Mr. Bowen has 
resided continuously in Porter township throughout his entire life, and 
the farm upon which he yet resides is endeared to him through the asso- 
ciations of his boyhood as well as tliose of later manhood. He has 
always been a busy man, working persistently and earnestly, realizing 
that there is no excellence without labor. It has been said that merit 
and success go linked together, and the truth of this assertion is proven 
in the life history of such men as H. H. Bowen, who has prospered 
by reason of his diligence and sterling worth, and he well deserves 
mention in this volume as one of the representative early settlers. 

JAMES J. MINNICH. 

The Germans and their descendants have always been noted for 
their thrift and enterprise. To the German farmer the middle west is 
indeljted for the beautiful and well-improved farms, in the states of 
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. Mr. Minnich is a true represen- 
tative of this class of citizens in Cass county, Michigan. He comes 
from Pennsylvania German ancestry and is possessed of those requisites 
which go to make tlie successful stockman and farmer. He is a native 
of the Keystone state, born in Snyder county, October 3, 1856, and the 
third in a family of thirteen children, nine sons and four daughters, 
born to Elias and Sophia (Garman) Minnich. There are eight children 
living, namely : Peter, a resident of Three Oaks, Michigan, is a farmer 
and fruit grower and is married. Mr. Minnich is next. Andrew, a 
resident of Mason township. Cass county, is a manufacturer of cider 
and jellies, and is prosperous. He is married. Carrie, wife of Rev. 
W. C. Swenk, a resident of Ida, Michigan, and is pastor of the Evan- 
gelical church. Charles G., a resident of Kalamazoo, Michigan. He 
is a composer and teacher of music. He graduated under Prof. A. P. 
Barlow. He is married. Ellsworth, a resident of Berrien Springs, 
Michigan, is a manufacturer of cider and jellies, the firm being styled 
the American Cider Company, and he is married. Jane is the wife 
of William Stover, a resident of Berrien county. John, a resident of 
Los Angeles, California, is a machinist and millwright, being foreman in 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 509 

a box factory known as the California l*"ruit Association. He is the 
youngest living. 

Father Minnich was born in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, in 
1834, and he is yet living at the age of seventy-two. He was educated 
in both the German and English languages, and was a teacher of writing 
in the early years of his manhood. He had great musical talent. His 
chosen vocation was that of a farmer. When he had reached man's 
estate, the age of twent}-one. he had no capital. He was about four- 
teen years of age when he came with his parents to Snyder county, 
Pennsylvania, and was reared and married there. May 20, 1853, to Miss 
Sophia Carman. In 1866 he emigrated to the middle west and located 
at Bristol, Indiana. He purchased seventy-two acres of land in Mason 
township, Cass county, it being partially improved, and then traded it for 
one hundred and eighty acres in the same township. He there resided 
for fourteen years, and then sold and invested in forty acres in Berrien 
county, but later sold thirty-three acres and kept seven acres, and is now 
living retired in comfortable circumstances. He is a' Republican in 
politics. He and his wile are devout members of the German Evan- 
gelical Association. Mother Minnich was horn in Snyder county. Penn- 
sylvania, May 20, 1835, and is living. ' She is a kind and affectionate 
mother, and has reared her children to lives of usefulness. 

Mr. Minnicli, of this review proper, was about nine years of age 
when he became a resident of Bristol, Indiana. His parents being poor, 
he was called early in life to aid them in making a home. He remained 
with his parents and gave them his care and wage till the age of 
twenty-two, which indicates that he surely did a son's part in the care of 
his aged father and mother. He received a verj- meager education, 
mostly obtained through the aid of his estimable wife. At the age of 
twenty-one he could not exhibit ten dollars as a foundation to begin life. 
He chose for his companion in life Miss Eliza Kissinger, wlio has proven 
to be a wife who has aided him with her wise counsel and advice in the 
years past, in the building of their pretty home. They were married July 
30, 1876, and when they began life for a short time they resided with 
his parents. Then, concluding to have a home of their own. they took 
twenty dollars of the fifty dollars which Mrs. Minnich had saved and 
purchased a little cheap outfit of furniture and set up a little home of 
their own, but after a short time they returned to reside with Mr. Min- 
nich's parents. They began very- modestly as renters, as is oftentimes 
said, began at the lowest round of the ladder of life, but they made a 
firm resolution to make a success of their lives. The first land they 
purchased was thirteen acres near the village of Sailor, Michigan, in 
1888, and they went m debt for most of it. There was not a sign of an 
improvement on the little place. They entered into the work with 
zealousness and erected a good residence and excellent outbuildings, 
and resided there two vears, then renting it, and removed to Berrien 



570 HISTORY OF CASS COUx\TY 

county, anil there tliey lived four years, and then returned to Mason 
township, this being in 1892, and here resided till 1904, when they sold 
their little place. They then moved upon the farm where they now re- 
side, which comprises one hundred and ten acres of fine land, which at 
that time was terribly run down, — dilapidated fences, tumble-down 
buildings, and the whole place presenting a very discouraging proposi- 
tion. 

i\Ir. and Mrs. Minnich set to work with that true German charac- 
teristic to make a model farm, which they surely have done. They 
have erected a pretty country residence, fitted up m city style, with 
large and commodious rooms, nicely and cosily furnished, and handy 
and homelike for the housewife, an excellent cemented cellar, the water 
piped through the house, and the grounds nicely laid out, which indi- 
cates hard and unremitting toil. New fences have been built, also a 
new windmill, the outbuildings have all been overhauled, and the sur- 
roundings now present the healthy, clean appearance of a model country 
home, as the accompanying engraving indicates. Mrs. Minnich is one 
of the most careful and efficient wives, who knows how to manage and 
superintend her home. She is a native of Elkhart county, Indiana, born 
September 2, 1858, and she is the eldest in a family of six children, two 
sons and four daughters, born to William and Caroline (Stoner) Kis- 
singer. There are five of the children living, viz. : Mrs. Minnich is 
the oldest ; Frances, widow of Cidlen Green, a resident of Elkhart, 
Indiana ; Mary, wife of William Skeer, a resident of Elkhart, Indiana, 
and lie is a mechanic; Charles A., a resident of Elkhart, Indiana, and a 
moulder by trade, wedded Miss May Finch ; John E., a resident of 
Mishawaka, Indiana, who owns property in that place and also in South 
Bend, Indiana, is a pit moulder and is a receiver of high wages. He 
wedded Miss Jennie Lintsenmeyer. He is the youngest. 

Father Kissinger was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. 
June 10, 1830. and died July 28, 1895. He was an agriculturist. He 
came to Stark county, Ohio, with his parents when but a boy arid was 
reared and educated in that county. He received a good education in 
the common schools, and also a short course in college. He was mar- 
ried in Stark county. He was a soldier in the Civil war, serving his 
country till he received his honorable and final discharge, and was an 
ardent Republican in politics. In the early years of his life he was a 
member of the Dunkard church. He came to Elkhart county in an early 
day and there died. Mrs. Kissinger was born in Stark county, Ohio, 
November 31, 1840, and died October 11, 1878, in Elkhart county. 
She w^as reared in old Stark county. She was always known 
as a good and kind woman, good and charitable to the poor 
and needy. Mrs. Minnich was bom, reared and educated in 
Elkhart county, Indiana. To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Jacob 
Minnich ha\c been horn three sons, all living, viz. : Charles W., who 



HISTORY OF CASS COLWTY 571 

v;as educated in the common schools. He is a practical stockman and 
farmer. He is now located at Gray's Harbor, Washington, near the Pa- 
cific ocean. He controls three hundred and eighty acres of land near 
tliere and owns one hundred and sixt}^ acres in Idaho. He is a very 
prosperous young man. He wedded Miss Ida Traub, and they have one 
little son, Paul. Edwin J. is located in Aberdeen, Washington, and has 
four lots in the town and two hundred acres near Elma, Washington. 
He wedded Miss Myrtle Ullery. He was a soldier in the Philippine con- 
test, being there and on the ocean for eighteen months. He received 
his honorable discharge, and was always trvie to the "Stars and Stripes." 
Herbert F. is the youngest and is also located at Aberdeen, Washington. 
He IS a young man who commands many friends by his open and frank 
disposition. Mr. and Mrs. Minnich may well be proud of their sons. 

Mr. Minnich is a Republican, true and loyal to the principles of 
this grand old party, and cast his first presidential vote for Hayes, hav- 
ing always upheld the banner of Republicanism. Officially he served as 
highway commissioner for two terms. For his honesty of character the 
St. Louis & S. W. Railroad Company in the years 1900 and 1901 se- 
lected him as immigration agent in the states of Arkansas, Texas and 
the Southwest, and presented him quarterly passes over all their lines. 
For his efficiency they offered him a good salary to take up the work, 
but he preferred to pursue his calling, that of a farmer. Fraternallv he 
belongs to the Grange. Both he and his wife are members of the United 
Brethren church at Sailor, Michigan, and have always been active in 
the Sunday-school work. He is a lover of good stock and has the 
Duroc swine and good standard bred horses and cattle. 

In the years 1900 and 1901 Mr. and Mrs. Minnich took an ex- 
tended journey to the Pacific slope to visit their children and meet their 
son FMwin on his return from the Philippine war. They had a lovelv 
trip, crossing the straits to Vancouver Island, and then returning to the 
east through Canada, via the Canadian Pacific, passing through some of 
the most beautiful scenery in the great northwest. We are pleased to 
present this review of this worthy couple to be recorded in The Twen- 
tieth Century History of Cass County, Michigan. 

ERNEST SHILLITO. M. D. 

Dr. Ernest Shillito. whose capability in the practice of his profes- 
sion is indicated by the liberal patronage accorded him and by the 
favorable mention made of him throughout the community in which 
he makes his home, was born in Espyville. Pennsylvania, in 1864, his 
parents being George and Amanda (Slocum) Shillito. the former a 
native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Vermont. The father, whose 
birth occurred in Espyville. was of Irish descent, his father having emi- 
grated from the Emerald Isle to the United States in 1800. George 
Shillito was a farmer by occupation and became well-to-do through the 



572 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

careful management of his agricultural and stock buying interests. He 
held memliership in the Methodist Episcopal church and gave his politi- 
cal support to the Republican party. He died in 1893, at the age of 
seventy years, and is still survived by Mrs. Shillito, who is living in 
Grove City, Pennsylvania, at the age of seventy-four years. She is of 
English descent and members of the family served in the Revolutionary 
war. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and has been a 
devoted wife and mother and earnest Christian woman. In the family 
were the following children: Arthur M., attorney-at-law of Chicago; 
Fred, a practicing physician at Kalamazoo; Amos G., who is engaged 
in the practice of medicine at Independence, Iowa ; Georgiana, the wife 
of Edward Eithian, a manufacturer of gas engines of Grove City, 
Pennsylvania ; Ernest, of this review, and Hosaih, deceased. 

Dr. Shillito, whose name introduces this record, was reared upon 
his father's farm and after attending the country schools became a high 
school student in Linesville, Pennsylvania, while subsequently he at- 
tended the State Normal School at Edinboro, Pennsylvania, and also 
Allegheny College in that state. In 1886 he entered the meclical depart- 
ment of the state university of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and was gradu- 
ated from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago in 1888. 
He then entered ujMn the practice of his profession in Marcellus in 
July of that year, and has since followed his chosen calling here with 
splendid success. 

In 1897 Dr. Shillito was married to Miss Sadie M. Warsom. who 
was lx>rn in Sturgis, Michigan, in 1875. Her father was a pioneer 
farmer of Indiana. Dr. Shillito is a Republican in his political views 
but has never sought or desired office. He belongs to the Masonic 
fraternity and to the State Medical Association, and through his con- 
nection with the latter keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the 
medical fraternity. He has never sought activity outside of the regular 
routine of active practice, but with an abilitv that enables him to master 
the diflicult problems of medical and surgical practice he has gained a 
gratifying patronage. 

RAYMOND S. HALLIGAN. M. D. 

Although one of the younger members of the medical fraternity 
in Cass county. Dr. Halligan, who is practicing in Marcellus, seems not 
to be limited by his years in the extent of his practice or in the 
ability with which he copes with the difficult problems that continually 
confront the physician. He has been very successful in his work, and 
is now accorded a gratifying patronage. He was born in Albion, Ne- 
braska, in 1878, and is a son of John and Ellen Halligan, the former a 
native of Ireland and a farmer by occupation. 

.'Xfter acquiring his literary education in the district schools. Dr. 
Halligan, of this review, having determined upon the profession of 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 57S 

medicine as a life work, spent three years as a student in the medical 
department of the University of Michigan, and was afterward a student 
in the medical department of the Northwestern University at Chicago, 
Illinois, in 1902. He then entered upon the active work of his profes- 
sion in Sault Ste. Marie, where he remained for eight months, and was 
then interne at a hospital at Saginaw, Michigan. While interne he 
graduated from Saginaw Medical College in 1903. On the ist of June, 
1903, he came to Marcellus, where he has since been remarkably suc- 
cessful in his choseii field of endeavor. In 1904 Dr. Halligan was 
united in marriage to Miss Anna Kalthoff, a daughter of Caspar Kal- 
thoff, of Erie, Pennsylvania. She died September 12, 1904, and Dr. 
Halligan wedded Miss Ethel Apted, of Marcellus, May 17, 1906. They 
have won many friends among the residents of Marcellus, the hospi- 
tality of the best homes of the city being extended to them. 

Dr. Halligan belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp and the Mac- 
cabees tent, and he is medical examiner for both orders. In politics he 
is a Republican, but without political aspiration, preferring to give his 
time and attention to his professional duties. 

FRANK ENGLE. 

The farming interests of Pokagon township have a worthy repre- 
sentative in Frank Engle, who is living on section 14, where he owns 
and operates a good farm that is equipped with modern conveniences 
and improvements. He is a native son of Michigan, his birth having 
occurred in Van Buren county on the i6th of September, 1855. His 
father, Benjamin Franklin Engle, was born in Allegany county, New- 
York, on the 2nd of April, 1833. and was the fifth in order of birth in a 
family of seven children. In June, 1844, when a youth of eleven years, 
he became a resident of Van Buren county, Michigan, to which district 
he removed with his parents. There he spent about twenty-one years, 
and in 1865 he came to Cass county, taking up his abode in LaGrange 
township. Upon this place he Iniilt a house and then with characteristic 
energy Ijegan the improvement of his eighty-acre farm, which he placed 
under a high state of cultivation. In addition to the tilling of the soil 
and the raising of cereals best adapted to soil and climate, he also devoted 
considerable attention to fruit culture. He was married on the 23d of 
December, 1854, to Miss Lovina Elliott, a daughter of Jonathan Elliott. 
This union was blessed with five children, Frank, May, Silas, Hattie 
and Laura, but the last named is now deceased. All were born in Van 
Buren county, but were reared and educated in Cass county. In the 
course of an active business career Mr. Engle was always respected by 
reason of his genuine worth and fair dealing, never being known to take 
advantage of the necessities of his fellow men in any trade transaction. 
In politics he voted with the Republican party, but was without aspira- 
tion for office for himself. His wife passed away February' 3, 1901. 



5T4 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Frank Engle spent the first ten years of his Hfe in the county of his 
nativity and then with his parents took up his abode on what is known 
as the old farm homestead in LaGrange township. He assisted in the 
arduous task of clearing the fields and planting the crops, and remained 
on the old home farm until 1896, when he removed to his present place 
of residence — a well improved farm of eighty acres in Pokagon town- 
ship. His time and attention have since been given to the further de- 
velopment of this property and through the rotation of crops, the use of 
modern machinery and the exercise of practical common sense in his 
work he has won a comfortable competence and made for himself a 
place among the substantial agriculturists of his community. He has 
set out a good orchard on his place which yields its fruits in season, 
and he has also made other improvements in keeping with the modern 
spirit of agricultural progress. 

On the 2Sth of March, 1878, Mr. Engle was married to Miss Lou 
M. Tremmel, a daughter of Jacob and Martha (Woods) Tremmel. 
The Woods family were the third white family to settle in Berrien 
county, Michigan, and they came to Cass county in 1854. taking up 
their abode in Howard township. It was upon that place that Mrs. 
Engle was born and reared, being the third in a family of eight children, 
of wliom two are now deceased. Her father died in December, 1879, 
and was survived by his wife until January, 1883, when she, too, 
passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Engle have become the parents of three 
children, of whom two are living: Lena, born Augitst 31, 1879; and 
Mable, born April 25, 1886. The youngest, Walter, was born January 
21, 1889, and died on the 13th of June, 1904. Mable and Walter were 
born in Morgan county, Indiana, while Lena's birth occurred on the 
old home farm in this county. 

Mr. Engle is a stanch advocate of temperance principles, as is indi- 
cated by the fact that he e.Kcrcises his right of franchise in support of 
the candidates of the Prohibition party. He belongs to the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows of Pbkagon, and holds membership in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church at Dowagiac. In all life's relations he is found 
loyal to the trust reposed in him, and he earnestly espouses and sup- 
ports every cause in which he believes. 

SAMUEL F. SKINNER. 

Samuel F. Skinner, who is successfully carrying on general farm- 
ing on section 12, Porter township, was born October 16, 1853, in this 
county, his parents being Nathan and Sophia (Dayhuff) Skinner. He 
is the youngest in a family of four children, one of whom died in in- 
fancy. His youth was passed in his native township and his education 
was acquired in the district schools, where he mastered the usual branches 
of English learning. He was trained to farm work and early learned 
the best methods and time of planting and cultivating the fields, so 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 575 

that when he began farming on his own account he had good practical 
experience to aid him. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey 
he chose Miss Rachel Maria Roof, a daughter of Daniel and Catherine 
(Eberhard) Roof, the parents being early settlers and well known farm- 
irig people of Porter township, where Mrs. Skinner was Ixirn. Her 
father is now deceased but her mother is still living, and has reached 
the very advanced age of eighty-seven years. Mrs. Skinner is the only 
daughter and the younger of two children, her brother being David 
Roof. One daughter has been born of this union, Mary R., who 
graduated in the high school at Vandalia in the class of 1895, and she 
spent almost two years in Albion College studying music, and is now 
a teacher of instrumental music. It was November 26, 1874, that 
Rachel M. Roof gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Skinner, and they 
located upon the old homestead farm, where they lived for one year. 
On the expiration of that period they removed to section 2, Porter 
township, where he carried on general farming, placing his fields under 
a high state of cultivation. There he resided until he again located 
ujxjn the old homestead farm, where he remained until 1890, when he 
removed to his present place of residence on section 12, Porter town- 
ship. Here he has a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, and the 
soil is rich and alluvial, responding readily to the cultivation placed 
thereon, so that he annually harvests good crops. In addition to the 
raising of the cereals best adapted to soil and climate he is also engaged 
in stock raising, making a specialty of high grade hogs. In both 
branches of his business lie has met with very gratifying success and is 
now one of the prosperous and enterprising agriculturists of Porter 
township. 

When age conferred upon ]\Ir. Skinner the right of franchise he 
identified his interests with those of the Republican party, which he has 
continuously and loyally supp<irted. As every true .American citizen 
should do, he keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day 
and has taken an active and helpful part in the support of the party in 
which he belie\es. He was justice of the peace for several years, ren- 
dering decisions which were strictly fair and impartial. He was also 
constable, and in 1901 he was elected township supervisor, to which 
position he has since been re-elected, so that he has held the office 
continuously for five years, being the incumhent at the present time. 
He has also served as school officer since he attained the age of twenty- 
one years, and the cause of education finds in him a warm and helpful 
friend, for he does all in his power to advance the success of the schools 
through the employment of good teachers and upholding the standard 
of instruction. He belongs to Tent No. 805. Knights of the Maccabees, 
at Jones, and Mrs. Skinner to the L. O. T. M., Hive No. 353. He is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church in that village, and is very 
active and helpful in church work, serving as one of the trustees and 
co-operating in various lines of church activity. During fifty-two years 



576 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

he has Hved in Porter township, and that his hfe has been honorable 
and upright is indicated by the fact that many of his stanchest friends 
are numbered among those who have known him from boyhood to the 
present time. 

EDWARD T. MOTLEY. 

Edward T. Motley is now the owner of a well improved farm 
comprising two hundred and thirty-one acres, situated on section lo, 
Porter township, and his careful supervision and practical labors are 
indicated in the neat and thrifty appearance of the place. He is one of 
the native sons of this township, his birth having here occurred on the 
7th of October, 1848. In the paternal line he comes of English lineage. 
His father, James Motley, was born in Lincolnshire, England, in 
August, 1805, was there reared and educated, and in that country was 
first married. He had one daughter. Elizabeth, w-ho' is now the wife 
of Samuel H. Gilbert, one of the early settlers and worthv citizens of 
Porter township. It was in the year 1837 that James Motley came to 
Michigan, settling first in Washtenaw county, where he remained for 
three years, when, in 1840, he took up his abode in Porter township, 
Cass county He was married a second time. Miss Bethesda McNiel 
becoming his wife in New York. She was born in New York and was 
a daughter of John McNiel, who was of Scotch descent. Tlie parents 
of our subject took up their abode on section 23. Porter township, in 
1840, and there they spent their remaining days, both attaining an ad- 
vanced age, James Motley passing away at the age of eighty-five years, 
while his wife was in her eighty-first year when she was called to her 
final rest. They were the parents of nine children, six of whom reached 
maturity, while four of the number are yet living at this writing, in 1906. 

Edward T. Motley, the seventh child and fourth son of the family, 
was reared in the usual manner of farm lads in a pioneer locality. He 
had few advantages, no event of special importance occurring to vary 
the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood days. He lived with 
his parents on the old homestead and acquired his early education in 
the district schools, while later he enjoyed the benefit of a course in 
Kalamazoo College. He was engaged in teaching in the winter seasons 
tor about ten years in Cass county, and in Washington, near Walla 
Walla, while in the summer months he followed fanning on the old 
homestead, and there resided continuously until about 1901. 

Mr. Motley was first married in 1882. the lady of his choice being 
Miss Florence Sharp, and unto them was born a daughter. Florence. 
The wife and mother passed aw^ay in 1885, and in 1896 Mr. Motley 
was again married, his second union being Avith Mrs. Sarah A. Driskel. 
a daughter of Peter Smith and the widow of Oscar P. Driskel. They 
resided on the old home place until 190T, when Mr. Motley purchased 
the farm whereon he now resides. It comprises two hmidred and 
thirty-one acres of good land, and upon the place is a substantial resi- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 577 

dence, also barns and uutbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. 
The farm is well fenced, there is good improved macliinery, and in 
fact all of the equipments of a model farm are found upon this place 
and indicate the progressive spirit of the owner. He is practical in his 
methods and has therefore accomplished excellent results, being now 
one of the substantial agriculturists of his community. 

In his political views Mr. Motley is an earnest and unfaltering 
Republican, and has been called to various township offices. The first 
position which he ever held was that of township clerk, serving therein 
for two years. He was also township supervisor of schools and high- 
way commissioner for seven years, and for sixteen years he acted as 
justice of the peace, in which office he was strictly fair and impartial, 
rendering decisions which were seldom reversed by the higher courts. 
He was also school inspector, was township treasurer for one year and 
has been supervisor. He was elected to the last named office in 1879, 
and was re-elected in 1886 and again in 1887. Then after an interval 
of seven years he was chosen for the same office in 1898, 1899 and 1900, 
making his incumbency in the office cover a period of eight years. No 
higher testimonial of capability could be given than the fact that he has 
been so many times chosen to positions of political preferment. He is 
a member of the Grange and at one time was connected with the Knights 
of the Maccabees. He has been a lifelong resident of Cass county and 
is a worthy representative of a prominent pioneer family. The name 
of Motley has ever stood for advancement and improvement, not only 
in agricultural lines but also in general citizenship, and like the others 
of the family, Edward T. Motley has gi\-en his allegiance and support 
to many movements which have had direct and important bearing upon 
the welfare and upbuilding of the county. 

BYRON FIERO. 

Byron Fiero is a prominent farmer residing on section 5, La- 
Grange township. His birthplace was a little log cabin in this town- 
ship and his natal day September 8. 1853. His father was Abram 
Fiero, and the family history is given on another page in this work in 
connection with the sketch of John Fiero. a brother of the subject of 
this review. 

Byron Fiero was the second child and second son in his father's 
family and was reared upon the old liomestead farm, while in the dis- 
trict schools of LaGrange tov.fnship he began his education, which was 
afterward completed in the high school of Dowagiac. Later he en- 
gaged in teaching school for seven terms, spending five terms of that time 
as teacher in district No. 6 and the remainder of the time in the Dewey 
and Maple Grove districts, ^^'hen still a youth he became familiar with all 
the work incident to the development and cultivation of a farm, and 
during the greater part of his life has carried on general agricultural 



578 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

pursuits. Ke \\a^. however, engaged for three years in the dairy husi- 
ness, dehvering milk to Dowagiac. He has one hundred and eighty 
acres of land, most tff which is under cultivation, and the well tilled 
fields return to him golden harvests for the labor that he bestows upon 
the land. 

On the 24th of December, 1874, was celebrated the marriage of 
Mr. Fiero and Miss Emma Webster, a daughter of Nelson and Mary 
Webster. She died leaving one child, Winnie, who is now the wife 
of Harry Larzalere, of I.aGrange township. In 1888 Mr. Fiero was 
again married. Miss Iva Wright, a daughter of Milton and Elizabeth 
Myers Wright, becoming his wife. They have a pleasant home in the 
midst of a good farm, and its hospitality is greatly enjoyed by their many 
friends. Mr. Fiero was reared in the faith of the Republican party, 
but for some time has given his political allegiance to the Democracy. 
He became candidate of his party for probate judge in 1896, but lost the 
election by twenty-one votes. He has filled the office of township treas- 
urer in LaGrange township for two terms, and in the discharge of all 
public duties has been prompt and faithful, and is deeply interested in 
everything pertaining to general progress and improvement. He be- 
longs to the Modern Woodmen Camp at Dowagiac, and is well known 
in the county where his entire life has been passed. He has largely con- 
centrated his efforts upon the management of his farm, and has been 
found reliable m business, at the same time ever manifesting those traits 
of character which ha\e made him best liked where best known. 

SILAS H. THOMAS. 

The connection of Silas H. Thomas with the interests of Cass 
county dates back to an early period in its development and settlement. 
He is riow a resident of Vandalia, where he is enjoying in well earned 
ease the fruits of his former toil. He was for many years closely asso- 
ciated with agricultural interests in the county and kept in touch with 
the onward march of progress along agricultural lines. His birth oc- 
curred in Grant county. Indiana, on the 14th of May. 1832. His pa- 
ternal grandfather was Elijah Thomas, a native of South Carolina, who 
removed from that state to Indiana, taking with him his family and 
casting in his lot with the pioneer settlers of Wayne county. He was 
the father of Samuel Thomas, who was also born in South Carolina and 
was a young lad at the time of his parents' removal to the west. He 
was therefore reared and educated in the Hoosier state and after arriv- 
ing at years of maturity was married there to Miss Sarah Bogue, a na- 
tive of North Carolina and a daughter of Benjamin Bogue. whose birth 
occurred in the same state. In religious faith they were Friends or 
Quakers. Soon after his marriage Samuel Thomas located in Grant 
county. Indiana, where the town of Marion now stands, and there he 
was engaged in farming until his removal to Penn township, Cass 




/0>VK) 



^ fj Uji.^^V->^\^^:yc^ 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 579 

county, in 1842. Here he located on a part of the land now comprised 
within the corporation hmits of Vandaha in the eastern part of the town. 
He readied the age of only forty-nine years and then passed away, leav- 
ing behind the priceless heritage of an untarnished name, for his entire 
life was in harmony with his professions as a member of the Friends' 
church. He took a very active part in its work and was very deeply 
interested in the cause of moral development as well as material prog- 
ress in his community. His wife long survived him and passed away 
when about seventy-three years of age. In their family were seven chil- 
dren, six sons and a daughter, and with one exception all reached adult 
age, while four are still living. 

Silas H. Thomas of this review was the third child and third son 
of the family. He continued a resident of his native county during 
the first ten years of his life, after which he accompanied his parents 
on their removal to Cass county. He was reared in Penn township, 
sharing in the hardships and privations of existence on the frontier. 
When he was about seventeen years of age his father removed to St. 
Joseph county, Michigan, and there Silas H. Thomas remained for six 
years, after which he returned to Penn township. No event of special 
importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boy- 
hood days. He pursued his education in the public schools and worked 
in the fields during the summer months, performing the farm labor with 
such primitive agricultural implements as then existed. The work of 
the farm was at that time much more arduous than at the present, when 
the agriculturist can ride over his fields upon the planter or mower and 
when improved machinery of various kinds takes the place of hand 
labor. 

On the 7th of May, 1856, Mr. Tliomas was united in marriage to 
Miss Elvina Bogue, a member of one of the well known and prominent 
pioneer families of southern Michigan, her parents being Stephen and 
Hannah (East) Bogue. She was born in Penn township January 19, 
1836, and has spent her entire life in this township. Her parents came 
to Cass county in 183 1, and took up their abode on Young's Prairie 
when much of the land was still in its primitive condition. The break- 
ing plow had not yet turned the furrows upon many a tract and it was 
only here and there in the edge of the forest that clearings had been 
made. The Bogues were pioneer settlers and the name is closely asso- 
ciated with the early and substantial development of this portion of 
Michigan. Mr. Bogue made the journey on horseback from Preble 
county, Ohio, and afterward returned in the same manner to his old 
home, where he then made arrangements to bring his family to the 
wilds of Michigan. Mrs. Thomas was the third in a family of six 
children. Her father was married twice and Mrs. Thomas was torn 
of the second marriage. 

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas took up their abode upon a rented farm, on 



580 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

whicli they lived for three years, after which they removed to the woods 
on section 34, Penn township, their home being a httle log cabin twenty 
by twenty-four feet. In that house they resided until 1871, when the 
present commodious and attractive good farm residence was built. As 
the years passed Mr. Thomas continued the work of clearing and culti- 
vating the land and he added to his original purchase until he now 
owns one hundred and sixty acres. He placed the fields under a high 
state of cultivation, fenced his land and added modern equipments and 
accessories. His time and energies were devoted to farm work until he 
retired from active business, locating in Vandalia in 1904. In the mean- 
time, however, he had lived in the village for seven years and had then 
again taken up his abode on the farm, where he continued, as before 
stated, until he came to occupy his present home in 1904. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have been born six children : James 
Arthur, now deceased; Edwin F., who has also passed away; May E., 
the wife of Rev. R. W. Gammon, of Pueblo, Colorado, a minister of 
the Congregational church now located in Decatur, Illinois ; Blanche A., 
the wife of C. M. Ratliff, an attorney at law of Marion, Indiana, and 
a leading worker in the ranks of the Republican party, now serving as 
chairman of the county central committee and a member of the commit- 
tee for the C(jngressional district comprising Grant and Blackford coun- 
ties, but now retired from the practice of law and now a farmer; Flor- 
ence A., the wife of Rev. Frank Fox, a minister of the Congregational 
church at Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and Cora A., who died in 1890. 
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas also have the following grandchildren, namely : 
Grace B., Carlton R., Claude F., Genevra and Mark H. Ratlifif, and 
Florence E., Harold W., Clement S., Mary A. and Rachel Fox. Mr. 
and Mrs. Thomas reared their family in Penn township ' and the liv- 
ing children were all niarried there with one exception. Mr. Thomas is 
a stalwart Republican. His father and also his wife's father were iden- 
tified with the Abolition party and their homes were stations on the 
famous "undergrO'Und railroad," whereby they assisted many a fugitive 
negro on his way to freedom in the north, being strongly opposed to the 
system of slavery. Both Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are members of the 
Society of Friends or Quakers and he has been an elder in the church 
for twenty-five years and in its work has tal<en a very active and help- 
ful part. He is an honest man, fearless in defense of what he believes 
to be right, active in support of many measures and movements for the 
general good, and his personal worth of character has endeared him to 
a large circle of warm friends. 

Since the above was written Mr. Thomas lost his dear companion 
in life. They had almost passed a half century together as husband 
and wife, traveling together hand in hand, and had shared alike the joys 
and sorrows of this life as loving husband and wife. The family cir- 
cle is now broken, and the vacant chair is seen in the home. The place 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 5sl 

of mother and wife can never be filled again. We append the obituarj 
of Mrs. Thomas, which appeared in The Cassopolis Vigilant April ig, 
1906: 

"Elvira Rogue was horn in Penn township January 19, 1836, and 
married Silas H. Thomas, who survi\-es her, May 7, 1856. She died at 
her home in Vandalia April 12, 1906. Six children were bom to this 
union. Three preceded the mother by many years and three, Mrs. Gam- 
mon of Decatur, Illinois, Mrs. Ratliff of Fairmount, Indiana, and Mrs. 
Fox of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, were with her the last few days of 
life to comfort and console her in her great suffering. There were also 
at her bedside her sister, Mrs. Amos Smith, and brothers, W. E. and S. 
A. Bogue. Mrs. James E. Bonine, another sister, was unable to be pres- 
ent. While her lite had many shadows, there was much of sunshine and 
deep love for family and friends. A few more weeks would have 
brought the fiftieth anniversary of her married life. Instead there is a 
grand reuninn over yonder. A life-long member of the Friends" church, 
and a faithful officer in the same, she worked and prayed and overcame 
and now rests. Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Stephen Scott 
at the Friends' church, Vandalia, Saturday at ten o'clock. Interment 
at Prairie Grove cemetery. Fifteen members of the Valentine Associa- 
tion attended the funeral and each one impressively placed a floral offer- 
ing on the casket of the departed member." 

DAN M. HARVEY. 

A valuable farm of two hundred and twenty acres on section 3, 
Porter township, is the property of Dan M. Harvey, who is accounted 
one of the leading and representative agriculturists of his community, 
early gaining recognition of the fact that success is the outcome of in- 
dustry, determination and laudable ambition, who has throughout an 
active life so directed his efforts that excellent results have attended 
his labors. His life record began on the 18th of February, 1842, in 
Constantine township, St. Joseph county, Michigan, and he represents 
one of the old and prominent pioneer families of the state. His paternal 
grandfather. Ephraim Harvey, was a native nf Vermont, and was a son 
of Philip Harvey, who \\as one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war, 
who came to America from the north of England, and when the colonies 
attempted to throw off the yoke of British oppression he fought for 
independence. Norman Harvey, father of our subject, was also a native 
of Vermont. In early manhood he heard the "call of the west," and 
imbued with the hope of enjoying better business privileges in this sec- 
tion of the country, he made his way to Michigan, settling in St, Joseph 
county in 1832. The entire district was largely wild and tmimproved 
and he took up land from the government, after whicl: he located upon 
his claim, where he lived for some time. He was not only connected 
with agricultural interests, however, but also became a promoter of 



5S2 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

industrial interests and built tiie first factory and was a partner in the 
first carriage foundry and woolen mills in that county. He also built 
and operated a large grist mill and established the first hardware and 
tinware store in Constantine, Michigan. His activity and enterprise 
proved strong and potent elements in the development of his part of the 
slate and he was recognized as one of the leading men of his community, 
who wielded a wide influence and left the impress of his individuality 
for good upon the work of upbuilding. As he prospered in his under- 
takings he placed considerable money in the safest of all investments- 
real estate — and at one time owned more land than any other man in the 
county. He was extremely successful in his business affairs in accumu- 
lating money and land, and his prosperity was well merited, not only 
by reason of the fact that he possessed keen discernment in business 
affairs and unfaltering diligence, but also because his methods were 
ever straightforward and honorable, and would bear closest investiga- 
Ttion and scrutiny. He also aided many others in buying farms, and in 
[ this way contributed to the settlement of the county. He was a good 
man, honest and honorable at all times, and was never known to take 
advantage of the necessities of another in any business transaction. He 
had a very wide and favorable acquaintance in the county, and his 
death was the occasion of deep regret, when at the age of sixty years 
he was called from this life. He laid out many roads in the county 
and otherwise contriliuted to its material improvement. He started the 
first bank in Constantine, and afterward organized the First National 
Bank. His business interests were of a character that contributed not 
only to individual success but also to the public prosperity, and his 
name is inseparably interwoven with the history of St. Joseph county, 
where he lived and labored to such goodly ends. His early political sup- 
port was given to the Whig party, but upon the organization of the new 
Republican party he joined its ranks and remained one of its stalwart 
advoaites. He held many township offices and he also figured in mili- 
tary circles, being captain in the state militia. In early manhood he 
married Miss Rhoda Moore, a native of Rupert, Vermont, and a 
daughter of Seth Moore, who was also born there and was of Welsh 
descent. Mrs. Harvey passed away at the age of fifty-four years, and 
like her husband was held in warm regard, for she possessed many 
estimable qualities of heart and mind. This worthy couple became the 
parents of thirteen children, most of whom reached adult age. 

Dan M. Flarvey, the eighth child of the family; was reared in Con- 
stantine township in St. Joseph county, and was educated in the Union 
schools at Constantine and in Hillsdale College. He also pursued a 
commercial course in Bryant & Stratton's College at Detroit, Mich- 
igan, and was thus well qualified for life's practical and responsible 
cUities when he entered upon his business career. He was thus con- 
nected with the hardware trade at Constantine, where he established a 
store and cnndncted Inisiness for some time. On disposing of his hard- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 583 

ware stock he engaged in the lumber business and also carried on farm- 
ing and stock raismg. He remained a resident of St. Joseph county 
until 1871, when he removed to his present farm on section 3. Porter 
township. He purchased four hundred and fifty acres of land, but in 
recent years, wishing to retire from active business life, has sold part 
of the place and now owns two hundred and twenty acres. All of this 
land he operates himself. 

On the 25th of July, 1867, Mr. Harvey was united in marriage to 
Miss Mary E., daughter of Philo Ho\-ey, and they have four children: 
Helen, died in infancy: Delia, now the wife of Rev. Charles Eastman, 
a Baptist minister; D. Elbert, living in Constantine: and Marv .Mice, 
the wife of Rev. O. V. Wheeler, a minister of the Baptist denomination, 
who occupies tlie pulpit of a prominent church in Chicago, and his wife 
is also a worker in the church. The children have all received collegiate 
training. D. Elbert, the son, is foreman in the Carbolite Factory in 
Constantine, Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey have several of the old 
parchment deeds executed under the hand and seal of President Andrew 
Jackson, which are valuable souvenirs in the family, 

Mr. Harvey has always voted the Republican ticket. He is a 
member of the IVIasonic fraternity and in his life exemplifies the benefi- 
cent spirit of the craft. He is well known in Cass county, where he 
has now lived for many years, and he has gained a large number of 
friends by reason of his cordial manner, kindly disposition and affability. 
In business life he has displayed excellent qualifications and now he is 
living retired, enjoying the fruits of former toil. 

BRUCE BEEBE. 

Bruce Beebe is an honored veteran of the Civil war and a citizen 
well worthy of representation in the history of Marcellus and Cass 
county, because he displays many sterling traits of character and the 
qualifications of good citizenship as well. He was born in Huron 
county, Ohio. August 27. 1840, and has been a resident of Marcellus 
since the spring of 1848, when he came to Michigan with his parents, 
Roswell R. and Maiy (Young) Beebe. The father was a native of 
Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, born on the 3d of ^November, 1806. He 
accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio. Both his father and 
mother were natives of Connecticut, were of English descent and were 
representatives of ancestry that was connected with New England his- 
tory from early colonial days. When a young lad Roswell R. Beebe 
accompanied his parents on their removal to Ohio, where he was reared 
and married. He devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits, thus 
])roviding for his family. His political allegiance was gi^-en to the 
Whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new 
Repuljlican partv. continuing one of its stanch supporters until his death 
in April. t8(:)3. He had for more than a half century survived his wife, 



584 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

who passed away in 1840, when her son was only two weeks old. The 
father afterward married again. He had three children by his first 
marriage and two by the second, and the family record is as follows: 
Gideon T., now living in Marcellns; Sally Lee, deceased; Bruce, of this 
review; Byron R., who is also living in Rlarcellus; and Mrs. Wealthy 
Currier, who is also living in Marcellus. 

As previously stated, Bruce Beebe was a lad of eight years when he 
came with his father to ^Michigan. There was no village on the present 
site of Marcellus, the entire tract being covered with the natural forest 
growth. The family home was established on section i, Marcellus 
township, on a farm of two hundred and sixty acres, from sixty acres 
of which the timber had been cut. Upon that farm Bruce Beebe aided 
in the arduous task of further developing the land and bringing it under 
a high state of cultivation. He shared in all the work of the fields and 
after he had attained his majority continued to engage in general 
agricultural pursuits. He resided upon the old home place until Sep- 
tember. 1897, when he removed to the village of Marcellus. He still 
owns, however, eighty acres of the farm and his brother, Byron R., also 
owns eighty acres of it. Bruce Beebe likewise has two acres within the 
corix)ration limits of Marcellus, and has a good residence which he 
erected. His entire life throughout his business career has been devoted 
to general farming pursuits with the exception of three years which 
were spent in the army. 

It was on the nth of August, 1862, that Mr. Beebe, prompted by 
a spirit of patriotism and loyalty, tendered his services to the govern- 
ment and became a member of Company D, Twenty-fifth Michigan 
Volunteer Infantry, under command of Colonel Orlando H. Moore. 
He participated in \arinus important engagementSv, including the battles 
of Mumfordsville, Kingston, Tennessee. Mossy Creek, Tunnel Hill, 
Rocky Face, Georgia, Resaca, Cassville, Ottawa River, Altoona, Pine 
Mountain. Lost Mountain, Culp Farm, Kenesaw, Atlanta, East 
Point, Otter Creek, the siege of Atlanta and the battles of Jonesboro, 
Rome and Cedar Bluff. He was thus in many hotly contested engage- 
ments and Avas often in the thickest of the fight, never faltering in the 
performance of any militarv' duty assigned him, whether it called him to 
the firing line or stationed him on the lonely picket line. After about 
three years war service he became ill and was sent to the hospital, from 
which he was discharged on the 31st of March, 1865. He then rejoined 
his regiment and was honorably discharged from the arm}' after the 
close of the war, on the 26th of June, 1865, being at that time in North 
Carolina. He returned home with a most creditable military record, 
and he deserves the credit and praise which should ever be bestowed 
upon the loyal soldier who defended the LTnion. 

On the nth of October, 1869, Mr. Beebe was married to Miss 
Gertrude Lutes, who was born in Marcellus, October ti, 185 i, a 
daughter of William H. Lutes. Her father married Mrs. Eugene Sat- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 5S5 

terlie, who was a widow^ and bore the maiden name of Schofield. Slie 
was a native of New York. Air. Lutes arrived in Alichigan in 1844, 
and they w'ere married in this state. Both died in Cass county, Mr. 
Lutes at the age of eighty-one years, while his wife passed away when 
fifty-eight years of age. He was born in Wayne county. New York, 
October 30, 1824, and died in Marcellus, March 26, 1906. When 
twenty years of age he removed with his parents to Cass county and 
largely made his home in the vicinity of Marcellus from that time until 
his death. When twenty-four years of age he married Mrs. Eugene 
Satterlie, who died September 7, 1884, and on the i6th of October, 
1888, he wedded Mrs. Emily Sweet, who survives him. He was the 
father of two children, both of whom are living, John and Mrs. Beebe. 
He also had an adopted daughter, Airs. Hattie Moore, now- of Chicago. 
An earnest Christian man lie joined the United Brethren church in early 
life, and some years afterward he united with the Methodist Episcopal 
church, of which he w-as ever afterw-ard a devoted and faithful member. 
At the time of the Civil war, his sympathy being with the Union cause, 
he offered his services to the government but was rejected. In con- 
nection with Mr. Kester and Joseph Cromley he planted the three trees 
in front of the Alethodist Episcopal church, which add so much to its 
beauty. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Beebe have been born a son and daughter: 
William R., who is living upon his father's farm and is married and has 
one child, Olin; and Grace K., the wife of Edward Bond, a resident of 
Alarcellus. The family is widely and favorably known in this part of 
the county, Mr. Beebe having long been a worthy and prominent repre- 
sentative of agricultural interests. In politics he is a Republican since 
age conferred upon him the right of franchise. In times of peace he has 
been as faithful to his country as when he followed the old flag upon 
southern battlefields, and in military service and in private life has made 
a creditable record. 

HENRY J. ERENCH. 

Henr\- J. French, proprietor of the Eagle Lake Resort, is a native 
of Ontwa township, Cass county, born on the i6th of December, 1863. 
The father, Caleb French, was one of the old settlers of this part of the 
state and contributed in substantial measure to the material development 
and progress of the community. He was a native of Lancastershire, 
England, born on the i6th of May, 1828, and in his native place was 
reared. After arriving at manhood he was married in England to 
Miss Martha lies, also a native of that countr}^ and two children, 
Charles and Thirza, were born unto them ere they crossed the Atlantic 
to the United States. When they came to the new world they settled 
in Baltimore. Maryland, where they lived for about a year, and in 1856 
arrived in Cass county, Alichigan, settling in Edwardsburg. There the 
father followed the mason's trade, which he had learned in his native 



586 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

country. After about a year spent in Edwardsburg he removed to near 
Eagle lake, where lie purchased eighty acres of land, the greater part 
of which had been improved. His first wife died during the early period 
of his residence upon that farm, passing away in 1861, and in March, 
1863, he was again married, his second union being with Hannah Salm- 
onson, a native of Ohio, born March 8, 1830. Her father was Richard 
Salmonson, one of the pioneer settlers of this part of the state, and she 
was reared in Ontwa township amid the conditions and environments 
of pioneer life. Henry J. French was the only child born of the father's 
second marriage. In his political views Caleb French was a Democrat, 
but never sought or desired public office, preferring to give his undivided 
attention to his business interests, and he died upon the old home farm 
in February, 1882. He was well known and well respected in Cass 
counter and enjoyed in large measure the trust and good will of his 
fellow men. 

Henry J. French was reared upon the farm which is now his home, 
and worked with his father until the latter's death. He then rented the 
farm from the other heirs for ten years and in 1892 by purchase be- 
came possessor of the property. In 1897 he converted the tract near 
the lake into a summer resort, calling it the Eagle Lake Resort, and has 
many visitors here during the summer months. He has made this a 
very productive place, supplied with many of the accessories which add 
to the pleasure and comfort of the summer sojourner. In his general 
agricultural pursuits he has also met with a creditable measure of suc- 
cess, having conducted his interests so carefully and practically that he 
has gained very gratifying prosperity. 

On the 31st of October, 1886, Mr. French was united in marriage 
to Miss Myrtle D. Lowman, a nati\-e of Jefferson township, Cass county, 
born January 29, 1866, and a daughter of John Lowman. whose birth 
occurred in Ohio in 1844. He was brought to Cass county when ten 
years of age and was reared in Jefferson township. After arriving at 
years of maturity he wedded Miss Nancy Keene, who was born in 
Calvin township, Cass county, in 1844. Mrs. French was the eldest of 
four children, two sons and two daughters, and by her marriage she 
has become the mother of two sons : Ford, who was born September 
8, 1892; and Harry, who was born April 8, 1895, both on the old home- 
stead. 

In his political affiliation Mr. French is an earnest Democrat and 
keeps well informed on the questions and issues of the day, but is with- 
out aspiration for public office. He belongs to the Woodmen camp at 
Edwardsburg and has many friends among his brethren of the fra- 
ternity. His entire life having been passed in Cass county he is widely 
known, and he has made an excellent reputation as a thoroughly relia- 
ble, energetic and progressive business man. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 587 

GEORGE M. HADDEN. 

George M. Hadden, a practical and progressive farmer who is 
profitably conducting his business interests on section 13, Milton town- 
ship, is a native son of the Empire state, his birth having occurred in 
Wayne county on the 4th of August, 1841. His father, Charles D. 
Hadden, was born in Westchester county, New York, in 181 1, and he, 
too, was a farmer by occupation, devoting the greater part of his life 
to the work of tilling the soil. In early manhood he was married in 
Tompkins county. New York, to Miss Nancy Blythe, a native of Ire- 
land, w'ho came to this country when a little girl, and was reared in 
New York. Mr. and Mrs. Hadden became the parents of the following 
children: Mary, George M., Charles A., deceased; Elizabeth and James 
G., all of whom are natives of the Empire state. In the year 1867 the 
father left New York and came with his family to Cass county, Mich- 
igan, settling on section 7, Ontwa township, where he secured three 
hundred and ninety-seven acres of rich land, much of which had been 
improved. With characteristic energy he took up the task of further 
cultivating and developing this place, and continued to make it his 
home until his death. He took an active interest in political questions 
and in the work of the party, and was a stanch Republican. While re- 
siding in New York he served as supervisor of his tow^nship for three 
years, but he never sought office after coming to the west, as his time 
was fully occupied by his business cares in relation to the farm. He 
died January 29, 1878, and was survived by his wife until December, 
1887, when she, too, was called to her final rest. 

George M. Hadden spent the days of his boyhood and youth in the 
east, acquired a good practical education in the public schools and when 
twenty-six years of age came with his parents to Michigan, the family 
home being established in Cass county. He settled with his father upon 
the farm in Ontwa township and helped to clear and cultivate that place. 
There he resided continuously until 1875. when he removed to his pres- 
ent farm in Milton township. The place originally comprised one 
hundred and twenty acres of land, but he has since extended its bound- 
aries by additional purchase until he now has a valuable property of 
two hundred acres. Here he carries on general farming and raises such 
stock as is needed for home consumption and for carr\-ing on the work 
of the farm. In all his methods he is practical and dih'gent and his 
energy and perseverance have been the strong and salient factors in a 
successful career. 

On the 27th of Decemlier, 1871. I\Ir. Hadden was united in marriage 
to Miss Jane Foster, a daughter of Andrew Foster, who entered from the 
government the farm which adjoins the homestead property of Mr. 
Hadden. Mr. Foster was one of the honored pioneer settlers of Cass 
countv. coming to this state from Pennsylvania in 1832. Few were 
the residents in this localitv at that time. Occasionallv in the midst of 



5SS HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tlie forest tlie smoke might be seen ascending from the fire in some httle 
cabin home, but thfere were long distances between the farms and the 
greater par^ of the country was covered with its native timber growth. 
iMr. Foster took an active and helpful part in reclaiming the region for 
the purposes of civilization and in the improvement of his business inter- 
ests, developing an excellent farm, which gave him a good income. He 
built the house and barn which are still standing upon his old home 
place. This is one of. the landmarks of the county, having for long 
years been a mute witness of the changes that have occurred and illus- 
trating by contrast the rapid progress that has been made. In his polit- 
ical views Mr. booster was an earnest and stalwart Democrat, and was 
one of the stockholders in the National Democrat. Mrs. Hadden was 
born and reared on the old farm homestead and was the youngest of 
eight children, six of whom were born upon this farm. Unto our sub- 
ject and his wife were born four sons and two daughters, namely : 
Charles B., Mary, Andrew F., Robert A., Margaret, and George L., all 
natives of Cass county, five having been born on the old homestead farm 
in Milton township. The elder daughter is now the wife of Victor 
D. Hawkins. 

Mr. Hadden exercises his right of franchise in support of the men 
and measures of the Republican party and for one term was township 
treasurer, but has had little aspiration for office, although in citizenship 
he is always loyal and progressive. He belongs to the Woodmen camp 
at Edwardsburg and is an active and honored member of the Presby- 
terian cb.urch there, in which he is now serving as elder. 

J. FRED EMERSON. 

J. Fred Emerson, one of tlie early residents of Cass county, who has 
long witnessed the growth and development that have wrought many 
changes here and brought about an advanced state of civilization, was 
born in Ontwa township, where he still lives, owning and operating one 
hundred and twenty acres of rich land. His father, Matthew Emerson, 
was a pioneer resident of Cass comity, coming to Michigan when this 
portion of the state was largely a wild and unimproved district. He 
was born in Concord county, New Hampshire, on the nth of December, 
1808, and was there reared upon his father's farm, where he remained 
until twenty-one years of age.. The paternal grandfather, Joseph Emer- 
son, was likewise a native of the Old Granite state and became a farmer, 
devoting his entire life to the tilling of the soil. He married Miss Su- 
sanna Harvey, a descendant of Dr. Harvey, the celebrated discoverer 
of the system of the circulation of the blood. Their son Matthew was 
the second in order of birth in a family of five children and was reared 
and educated in New Hampshire, where he early became familiar with 
farm work, also giving a portion of his time to milling and school teach- 
ing, following the latter profession for two or three terms. He was 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 589 

also employed in a hardware store in Albany, New York, and in 1839, 
attracted by the business opportunities of a new but rapidly developing 
western country, he came to Cass county, Michigan, taking up his abode 
near Edwardsburg. He there planted a crop of wheat on what is now 
the Harris farm. In 1841 he removed to the old farm homestead on 
section 13, Ontwa township, at first purchasing eighty acres of par- 
tially improved land. He made most of the improvements upon the 
place, however, and converted it into a splendid property. In 1848, ow- 
ing to ill health, he was compelled to rent his farm, and he then'entered 
the employ of M. G. & M. Sage, of Adamsville, remaining in their serv- 
ice for five years, when, his health being greatly improved, he returned 
to the farm in 1853. He was then engaged in its cultivation and further 
development until his life's labors were ended in death on the 17th of 
March, 1877. He had prospered in his undertakings and at his demise 
left a valuable property of one hundred and twenty acres. In 1841, in 
Adams\ille, he had married Miss Alzina Allen, who was born in Ver- 
mont January 27, 1823, and was twelve years of age when she came 
to Cass county with her parents. She was a daughter of Reuben Allen, 
who came of the same stock as Ethan Allen, the noted hero of Ticon- 
deroga in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Emerson was the eldest of 
three children, the brother being Joseph Allen, who died in 1889. and 
the sister Antinette, now the widow of Murry Morse, of Jefferson town- 
ship, Cass county. It was in the year 1835 that the Allen family was 
established in Mason township. Mr. and Mrs. Emerson became the 
parents of three sons, of whom the second died in infancy. J. Fred is 
the eldest and Allen at present lives in Buchanan, Michigan. He com- 
menced to learn the trade of coach and carriage making at seventeen 
years of age in the city of Buffalo, New York. In September, 1879, he 
went to Buchanan and worked at his trade a number of years, while at 
present he is engaged in the furniture and undertaking business. He 
married Aliss Ida Weaver, a member of an old and very highly respected 
family of the vicinity. The father was a Democrat in his political views 
and served for many years as justice of the peace, his decisions being 
strictlv fair and impartial. His religious faith w-as indicated by his 
membership in the Baptist church. 

J. Fred Emerson was reared upon the old farm homestead, work- 
ing in the fields through the summer months, or until after the crops 
were harvested in the late autumn. The public schools afforded him his 
educational privileges. He was married October 23, 1878, going to 
Vermont for his bride, who in her maidenhood bore the name of Delia 
A. Thomas. She was born Januar\^ 27, 1847, and died November 24, 
1900. She was a daughter of Horace and Anna (Wainwright) Thomas, 
farming people of the Green Mountain state. With his young wife Mr. 
Emerson returned to Cass county, and the marriage has been blessed 
W'ith two children: Ralph W., who was born November 8, 1879, and 
is now a bookkeeper in Elkhart, Indiana ; and Fred Ray, who was born 



590 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

February 14, 1885, and is at home, assisting his father in tlie operation 
of the farm. 

Tliroughout his entire life Mr. Emerson has devoted his attention 
and energies to the occupation to which he was reared, and is to-day the 
owner of one hundred and twenty acres of land in Ontwa township, all 
improved. Upon the place are substantial buildings, good farm machin- 
eiy and other modern equipments that facilitate the work of the farm. 
Mr. Emerson votes with the Democracy and like his father has served 
for a number of years as justice of the peace, "winning golden opinions 
from all sorts of people" by his "even-handed justice." His life has 
been largely passed in a quiet manner, and yet he has displayed the 
sterling characteristics of an honorable manhood and loyal citizenship. 

CARLETON W. RINEHART. 

Carleton W. Rinehart, county clerk of Cass county and a resident 
of Cassopolis, was born in Porter township on the 22nd of November, 
1869. His paternal grandfather was a native of Gemiany and his mater- 
nal grandfather was born in Scotland. The former, John Rinehart, be- 
came a pioneer resident of Cass county and entered from the govern- 
ment what is now known as the James Bonine farm in Penn township, 
selling it some years later to the gentleman whose name it bears. He 
then removed to Porter township and improved another farm. His 
son. Abraham Rinehart, was born in Virginia and when thirteen years 
of age removed with his parents to. the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio. About 
1829 the family came to Cass county, and he was reared amid the wild 
scenes and environments of pioneer life. He was first married to Miss 
Elizabeth Owen, of Illinois, who died about a year later, and he after- 
ward married Hannah E. Denton, who was born in the state of New 
York and was brought to Cass county in her girlhood days. Mr. and 
Mrs. Rinehart then located in Porter township upon a farm, where he 
carried on general agricultural pursuits for many years, his last days 
being spent upon the old homestead there. He died Septemljer 3, 1895, 
at the age of seventy-eight years, respected and honored by all who 
knew him. In politics he was a stanch Republican, and he was a prom- 
inent representative of the Baptist church, becoming a charter member 
of the Baltimore Prairie church. In its work he took an active and help- 
ful interest, and his life was ever characterized by honorable, strong and 
manly principles. In his family were eleven children, six of whom 
reached adult age. 

Carleton W. Rinehart, the youngest of the family, was reared in 
his native township, early becoming familiar with farm work in all of 
its departments, and when he was nineteen years of age he joined his 
brother Clarence in the purchase of all the stock and farming imple- 
ments of the old homestead, after which they carried on general farm- 
ing. The partnership in the management of the farm was maintained 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 591 

for tour years, at tlie end of which time Carleton W. Rinehart bought 
his brother's interest and operated the farm alone for a year. On the 
expiration of that period he removed to Mason township, where he was 
engaged in farming until elected county clerk in 1904. In addition to 
the tilling of the soil he engaged quite extensively in raising, buying and 
shipping fruit, and his business was profitably conducted. 

On the 25th of November, 189 1, Mr. Rinehart was married to Miss 
Grace McKissick, a daughter of Moses and Clara (Wilkinson) McKis- 
sick. Mr. Rinehart has been a lifelong Republican, active in the inter- 
ests of the party, and his efforts have been effective and far reaching in 
its behalf. As a public officer he is most loyal to his duty, and over the 
record of Iiis public career and his private life there falls no shadow of 
wrong or suspicion of evil. He belongs to the Freewill Baptist church 
at Union and is temperate in his habits. It will thus be seen that his 
years have been characterized by upright manhood and by strict fidel- 
ity to a high standard of moral conduct. 

JOHN W. MECHLING. 

John W. Mechling is now living retired in the village of Union 
but for many years was closely identified with industrial interests, de- 
voting his time and energies to many business duties, with the result 
that success attended his work and now enables him to rest without 
recourse to further labor. He was born in Westmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania on the 28th of July, 1828. His father. Phillip Mechling, 
was a native of Pennsylvania and spent the days of his boyhood and 
youth in that state. Removing to the west he took up his abode in 
Elkhart county, Indiana. He spent the first winter, however — that of 
1835 — in South Bend. He then located four miles east of Elkhart and 
remained a resident of that locality until called to his final home, lack- 
ing but one month of being ninety years of age at the time of his demise. 
His wife, who bore the maiden name of Charlotte Shoemaker, died 
in 1844. In their family were thirteen children, of whom John W. 
was the youngest of a family of seven daughters and six sons, but all 
are now deceased with the exception of Mr. Mechling of this review 
and liis sister, Mrs. Man.' Jones, who is now eighty years of age and 
makes her home in Porter township. 

John W. Mechling spent the first seven years of his life in the 
state of his nativity and then accompanied his parents on their removal 
to Indiana, where he lived for a decade. About 1845 he came to Cass 
county, settling in Union, where he worked at any business that he 
could find to do. He was afterward engaged in the operation of a 
sawmill and also gave his attention to buying and selling produce, but 
in 1861 he put aside all business cares and personal considerations and 
offered his aid to his countrs', then engaged in the Civil war. He had 
watched with interest the progress of events in the south, had noted 



592 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

the tlireatening attitude of tlie slave-holding community and determined 
that if an attempt was made to overthrow the Union he would strike 
a blow in its defense. He therefore enlisted as a member of Company 
A, Chandler's Horse Guard, serving for three months. He aftenvard 
carried the mail from Bristol to Union for eight years and subsequently 
was engaged for a number of years in blacksmithing at Union. 

Air. Mechling was married in 1861 to Miss Lovisa V. Dibble, and 
unto them were born two daughters and one son, but Lydia L. and 
Lottie L. are both deceased. The son, John D., still resides with his 
father. The wife and mother passed away April 11, 1904. She was 
an estimable lady, having many good traits of character and hei loss 
was regretted Ijy many friends. 

Mr. Mechling is now retired from active business after a busy 
and useful life. He receives a pension of seventeen dollars per month 
because of ill health incurred by his service in the war. He is a member 
of the Masonic fraternity and has taken a very active and helpful part 
in public affairs, his political allegiance being given to the Democracy, of 
which be is a stanch advocate. He served as deputy sheriff for six 
years, has been school director and also treasurer of school district No. 
9 for fourteen years. He was likewise road overseer for many years. 
He has been a resident of Cass county for six decades, and is well known 
in the county as one of its pioneer settlers. He has now passed the 
seventy-seventh milestone on life's journey and is a venerable and re- 
spected man, having manv friends in Union and throughout this por- 
tion of the state. 

H. SYLVESTER CHAPMAN. 

H. Sylvester Chapman, owner of one hundred and thirty acres of 
as fine land as can be found in Cass county, resides on section 17, Penn 
township. He was born in Medina county, Ohio, December 5, 1839, 
and represents one of the old families of New England, his ancestors 
having Ijeen represented in this coimtr}- through various generations. 
His great-grandfather Avas Benjamin Chapman, a native of Vermont. 
His grandfather, Levi Chapman, who was also bom in the Green Moun- 
tain state, was a farmer by occupation and removed to Ohio with his 
family at an early date in the history' of ATedina county, where lie 
took up his abode. 

Amory H. Chapman, his son, was born in Enosburg, Vermont, and 
was about five years of age at the time of his parents' removal to the 
Buckeye state. He was reared and educated in Medina county and was 
married there to Miss Lucinda Hastings, a native of New York and a 
daughter of Walter Hastings, w-ho was likewise born in the Empire 
state. He was a lumber merchant, who engaged in rafting lumber down 
the Susquehanna river to Baltimore. For three years after their mar- 
riage Mr. and Mrs. Amory H. Chapman lived in Ohio, and then came to 




Qf-rjuu.v.of^ 4l^Y^ 



l^cZ-'t^ 




f (y^^'^'2^''2-<-<^t>^ 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 593 

Cass couiUy, Michigan, in 1845, settling in Newberg township. Mr. 
Chapman took np the work of farming, tilling the soil which hitherto 
was uncultivated and unimproved. For many years he was an active 
factor in agricultural circles and his death occurred in Newberg town- 
ship when he had attained the advanced age of eighty years. He was a 
man of good principles, who fearlessly espoused any cause in which he 
believed and he left to his family an untarnished name. When age gave 
to him the light of franchise he voted with the Whig party, which he 
supported until the organization of the Republican party. He was 
closely identified with the upbuilding of the county, settling in the 
midst of the forest upon his arrival here, making a clearing and in due 
course of time developing a good farm. He performed all the arduous 
labor incident to such a task, shared in the hardships and trials of fron- 
tier life and aided in laying broad and deep the foundation for the pres- 
ent development and progress of this part of the state. In his family 
were but two sons, the brother being Herman L. Chapman, of Mar- 
cellus, Michigan. 

H. Sylvester Chapman, the elder son, was but five years old when 
his parents left Ohio and came to Cass county. In his early youth he 
attended school in Vandalia and afterward pursued his studies in 
Cassopolis. Through the periods of vacation be aided in the farm work 
and he remained at home until nineteen years of age, when he began 
contracting and building, possessing considerable natural mechanical 
ingenuity that well qualified him for this work. He built what is now 
known as the Chapman school in Newberg township and also other build- 
ings of the locality, and was thus identified with that line of business 
until the time of bis marriage. 

Mr. Chapman has been married twice. In April. j86o, be wedded 
Miss Mary Carrier and unto them were born two children : Irma, now 
the wife of Professor Seth C. Wilson, of Spokane. Washington, who is 
principal of the schools of that place: and Clif (^, who is li\-ing upon 
the home farm. Tire daughter was a student in the Valparaiso Col- 
lege in northern Indiana, and has taken a course in the business depart- 
ment of the University. She is also educated in instrumental music. 
Following the death of bis first wife Mr. Chapman was married to Miss 
Olivia ]l. Rudd. a daughter of Stephen and Lydia (Green) Rudd, who 
were early settlers of Penn township. Mrs. Chapman was born in that 
township December 29, 1842, and was married first to John H. Under- 
wood, by whom she had one son, Hon. Fred Underwood, who is now a 
member of the state legislature at Bismarck, North Dakota. Hon. Fred 
Underwood received his education in the Cassopolis high school, and 
was a student in the Valparaiso College, also in the Kalamazoo Bus- 
iness College. He has been located in Dakota since 188 1. 

At the time of his marriage Mr. Chapman concentrated his ener- 
gies upon agricultural pursuits. He began farming in Newberg town- 



594 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ship, where he remained until 1871, when he went to CaHfornia, whence 
he returned hy way of llie water route and the Isthmus of Panama. On 
again reaching" ('ass county he purchased the farm upon which he now 
resides. In 1881 he went to North Dakota and improved a farm in Ran- 
som county, spending the suinmer months there during four years. He 
still owns that property, comprising three hundred and twenty acres of 
land, and in his home place he has one hundred and thirty acres of very 
rich and productive land, no finer farm property lieing found in the 
county. In the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 he exhibited 
six different varieties of his wheat grown on his farm, and was awarded 
a diploma and medal for the superiority of the cereal, which is an honor 
rare for old Cass county. He has erected a very attractive residence, 
which stands in the midst of a well kept lawn, and his barns and out- 
buildings are in keeping with ideas of modern agriculture. His fields, 
too, are well tilled and he is making a specialty of raising cattle, having 
a fine herd of thirty head of Jerseys, all being registered stock. He has 
never been a fcjllower in business lines, but is a leader in the progress 
which results in successful accomplishment. He votes with the Dem- 
ocracy and is in sympathy with the ]5latform jiromulgated at Kansas 
City.' 

The beautiful home of Air. and Mrs. Chapman, known as "Linden 
Lea.'" is beautifully finished in rare woods, and the entrance to the pret- 
ty home is artistically finished in sumach, showing the beautiful grains 
of the wood, while the library is finished in red cedar, and the work was 
accomplished by Mr. Chapman himself. In fact, the residence is finished 
in different woods. 

EDWIN N. AUSTIN. 

Edwin N. Austin, who carries on general agricultural pursuits in 
a practical, progressive and profitable manner, is living in Pokagon 
townshiji and is to-day the owner of one hundred and eighty acres of 
land, the greater part of which is under cultivation, giving proof in its 
excellent appearance of the careful supervision of the owner. A native 
of St. Lawrence county. New York. Mr. Austin was born on the 8th of 
August, 1850. His father, John W. Austin, was also a native of the 
Empire state and was a farmer by occupation. Coming to the west he 
settled in Allegan county in 1863. taking up his abode upon a farm, 
which he cultivated and improved until he had acquired a handsome 
competence, when he retired from active business life and removed to 
the city of Allegan, where he spent his remaining days in the enjoyment 
of a well-earned rest, his death there occurring in 1893. He was mar- 
ried in the Empire state to Miss Lucinda Sage, who was born in New 
^'ork and was there reared. This union was blessed with a family of 
four sons and two daughters, all of whom were natives of the Em- 
pire state. .\s the result of study and investigation concerning the po- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 595 

litical questions of the day and the attitude of the two parties Mr. Aus- 
tin gave his support to the Republican organization, and at all times he 
commanded the respect and confidence of his fellow men by reason of 
an honorable and upright life. 

Edwin N. Austin spent the first twelve years of his life in the 
county of his nativity and then accompanied his parents on their re- 
moval to Allegan, Michigan, where he resided until twenty-two years 
of age, during which time he actively assisted his father in the work 
of the home farm. He then left home and came to Cass county, tak- 
ing up his abode upon a farm in Pokagon township. Here he was 
married to Miss Rebecca Simpson, a daughter of Moses and Sarah 
Simpson, pioneers of Cass county, having settled within its borders 
when the white residents here were comparatively few. Mrs. Austin 
was bom and reared in Pokagon township. 

Moses \V. Simpson, deceased, one of the pioneers of Pokagon, 
was liorn in Pemljroke, Nev,' Hampshire. May i6, i8o<S. He was the 
eldest in the family of Samuel and Reljecca (Dickerman) Simpson, 
which consisted of seven children, four sons and three daughters. The 
elder Simpson was a farmer and was possessed of those elements of 
character that have always distinguished the sons of the Granite state. 
Moses was reared on the farm, and the rugged hills and sterile soil 
aided in the development of a robust constitution and many admirable 
traits of character. He early evidenced a desire for books, which 
was fostered by his parents, and he received a liberal academical edu- 
cation. He remained imder the parental roof until he was twenty-five 
years of age, and at that time he was married to Miss Sarah H. Blais- 
dell, of Hopkinton, New Hampshire, where she was born September 
8, 1811. Her parents, Samuel and Dorothy (Straw) Blaisdell. were 
of English parentage and New England liirth. In 1836 Mr. Simpson 
and wife came to Pokagon and settled cm the farm which was ever 
afterward his home. He took an active interest in all matters pertain- 
ing to the advancement of the township, and largely identified him- 
self with its growth and prosperity: his ability was soon recognized 
by his fellow townsmen, and he filled many positions of trust and 
responsibility with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all. His 
death occurred on June 16, 1849. I" the accumulation of property 
Mr. Simpson was successful. His social qualities were of a high order 
and his generosity and hospitality were proverbial. He left two daugh- 
ters. Rebecca, now Mrs. Edwin Austin, and Lydia T. After the death 
of her husljand, Mrs. Simpson assumed the management of the estate, 
which she conducted successfully until 1830. when she was again mar- 
ried, to John H. Simpson, brother of her first husband. He was a 
native of New Hampshire and a man universally esteemed. He died 
August 19, 1879, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. 

Mrs. Simpson resided upon the old homestead until her death, 
Januarv 4, 1889. a larly \-ery highly esteemed. 



596 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

For two years after his marriage Edwin N. Austin lived ujwn his 
father-in-lavi"s farm and then removed to his present place, first pur- 
chasing sixty acres of land, to which he has since added part of the 
old Simpson farm, so tliat his landed possessions now comprise one 
Inmdred and eighty acres, the greater part of which is under cultivation. 
He has built good buildings here and has improved the property until 
it is now one of the valuable and productive farms of the township. In 
its improvement Mr. Austin has displayed good business ability, execu- 
tive force and keen discernment and in his business relations has com- 
manded the respect of those with whom he has had dealings. 

GEORGE H. TOLBERT. 

George H. Tolbert, who is filling the position of township treas^ 
urer and is accounted one of the representative and enterprising farm- 
ers of Porter township, his home being on section 28, was born in this 
township September 30, 1867. His father, Seth Tolbert. was a native 
of New York, where his childhood and youth were passed. He came 
to Michigan about 1845, making his way to Cass county, and here he 
was married in Porter township to Miss Sarah Loupee, a sister of John 
Loupee and a representative of one of the old and well known pioneer 
families of the county, mention of whom is made on another page of 
this work, in connection witli the sketch of John Loupee. Seth Tolbert 
took up his alx>de in Porter township, where he continued to reside until 
his death, which occurred when he was in his seventy-eighth year. He 
was a lifelong farmer and was one of the early representatives of agri- 
cultural interests in his community, where he carried on the work of 
tilling the soil and raising crops until he put aside the active work of 
the fields in his later years. He was a member of the Baptist church 
and his religious faith permeated his life and promoted his kindly and 
considerate relations to his fellowmen and his honorable dealings in all 
trade transactions. His political allegiance was given to the Republi- 
can party from the time of its organization until his demise. His widow 
is still living at this writing, in 1906, and yet resides upon the old 
homestead fann. In their family were ten children, of whom George 
H. was tlie seventh in order of birth. 

In his youth George H. Tolbert was reared and tn the public school 
system of the county he is indebted for the educational privileges which 
he enjoyed. His attention was divided between the work of the school- 
room, the pleasures of the playground and the labors of the fields upon 
the home farm, and after lie finished his education he gave his entire 
attention to general agricultural pursuits on the old homestead up to 
the time of his marriage. 

It was on February 19, 1890, that he was joined in wedlock to Miss 
Linda Harmon, a sister of Charles O. Harmon, who is mentioned else- 
where in this volume. Mrs. Tolbert was the third child and only daugh- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 597 

ter in a family of four children, and was born in Porter township Marcli 
I, 1872, where her girlhood days were passed. Their home is now 
on section 28, Porter township, where Mr. Tolbert owns and operates 
seventy-six acres of land, which is productive and valuable. There he 
carries on general farming and stock-raising, keeping good grades of 
cattle, horses and hogs upon his place, while at the same time cultivating 
the cereals best adapted to soil and climate and annually harvesting 
good crops. He votes with tJie Republican party, having been reared 
in that faith, while his matured judgment sanctioned its principles, so 
tliat he has given his allegiance to its candidates from that time. He 
served as highway commissioner of his township, and in 1904 was elected 
township treasurer, the duties of which office he discharged so capably 
that he was re-elected in 1905 and is now filling the position. He and 
his wife belong to the Grange of which he is now master, and he also be- 
longs to the Modern Woodmen camp at Jones. Mr. and Mrs. Tolbert are 
both devoted members of the First Baptist church in Porter township, 
and they are both interested in Sunday school work. Mrs. Tolbert was 
superintendent of the Sunday school for five years, and organist of the 
church for several years, and she was a successful teacher in Porter town- 
ship for two vears. 

JOHN D. ROCKWELL. 

Among the citizens of Cass county who have long been connected 
with its history, their residence here dating back to an early period, so 
that they are entitled to rank with the old settlers, is John D. Rockwell, 
now living on section 25, Porter township, where he owns a good farm. 
He was born in Huron county, Ohio, September 8, 1842. His paternal 
grandfather was Caleb Rockwell, of English descent. His father. Sam- 
uel R. Rockwell, was a native of Connecticut and was there reared. In 
early life he learned and followed the carpenter's trade and also carried 
on farming. The reports which he heard concerning business oppor- 
tunities in the west induced him to seek a home in Michigan, and in 
the fall of 1844 he came to this state, taking up his abode upon the farm 
in Porter township, Cass county, upon which his son, John D. Rock- 
well, now resides. He had, however, been a resident of Huron county 
for a brief period when he traded a farm of eighty acres in that county 
for one hundred and sixty acres of land here without seeing the place. 
The tract was an unbroken wilderness, not a furrow having been turned 
nor an improvement made. There was not a single building and he 
built a small frame house in the midst of the forest and began to cut 
away the timber and clear and cultivate the land. In the course of years 
where once stood the dense forest were seen waving fields of grain, 
promising rich harvests and as time passed he became one of the sub- 
stantial citizens of the community as the result of his carefully directed 
business afYairs. Pie died December 16, 1884. in his eighty-first year — 
one of the venerable, respected and honored citizens of the county. He 



598 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY . 

was a iL'.-iilcnt of C(,nstantine for almut twenty-two years, having retired 
from acti\c luisiness life, the evening of his days being spent in the 
enjoyment (.f a well earned rest. He was also justice of the peace in 
Porter townshi]) for about sixteen years and for a similar period in 
Constantine ami his decisions were strictly fair and unbiased, neither 
fear nor fa\or swerving him in his application of the law to the points 
at issue. His political allegiance was given to the Democracy. He 
was an honest man, whose integrity was at all times above question and 
by reason of this and his aliility he was called upon to transact many 
business interests for other peo])le. He was closely identified with the 
early history of Cass county and his labors contributed to its sulistantial 
progress and improvement. He married Mary Ann Bushman, a native 
of New York, who was born near Rochester and was a daughter of 
George Bushman. She died in 1856 in the thirtj'-ninth year of her 
age, and Samuel R. Rockwell afterward married Celia Butler. There 
were five sons of the first union: George B., who died in 1904: Fran- 
cis M., who is living in Three Rivers, Michigan; John D., of this re- 
view; Henry O., who passed away February 8, i860: and Edson W., 
who is living in Porter township, Cass county. The children of the sec- 
ond marriage are; Ralph, who died about 1868; and Libby. who passed 
away the sanie year. 

John D. Rockwell was onlv two _\-ears of age when brought bv his 
parents to Cass county, the family home being established in Porter 
township, where lie was reared. His education was acquired in the 
public schools, pursuing his studies in the little school-house which his 
father built. Throughout the period of his minority he remained upon 
the home farm, assisting in the labors of field and meadow- and in the 
care of the stock. He was thus occupied until he attained his majority, 
after which he operated the home farm for one year. In 1864 he went 
to Virginia City, Montana, where he remained until 1866, being engaged 
in mining in that locality. He then returned again to the old home- 
-Stead, where he has since resided, his attention being given in undivided 
manner to agricultural interests. 

On the 2ist of February, 1867, was celebrated the marriage of 
John D. Rockwell and Miss Adelia Miller, a daughter of Charles F. and 
Rebecca (Odell) Miller, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the 
latter of Ohio. They became residents of Michigan at an early day, 
settling in St. Joseph county in 1836, when the work of improvement' 
and development had scarcely been begun there. They established a 
home on the frontier, casting in tlieir lot with the pioneer settlers and 
sharing in the hardships and trials incident to life in the far west — for 
Michigan was then a border state. Mrs. Rockwell was born in St. 
Jose]>h county, March 25, 1843, ^"d was there reared and educated. At 
the time of their marriage tliey located on the old homestead farm, 
which has since been their place of residence. As the years wait by 
Mr. Rockwell gave his undivided attention and energies to the develop- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 599 

ment anci culti\-ation of his land and to the improvement of his farm, 
whicli is now a valuable property, supplied with all of the equipments 
and conveniences found upon a model farm of the twentieth century. In 
1883 he built his present residence, and he now has two houses upon 
the place, also commodious and substantial barns and outbuildings, fur- 
nishing ample shelter for grain and stock. His place comprises two 
hundred and twenty-seven and a half acres of good land, the soil being 
alluvial and responding readily to the care and Fabnr which are l.iestowed 
upon the fields and which return golden harvests. Mr. I'lockwell per- 
sonally manages and operates the farm and is a wide-awake, progressive 
agriculturist, meeting with \-ery gratifying success in his chosen life 
work. 

Three children were born unto our suliject and his wife, namely: 
Jennie G., who is now the wife of L. N. Ruch, of Chicago: Hattie L., 
the wife of Phar Stenberg, who resides ujion the old homestead in 
Porter township: and Cora B., who was born December 22. 1874, and 
died February 16, 1875. 

Mr. Rockwell votes with the Democracy, when national questions 
are involved, but at local elections casts an independent ballot, support- 
ing the men whom he regards as best qualified to take charge of the 
business interests of town or county. He has been school treasurer of 
his district for twenty years and could have held other offices but would 
not accept, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his 
business afifairs. He is a man of liberal spirit and has contributed to 
many good causes. He belongs to the Grange and is intensely inter- 
ested in all that pertains to the agricultural development of the county. 
He has been a resident of Porter township for sixty-one years and is 
one of its pioneer and representative citizens, helping to make the county 
what it is today. His name is closeh^ interwoven with its history and 
his successful career should serve to encourtige and inspire others, for 
his prosperitv is largelv due to his own well directed labors, capable 
business management and keen discernment. 

HENRY C. BENSON. 

Henry C. Benson makes bis home on section 3. south Porter town- 
ship, and was born December 11, 1845, '"i the farm where he now re- 
sides. His father. Joseph Benson, was a native of Livingston county. 
New York, and came to Michigan in 1843, making his way at once to 
Cass county and took up his abode upon the farm which is now owned 
and occu]^ied by Henry C. Benson. He was married in Porter town- 
ship in 1844 to Miss Harriet Weed, a daughter of Setb and Catherine 
Weed. Her father was for many years a justice of the peace and held 
the oilice of supervisor and other local positions, the duties of which 
were alwavs promptly, faithfully and capnlily performed by him. He 
was a prominent man and teacher in the county and exerted a strong 



(W'u HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

and l)e!icficial intlncncc for the intellectual development and moral prog- 
ress of his locality, also upholding its legal and political status. Joseph 
Benson, for many years an enterprising and well known agriculturist 
of the county, died August 8, 1878, when sixty-six years of age. He 
was at one time a member of the Masonic fraternity and at all times 
exemplified in his life the beneficent spirit of the craft. His wife long 
survived him, reaching the age of eighty-eight years. In their family 
were two sons, Henry C. and Joseph, the latter still a resident of Porter 
township. 

Henry C. Benson spent the days of his boyhootl and youth under 
the parental roof. He was educated in the common schools and for a 
short time continued his studies in South Bend. Indiana, becoming an 
apt student and readily mastering the common branches of learning. 
At the age of seventeen years he began teaching, which profession he 
followed successfully for five years in Cass, Berrien and St. Joseph 
counties. He was at the same time engaged in farming and fruit-grow- 
ing, devoting the winter seasons to educational work, while the summer 
months were given to agricultural and horticultural pursuits. 

January 23, 1881, Mr. Benson was united in marriage to Miss 
Martha V. Roots, a daughter of Windsor and ]\Iary Ann (Bennett) 
Roots. Mrs. Benson was born December 5, 1862, in DeKalb county, 
Indiana, but was reared in Porter township, Cass county, and is the 
elder of two daughters. At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Henry C. Benson began their domestic life upon the old homestead 
farm, living with his father and mother until they were called from this 
life. Two cliildren grace the marriage of the younger couple, namely: 
Ida May, now the wife of Lewis Arnold, of Porter township; and 
Jennie D., who is at home. 

Mr. Benson owns a farm of more than two hundred acres, which 
he is carrying on. He has placed his land under a high state of ciilti- 
vation and annually harvests good crops as a reward for the care and 
lalxjr he bestows upon the fields, and in addition to raising the cereals 
best adapted to soil and climate he also raises some stock, mostly, how- 
ever, for his own use. He has a well improved place and a glance will 
serve to indicate to the passerby the progressive and practical methods 
of th.e owner. In his political adherence he has always been a stalwart 
Republican, interested in the partv and its success and his investigation 
into the questions and issues of the day has led him to believe that the 
Republican platform contains the best elements of good government. 
He has lieen twice elected to the office of justice of the peace, his second 
term expiring in July, 1906. He has filled the position for eight years 
and has ever been fair and impartial in his movements, basing his deci- 
sions upon the law and the equity of the case. After serving as justice 
of the ])eace for eight years, he has been importuned by the best element 
to again assume the onerous position, and without a dissenting voice 
from any party, which speaks volumes for his integrity and manhood. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 60i 

He has been officially connected with the schools through a long period, 
serving on the school iDoard for alxjut nine years, and he belongs to the 
Grange. His entire life has Ijeen passed upon the farm which he yet 
owns and occupies, having lived here for sixty years. The place is en- 
deared to him through the associations of his boyhood as well as those 
of later years, and tlie name of Benson has ever stood for progress along 
agricultural lines, in which regard Henr>- C. Benson fulh' sustains the 
reputation of the family. 

S.\:\IUEL H. GILBERT. 

On the list of pioneer settlers of Cass county appears the name of 
Samuel H. Gilbert, who is now living on section 23, Porter township. 
He dates his residence in the comity from 1S35. Few, indeed, have 
longer resided in this portion of the state or liave for a greater period 
witnessed tlie changes that have been wrought here. He is not only 
familiar with the history of the county from hearsay but has been an 
active participant in the work that has led to its present development 
and upbuilding. The story of pioneer life is a familiar one to him, for 
he settled here in the days when the homes were pioneer cabins, when 
much of the work of the fields was done by hand, when the sickle and 
scythe formed a part of the farm implements, when the houses were 
lighted bv candles and when the cooking was largely done over the open 
fireplace. 

Mr. Gilbert is a native of Onondaga county. New York, his birth 
having occurred in Lysander township, on the i8th of April, 1824. His 
father. Stephen Gill>ert, was born in Massachusetts and there was reared. 
When a young man he left New England and went to New York, whence 
he came to Michigan in 1835. making his way direct to Cass county. 
He located in Porter township, and at once became engaged in the ardu- 
ous task of developing a new farm, making his home thereon until his 
death, which occurred when he was seventy-three years of age. His 
father, Samuel Gilbert, was a native of Huntington township. Fairfield 
county, Connecticut, born March 10, 1761, and was a soldier of the 
Revolutionary war. espousing the cause of the colonists when they could 
no longer endure the yoke of British oppression. He saw Major Andre 
when he was hanged as a spy. Mr. Gilbert was under the command of 
General Washington for one year and three months and for thirty years 
of his life received a pension of twelve dollars per month from the gov- 
ernment in recognition of the aid which he had rendered to his country 
in her struggle for independence. He was supposed to have been of 
English descent and he died September 10. 1849. The mother of our 
subject bore the maiden name of Almira Colgrove, was a native of Rut- 
land, Vermont, and a daughter of Calvin Colgrove. of English parent- 
age. She lived to a very advanced age, passing away in her ninety-fifth 
year. By her marriage she became the mother of five sons and three 



602 HISTOin' OV CASS COUNTY 

(laughters, who rcaclied adult at^e and all were married and reared 
fauiilies. 

Samuel H. CiilLert is the eldest living member of the family today. 
He was a lad of eleven years when his parents left the Empire state and 
came west to Michigan, locating in Porter township, where he pur- 
sued his studies in a log school-house. He was also educated in a sim- 
ilar school-house in New York. The methods of instruction were very 
primiti\-e, in keeping with pioneer times and conditions, and he pursued 
his studies only in the winter months, for throughout the remainder of 
the year he worked in the fields and assisted in clearing and cultivating 
the farm. Ife was an expert in handling a mall and wedge and was a 
very sti'ong man in his younger days. All the farm work became famil- 
iar to him from actual experience and he assisted in the fields from the 
time of early spring planting until after crops were harvested in the late 
autumn. 

Mr. (iilbert was luarried on the 31st of October, 1847, to Miss 
Elizabeth Motley, a daughter of James and Fannie (Elkington) Motley, 
both of whom were of English lineage. The mother died in Montreal, 
Canada. Airs. Gilbert was born in England, July 5, 1829, and was only 
six months old when her parents bade adieu to friaids and native coun- 
ti'y and sailed for America. Her mother died when the daughter was 
but fourteen months old and the father afterward married Bethesda Mc- 
Neil, by whom he had nine children. -\t the time of their marriage Mr. 
and Mrs. Gilbert located on the farm where they now reside, it having 
been their place of residence for fifty-nine years and he has owned it 
for a year longer. Full of hope and courage they began the task of 
establishing a home here in the midst of the wilderness, Mrs. Gilbert 
carefully managing the household affairs, while Mr. Gilbert performed 
the work of the fields, transforming the raw and undeveloped land into 
a tract of rich fertility, from which he annually harvested good crops. 
In all of his work be has been practical and as invention has given to 
the woild impro\-ed farm machinery he has introduced this into his work 
and thus facilitated bis labors. There is little similarity in the methods 
of farming today, and those which were followed by the agriculturists 
a half century ago. Then the farmer walked back and forth across the 
fields, guiding his handplow. His grain was cut with a scythe and 
bound by hand into sheaves. Today he rides over the fields upon the 
plow and the cultivator and the ban-esting machine and thresher are 
familiar sights in all farming localities. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gill^ert hnve been born eight children, of whom 
four are now living: Ida, the wife of Frank L. Orr. who resides in 
West Pullman, Illinois ; Orrin, a contractor and builder, carrying on 
business in Portland, Oregon; George, a farmer of Porter township; 
Arthur, a twin brother of George, who follows farming in South Da- 
kota; and Helen, who died at the age of twenty-eight years. She was a 
student in Hillsdale College, Michigan, and afterward engaged success- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY G03 

fully in teaching school. Mr. Gilbert has led an hiinoral>le. useful and 
acli\e life. He has always been a strong temperance man and is a Pro- 
hiljitionist in his political views, regarding the use of intoxicants as one 
of the most important questions today before the people. He has never 
used tobacco in his life and none of his sons is addicted to it. He and 
his family are members of the First Baptist church in Porter township, 
in which he has served as trustee for many years, while in the work 
of the church he has taken a most active and helpful part. He is today 
the oldest resident in Porter township, having for seventy-one years 
made his home w'ithin its borders and has seen the country develop from 
a wilderness to its present state of cultivation and improvement, while 
cross-roads villages have grown into thriving towns and cities. His 
life has been actuated by many noble principles and toward his fellow- 
men he has displayed consideration and fairness that have commanded 
uniform confidence and esteem. His record is indeed in many respects 
worthy of emulation, showing what may be accomplished through earn- 
est and persistent effort in the business world and at the same time 
displaying sterling traits of character which work for development along 
the lines of truth, righteousness and justice. 

JOHN LOUPEE. 

John Loupee, who for twenty-five years has resided upon his pres- 
ent farm on section 21, Porter township, where he owns one hundred 
and fifty-four acres of land, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, August 
23, 1840. His father, George Loupee. was a native of Germany and 
the days of his boyhood and youth were spent in that country, where 
he was married to Miss W'ilhelmina Steiner, also of German birth. 
Crossing the Atlantic to America with the hope of having improved 
business opportunities in the new world they located in Wayne county. 
Ohio, where they resided until coming to Michigan about 1841. at which 
time they took u]) their alwde in Porter township. George Loupee enter- 
ing land from the government. He was not long permitted to enjoy 
his new home, however, and had scarcely begun the work of transform- 
ing the raw wild land into a cultivable farm wlien death claimed him. 
His wife lived to lie about si.xty-two years of age. There were eight 
children in the family, all of whom reached manhood or womanhood. 

John Loupee. the seventh in order of birth, was only alxiut a year 
old when brought by his parents from Ohio to Cass county, and he has 
been a lifelong resident of Porter township and Is indebted to the public 
school svstem for the educational privileges which he enjoyed and which 
fitted him for life's practical and responsible duties. Owing to the deatl: 
of his father he was early thrown upon his own resources, working by 
the month as a farm hand. He was thus employed throughout the pe- 
riod of his youth and until his lalxirs brought him capital sufficient to 
enable him to engage in farming on his own account. His lioyhood 



m-i HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tlierefore was a period of earnest and nnrcniiltinq- toil with few advan- 
ta<5cs, educational or otherwise. 

In June, 1862, Mr. Loupee was united in marriage to Miss Eliza 
Ann Taylor, a daughter of Dr. Somner Taylor, who l^ecame a resident 
of Cass county sixty years ago and died September 22, 1876. In his 
family were four children. Mrs. Loupee was bom in Huron county. New 
York, March 23, 1835, and came to Cass county with her parents in 
1S45. Her father was one of the pioneer physicians of the county, who 
engaged in the practice of medicine here in the early days when it neces- 
sitated long rides over the country through the hot summer sun or 
winter's cold. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Loupee have been born three daugh- 
ters : Zella, now the wife of Charles Stearns living in Porter township, 
Cass county; Frances O., the wife of James Stage, living on the home 
farm; and. Edith I., the wife of William Doane, a resident of Howard 
township. Cass county. 

At the lime of his marj-iage Mr. Loupee located in south Porter 
township and for twenty-five years has resided on his present farm, 
which comprises one hundred and fifty-four acres of land that is rich 
and arable. He now rents the land, leaving the active work of the farm 
to others, while he is largely living a retired life. His political views 
are in accord with the principles of Democracy, yet he has never been 
an aspnant for office, preferring to leave office holding to others, while 
he gives his time and energies to his business affairs. He belongs 
to Siloam lodge. No. 35, F. & A. M., of Constantine. He has 
for sixty-five years made his home in this county and has been 
closely identified with its upbuilding, es]iecially along agricultural lines. 
He IS a self-made man and deserves much credit for what he accom- 
plished, for he started out in life in early boyhood empty-handed, 
iia\'ing no assistance from inheritance or from influential friends, but 
depended entirely upon his own labors, realizing that hard work is a 
sure foundation upon which to build success. His life has been one of 
earnest toil, and as the years have gone by he has gained a fair measure 
of prosperit\-, due to his close application and diligence. 

JOHN O'DELL. 

John OT)ell, one of the jirominent and influential farmers and 
early settlers of Porter township, living on section 16, was born Octo- 
ber 30. T836, in this township and is therefore one of the oldest native 
sons of the county. He is a son of Nathan and Sarah (Drake) O'Dell. 
His paternal grandfather, Nathan G. O'Dell, Sr., was born in Virginia, 
November 4, 1772. The progenitors of this family came originally 
from England, and although for many generations the ancestors of 
our subject lived in Virginia, not a single member of the family ever 
owned sl.ives. and so far as is known all were opposed to the institution 
of slaverv. Nathan G. O'Dell, Sr., was married to IMiss Rebecca Kife, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 605 

who was born in tlie old Doininioii in July, 1780. He was a miller by 
trade and ownetl a mill in Virginia, where in connection with the oi>era- 
tion of the plant he also carried on farming. Early in 1800, however, 
he removed with his family to Ohio, settling in Wayne county, where 
he took up land from the government. It was entirely raw and unim- 
proved, but his strenuous lalx)rs soon converted it into a productive 
farm. He likewise owned and operated a grist mill, and was for twenty- 
eight years associated with business interests in the Buckeye state. In 
1828 he came to Michigan, taking up his a1x>de in the eastern part of 
what is now Porter township, Cass county. Here, too, he was a pioneer 
settler, living upon the frontier and sharing with others in the hard- 
ships and privations incident to life in a far western district. He con- 
tinued to make his home in Porter township until his death, which 
occurred in October, 1835, and his wife followed him to the grave two 
months later. In their family were nine children : Thomas, the eldest, 
born June 22, 1796, was for more than forty years a minister of the 
Methodist church. He went to Iowa, where he devoted his life to his 
holy calling and there died in 1861. James, born September 13, 1798, 
married Nancy Carr and in early life came to Michigan, his death 
occurring in St. Joseph county, this state, September 24, 1835. John, 
born March 24, 1801, died in Ohio, August 19, 1826. prior to the re- 
moval of the family to Michigan. Nathan G.. father of John O'Dell 
of this review, was the next of the family. Elizabeth, born May 21, 
1806, was married in Ohio, May 19, 1835, becoming Mrs. Metcalf. 
Enos P., born .August 7. 1808. went to Illinois, where he followed 
farming until his death on the 22d of February, 1852. Lorenzo Dow, 
born October 9. t8io, was a member of congress from Ohio and died in 
that state about 1883. Rebecca, born May 17, 1812, married Thomas 
Burns, with whom she came to Michigan, and her death occurred in this 
state in September, 1846. Silas P.. born April 15, 1814, died at the 
age of two years, on the 29th of September. 1819. 

Nathan G. O'Dell, Jr., father of our subject, was born in Ohio. 
October i. 1803. was there reared and was married in that state in 1828 
to Miss Sarah Drake, whose birth occurred April 10, 181 o. Imme- 
diately after their marriage they left Ohio, and with several other 
families came to Cass county. Michigan, settling in Porter township, 
where Mr. O'Dell and his father took up government land. He there 
began the development of a farm and in the course of years brought 
this land under a high state of cultivation. Unto him and his wife were 
born five children: James S., was born January 10, 1830. He married 
Jane Travers, who died about a year afterward leaving a child a few 
days old, who died when about nine years of age. On the 27th of Feb- 
luary, 1859, James O'Dell wedded Caroline Loupee. who was born in 
Wayne county, Ohio, November 8. 1837, while her parents were natives 
of Germanv. James O'Dell has four children : Martha, born April 23, 
i860; Carrie M., May 18. 1865; Ida, December 11. 1870; and Ross. 



606 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Fd)ruary 24, 1875. Thomas. l)orn June 30. 183 1, married Miss Lavina 
Travers. He was a farmer by occupation and was a leading and in- 
fluential factor in local political circles, serving as justice of the peace 
and as supervisor and also as a member of the state legislature of Mich- 
igan. He died June 30. 1892, leaving a family of six children. David, 
born March 27. 1833. went to Iowa and there enlisted for service in the 
Civil war. After being honorably discharged he returned to Iowa and 
died soon afterward. Margaret M., born November g, 1834, was mar- 
ried to Henry Brown, who died in 1884. She is still living in Porter 
townsliip. John is the subject of this review. The mother of these chil- 
dren died in October, 1836, soon after the birth of John O'Dell, and 
later Nathan C. O'Dell, Jr., was married to Miss Eliza Shivel, by whom 
he had two children. Sarah ^Vealthy, the eldest, born December 25, 
1842, became the wife of John Draper and died while her husband was 
serving in the Union army. Nathan FJien, born December 27, 1843, 
went into the army when but sixteen years of age and remained until 
the close of the war in ■[864. He married Miss Nettie Motley, and 
they have three living children and two deceased. 

When John O'Dell was only nine years of age he was bound out 
to Jacob Lintz, of Constantine township, and lived with him for nine 
years, during which time he worked at farm labor in its various depart- 
ments. He afterward returned to Porter township, Cass county, where 
he has resided continuously since. The only educational privileges he 
enjoyed were those afforded by the district schools and he had little 
opportrmity for that, because he was only nine years old when his father 
died, and he was thus thrown upon his own resources and has since 
had to provide for his own support. He was married in Porter town- 
ship, Cass county, to Miss Jane A. Smith, a daughter of Deacon and 
Cornelia (Hart) Smith. She was born in Porter town.ship May 30, 
1842, and there spent her earh- girlhood days, her parents being old 
settlers of Cass county. .\t the time of her marriage the young couple 
took up their aliode in a log house on a forty-acre farm on section 16. 
Later T\Tr. O'Dell sold that property for three thousand dollars and 
bought forh-three acres where he now lives. He has since added 
seventy-eiglit acres to this place, making a farm of one hundred and 
twenty-one acres. It is fine property, well improved with modern equip- 
ments. There are good buildings upon the place and excellent fann 
implements, and for many years Mr. O'Dell carried on the active work 
of the fields, but is now renting his land, leaving the practical farm 
work to others, although he still gives his supervision to the place. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. O'Dell have been born three children : Lucy, 
the wife of O'. K. Harvey, of Constantine, Michigan; Lydia Grace, the 
wife of Charles Barnard, who is also living in that place: and Dr. John 
H. O'Dell. who is a practicing physician of Three Rivers. Mr. O'Dell 
is one of the rild settlers of the county, and has been identified with its 
m>bui1ding and progress through a long neriod. He has alwavs ^-oted 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 007 

with the RcpuliHcan [larty, casting his l;allcit for Lincohi in iH()0 and 
again in 18O4, and fur each man at the head of the ticket of that party. 
He and his wife belong to the First Baptist church at Porter, and he has 
led a life of integrity and uprightness, worthy the regard which is 
uniformly given him. He has now reached the psalmist's span of three 
score years and ten, and his entire life has been passed in this county. 
He can remember in his boyhood days of the forests which covered 
what are now some of the best farms in the county. There were few 
roatls laid out through the wilderness, and often one followed old 
Indian trails in making their way among the trees to a given point. The 
work of development and upbuilding seemed scarcely begun and Mr. 
O'Dell shared in the task of improving the county. He became familiar 
with the arduous work of developing and cultivating new land, and for 
many years was closely associated with agricultural interests, but is 
now living retired, having a good property which returns him a gratify- 
ing income, thus supplying him with all of the comforts and many of the 
luxuries of life. He can tell many tales of pioneer days which show 
the onward march of progress, for Cass county has always kept pace 
with the work of improvement elsewhere, and has become one of the 
leading counties of this great commonwealth. Although it was once a 
heavily timbered region it is now one of the good agricultural districts of 
the state. 

E. W. BECK\\ITH. 

E. \V. Beckwith, formerly engaged in merchandising, but now de- 
voting his attention to farming on section 14, Jefferson township, rep- 
resents one of the pioneer families of this part (if the state, the name 
of Beckwith having been interwoven with the history of the county 
from 1833 down to the present time. It has always stood as a synonym 
for business integrity and for loyalty in citizenship, and the rec- 
ord of our subject is in harmony with that of others of the name. 
He was born in Cassopolis, Michigan, October 12, 1847. His father, 
Walter G. Beckwith, was a native of West Bloomfield, New York, and 
came to Cass county, Michigan, about 1833. Few settlements had 
been made in this portion of the state at the time, and as far as the eve 
could see there were uncut forests and uncultivated tracts of prairie. 
Only here and there had a clearing been made to show that the work of 
agricultural development had begun, while the now thriving cities were 
but small villages, or had not vet sprung into existence. Mr. Beckwith 
took an active part in molding the early public policy of the county. He 
was one of the first .sheriffs and his activity touched many lines that have 
led to permanent improvement and benefit here. He was president of 
the State Agricultural Society for aliout fourteen years, a position which 
was indicative of the place which he held as a representative of farm- 
ing interests and of the high regard reposed in him by his fellow agri- 
culturists throughout ^lichigan. Far sighted, he extended his time and 



60S HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

energies not only to his business affairs but to public interests as well, 
and his efforts were far reaching and beneficial. He voted with the 
r^emocracy, and he kept well informed, not only on political questions, 
but upon all issues and events relating to the progress and welfare of 
the country at large. In early manhood he wedded Miss Eliza Lee, a 
native of West Bloomfield, New York. She lived to be about sixty-five 
years of age, while Mr. Beckwith reached the advanced age of seventy- 
six years. They were the parents of only two children, who reached 
adult age, and E. W. Beckwith, of this review, is now the only sur- 
viving member of the family. 

Upon the old homestead farm in Jefferson township E. W. Beck- 
with became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of 
the agriculturist. His early education was acquired in the district 
schools and was supplemented by study in the Kalamazoo Baptist Col- 
lege. In 1868 he established a shoe store at Dowagiac, in which he 
continued for ten years, or until 1878, since which time his attention 
has been given m undivided manner to his farm pursuits. He has ever 
labored to produce maximum results with minimum effort, which is 
tJie basis of all business success. 

In 1870 Mr. Beckwith was united in marriage to Miss Clara Sulli- 
\an, who died leaving two sons : Charles, an electrician engaged in 
business in Cleveland, Ohio; and Walter, at home. 

Mr. Beckwith was reared in the faith of the Democracy, and his 
mature judgment has led him to the belief that the party platform con- 
tains the best elements of good government. He has labored earnestly 
for its success and has filled a number of local offices, acting for eighteen 
years as superintendent of the poor. He lielongs to the Knights of 
Pythias fraternity, and in that order and throughout the county as 
well he is esteemed as a valued citizen, whose interest in public affairs 
has lieen of an active and helpful nature. His co-operation can always 
be counted upi>n to further any movement for the general good of the 
CdUinuinity. 

C. CARROLL NELSON. 

Among the leading citizens of Cass county whose life record forms 
an integral part of the history- of this section of the state is numbered 
C. Carroll Nelson, who is now living a retired life and whose position 
in the regard of other pioneer residents of the state is indicated by the 
fact that he is now sen'ing as treasurer of the Old Settlers' Association. 
His career has been a long, busy and useful one, marked by the utmost 
fidelity to the duties of public and private life and crowned with the 
respect which is conferred upon him in recognition of his genuine 
worth. His name is inseparably interwoven with the annals of the coun- 
ty, with ils best development and stable prosperity. He is one of Mich- 
igan's native sons, his birth having occurred in Washtenaw county on 
the 31st of July, 1835. His father, I. S. Nelson, was a native of Mas- 




.^/Co^c^e^yi^.e^'iU^ lAo 



At 



U^'^^J^^ 



-c^T-i-— 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ti09 

sachusetts. born in Deerfield, whence he came to Michigan in 1830, lo- 
cating in Washtenaw county, where his remaining days were passed, 
his death occurring in 1837. His wife, who bore the maiden name of 
Eliza Arms, was born in Conway, Massachusetts, and following the 
death of her first husband she gave her hand in marriage to Rulef D. 
Crego. 

C. Carroll Nelson was brought to Cass county in 1842, when a 
youth of seven summers, the family home being established in Newberg 
lownsinp, where he was reared and educated. After attending the com- 
mon schools he continued his studies in Hillsdale College for two years 
and afterward engaged in teaching in the public schools through the 
winter monlhs, while in the summer seasons his labors were devoted to 
the work of the farm. He was the only child born unto his parents that 
grew to mature years. He remained at home with his mother until 
twenty-one years of age and then started out in life on his own account. 
With a full realization of the fact that advancement can be most quickly 
secured through close application and unremitting diligence, he worked 
persistentlv and energetically and in due course of time he gained a 
place among the representative agriculturists of his adopted county. He 
was married on the loth of z\ugust, 1861, to Miss Phebe Pegg, a daugh- 
ter of Reuben and Rebecca (Hinshaw) Pegg, who were pioneer settlers 
of Cass county. Mrs. Nelson was bom in Penn township on December 
12, 1840, and has been a lifelong resident of Cass county. Her parents 
were natives of Randolph county. North Carolina, and came to Cass 
county in 1828, and her father was also one of the earliest settlers with- 
in the borders of this county. They were married at what was then 
called Whitnianville, but is now LaGrange. and they located in Penn 
township, where they continued to reside until called to the home be- 
yond. They were the parents of five children, three daughters and two 
sons, of W'hom William and Sarah are now deceased. Tlie others are: 
Mary, Ab'jah and Mrs. Phebe Pegg Nelson. 

The young couple began their domestic life upon a farm in Penn 
township and in 1866 removed to Cassopolis, where Mr. Nelson estab- 
lished a sash and door factory in company with A. H. Pegg, in which 
business he continued until 1877, theirs being one of the leading pro- 
ductive industries of the county. In that year Mr. Nelson met with an 
accident, losing his left arm and also the sight of one eye. In the same 
year he was appointed postmaster and entered upon the duties of the 
office in 1878, filling the position for eight years and eight months in a 
most capable and satisfactory manner, giving a public-spirited and 
progressive administration. He then handed over the keys to L. H. 
Glover, who is editor of this volume, and in July, 1887, he embarked 
in the undertaking and furniture business, in which he continued until 
January, 1904. With the capital he had acquired and which was suf- 
ficient to supply him with the necessities and comforts of life through 



610 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

his remaining dajs, he retired from active business and is now enjoying 
a well earned rest, lie has been a representative of agricultural, indus- 
trial and commercial life and in all departments of labor has displayed 
perseverance and industry combined with unfaltering business integ- 
rity. 

In politics Mr. Nelson is a stanch Republican and in 1863 he served 
as supervisor of Penn township. He was also superintendent of the 
poor from 1873 until 1876 and was village assessor of Cassopolis for 
about fourteen years. Upon the organization of the Cassopolis Library 
Association in March, 187 1, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson took an active part in 
its work and have since done all in their power for the interests of the 
library. Mr. Nelson acted as president of the association during the 
first eight years of its existence and Mrs. Nelson was one of its di- 
rectors, the first meeting being held at their home. In fact they were 
instrumental in establishing the library, and this institution, which is 
now a credit to the village and a matter of local pride, owes its existence 
and success in large measure to their efforts. For nineteen years Mr. 
Nelson has been treasurer of the Pioneer Society and active in its work. 
He is also connected with the Ancient Order of United Workmen and 
his wife holds membership in the Disciples church. Mr. Nelson has 
been a resident of Cass county for sixty-three years and his wife 
throughout lier entire life, and no couple are more deserving of esteem 
and confidence or are more justly entitled to representation in this 
volume than C. Carroll Nelson and his estimable wife. His entire free- 
dom from ostentation or self-laudation has made him one of the most 
popular citizens of Cass county, with whose history he has now been 
long and prominently identified. Mr. and Mrs. Nelson have some old 
and rare relics of "ye olden tyme." They have a linen table cloth which 
is over a century old, and it was woven by Mr. Nelson's grandmother 
Nelson. They also have one of the most extensive libraries in the coun- 
ty of Cass. Mrs. Nelson has several rare bound volumes of collected 
views and engravings, which as a rare collection could not be found 
in southern Michigan. 

ELBRIDGE JEWELL. 

Elbridge Jewell, one of the thrifty, prosperous and enterprising 
farmers of LaGrange township, living on section 26, is a native son of 
Cass county, born on the 8th of January, 1838. His father. Hiram 
Jewell, was a native of New Jersey, and was a son of John Jewell. Tlie 
famil)' was established in the east at an early period in the colonization 
of the new world. John Jewell, removing from New Jersey, became a 
resident of Ohio, and spent his last days in Butler county. Hiram 
Jewell came to Cass county in 1830, settling in LaGrange township, 
where he secured government land that was raw and unimproved. A 
part of Cassopolis now stands upon a portion of his farm. He improved 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY Oil 

a tract of land on section 27, and there spent the greater part of his life. 
In the early days the family shared in the hardships and trials incident 
to the settlement of the frontier, but afterward enjoyed the comforts 
which came with an advancing civilization. In his work he was ener- 
getic and reliable, making for himself an untarnished name and enviable 
reputation in business circles. He lived to be eighty-two years of age, 
while his wife reached the age of sixty years. She bore the maiden 
name of Martha Waldron, and is supposed to have been a native of 
Ohio. In this family were five children, two sons and three daughters, 
of whom two died in early life. Those still surviving are Elbridge and 
his sister, Miram, who is the widow of Henry S. Quick, of LaGrange 
township. 

Elbridge Jewell, the third child and second son in the father's 
family, was reared upon the old family homestead on section 27, La- 
Grange township, and when a boy pursued his studies in a log school 
house, to which he walked a distance of a mile and a half through the 
woods. The school session was of comparatively short duration, for 
throughout the remainder of the year the services of the boys and girls 
of the neighborhood were needed at home, as there was much arduous 
labor incident to the development of a new farm. Mr. Jewell continued 
to assist in the cultivation of the fields upon his father's place until after 
his marriage, which important event in his life occurred in 1857, the 
lady of his choice being Miss .Sarah J. Bonnel. They located on a farm 
on section 2^, LaGrange township, there residing until i860, when they 
removed to another place. In 1861, however, they returned to the old 
homestead and in 1865 removed to Iowa, settling in Warren county, 
northwest of the city of Des Moines. After a brief period, however, 
they again took up their abode upon the old home farm in Cass county, 
and there Mr. Jewell continued to engage actively in agricultural pur- 
suits until 1889, when he went to Cassopolis, where he remained for 
five years, being engaged in the agricultural implement business. When 
he sold out he located on the home farm and then traded that property 
for the farm upon which he now resides on section 26, LaGrange town- 
ship. He has here one hundred and twenty-eight acres of land which 
is rich and arable and which he rents, so that he is relieved of the more 
arduous duties of farm life. He operated a threshing machine from 
1870 until 1887, covering much territory throughout the countv and 
finding in the business a profitable source of income. 

In 1880, Mr. Jewell was called upon to mourn the loss of his first 
wife, who died on the 12th of May of that year. On the 14th of No- 
vember, 1880, he was married to Lucy A. Davis, a daughter of Charles 
F. S. and Susan (Batchelor) Davis. Mrs. Jewell was born in Dowagiac 
on the farm owned by Samuel Aarons, Januaiy 28. 1859. Her 
parent? had come to Cass county about 1857, from the state of Ohio. 
Mr. and Mrs. Jewell have become the parents of two sons: Hiram E., 
a telegraph operator of Vicksburg, Michigan; and Fred C. a telegrapher 



612 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

living at home. Mr. Jewell belongs to the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen of Cassopolis, and he has many friends both in and out of 
the order. Having always lived in Cass county, his acquaintance has 
grown as the years have gone by, and the circle of his friends has been 
extended as his genuine worth has won regard and confidence. 

He has swung the old "Turkey Wing" cradles from morn to night. 
Mr. and Mrs. Jewell have one of the "old Longfellow clocks," which 
'stands over six feet in height and it is over a century old, but keeps 
perfect time. It is a rare specimen, and not such another relic will be 
found in the whole county of Cass. His father had the large frame 
made himself. They have a Bible which was printed in 1839. 

WILLIAM McGILL. 

^Vi^iam McCiill. residing in Union, is a native of Canada, born on 
the 22(1 of August, 18130. and in his life has displayed many of the 
sterling characteristics of the Scotch race. His father, Andrew McGill, 
also a native of the land of hills and heather, was a farmer by occu- 
pation. He was reared, educated and married in his native land, and 
in 183 1, accompanied by his family, he crossed the Atlantic to the new 
world, taking up iiis abode near Troy, New York. There he spent his 
remaining days, living to be about sixty-five j^ears of age. His wife, 
Mrs. Magaret McGill, also a native of Scotland, died in her eighty- 
eighth year. In their family were ten children, and no death occurred 
in the famih' circle until after all had reached mature years. There 
were four sons and six daughters, but only four are now living. 

A^^illiam McGill, of this review, is the youngest son and is the only 
representative of the family in Cass count)'. He was about six months 
old when his parents left Canada and came to the United States, and he 
was reared in Rensselaer coimty, New York, pursuing his education in 
the schools of Stephentown. His youth was passed upon the home farm, 
and he assisted in its cultivation and improvement until about twenty- 
three years of age. He came to Michigan in 1866, locating in St. 
Joseph county, and bought a farm in Motville township, where he 
remained for ten years, his time and energies being given to its devel- 
opment and cultivation. On the expiration of that period he traded the 
property for four hundred acres of land on the state line, three miles 
from Union. As his financial resources have increased he has extended 
his posessions by additional purchase from time to time, until he is one 
of the most extensive land owners of this part of the state, having about 
two thousand acres more, which lies across the border line in Indiana, 
but the greater part is in Cass county. He has also engaged in loaning 
money for many years and buys and sells horses, and frequently he 
rents out Ixith horses and cows. His business extends into St. Joseph 
county, Michigan, St. Joseph county, Indiana, to Van Buren, Cass and 
Berrien counties, and he is one of the most prominent and influential 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 613 

residents of this part of the state. He has been very successful in his 
business, possessing keen foresight and liroad capacity and carrying 
forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes'. He is seldom 
at error in matters of business judgment, and his enterprise, discrimina- 
tion and industry have been strong and salient features in his prosperity. 
Mr. McC.ill is a stalwart Repuljlican, but takes no active part in 
the work of the organization. He belongs to the Presbyterian church 
and he makes his home in Union. He is today the largest land owner 
of the county. His life record shows what may te accomplished through 
close application and unremitting diligence. He had no special ad- 
vantages when he started out in life, but he was not afraid to work and 
he possessed laudable ambition. He has made good use of his opportu- 
nities and has prospered from year to year, conducting all business mat- 
ters carefully and successfully, and in all his acts displays an aptitude for 
successful management. 

JOHN R. COLLINS. 

Among the citizens of Mason township whose worth and fidelity 
to the general good are manifest in the faithful performance of public 
duties is numbered John R. Collins, who is now filling the office of town- 
sliip clerk. He resides on section ii. Mason township, and is one of the 
native sons of this locality, born on the 15th of July, 1853. His father, 
William Collins, w'as a native of Ohio, and came to Michigan with his 
father, John Collins, who took up their abode in Cass county in pioneer 
days, settling in Mason town.ship in 1831. He found the district 
larg-ely wild and unimproved. Mucli of the land was still in possession 
of the government, and he took up a claim of eighty acres on section 
14. With characteristic energy he began the cultivation and develop- 
ment of a farm, and after clearing the land placed it under the plow. 
William Collins was a youth of twelve years at the time of the removal 
of the familv from Ohio to Michigan, and was reared upon the old 
homestead on section 14. Mason township, where he early became famil- 
iar with the arduous task of developing new land. There were many 
hardships and trials to be borne in those days, for few roads had been 
laid out and many of the now thriving towns and villages had not yet 
sprung into existence, so that the settlers had to go long distances to 
market and mill. Much of the farm work was done bv hand, and the 
macbinerv then in use was verv crude and primitive. Having arrived 
at years of maturitv William Collins was united in marriage in Wiscon- 
sin to Miss IMarietta Peck, who was born in Connecticut, and was there 
reared to the age of fifteen years, a daughter of Reuben Peck. She 
then came to the west and at the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
William Collins located in Mason township, where thev lived most of 
their lives. The father died on the 23rd of October, Tgo2, which was 
the seventv-fifth anniversarv of his birth, and the mother passed away 
in 1867. Having lost his first wife, William Collins was again married. 



614 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

his second union being with Ellen Dokey. There were two sons of the 
former unicm : John R., of this review; and Fred W., who is living in 
Minnesota. By the second marriage there was a son and daughter, 
\Villiam and Sylvia. The former is now living in Minnesota but the 
latter died in childhood. 

John R. Collins was reared in ]Mason township and pursued his 
education in the district schools. He started out in life on his own 
account when fifteen years of age, working by the month as a farm hand 
in Mason township, being employed in that way for eight years. He 
was married on tlie 30th of July, 1873, to Miss Philoma Curtis, a 
daughter of Joseph A. and Deborah (Jordan) Curtis, a native of Mason 
township, where she has spent her entire life. Unto thiis marriage has 
been born one son. Nial J., who at the age of nineteen years is living 
at home, assisting in the operation of the farm. 

John R. Collins is a carpenter by trade, having learned the business 
when a youth. He followed that pursuit for a number of years, but 
now concentrates his energies upon his farming operations, and is the 
owner of a good tract of land of fifty-five acres, which he has brought 
under a high state of cultivation, so that he annvtally harvests good 
crops. In his political views he is a Democrat, and has for many years 
served as township clerk, elected the last time in April, 1905. He has 
taken an active interest in public affairs and does all in his power to 
promote the material, intellectual and moral progress of the community. 
Fraternally he is connected with the Gleaners, and religiously with the 
United Brethren church, in which he is one of the trustees. He takes 
a most active and helpful interest in its work and is an advocate of all 
that is right and just in man's relations with his fellowmen. In his 
own business career he has never taken advantage of the necessities of 
others in any transaction, and on the contrary has placed his dependence 
upon the safe and sure qualities of enterprise and imfaltering labor. 
Whatever prosperity he has enjoyed is due to his own persistent purpose 
and the course in life that he has pursued has gained for him the uniform 
respect and good will of his fellowmen. 

WILLIAM ARNOLD. 

William Arnold, a prominent old settler of the county, whose home 
is on section 12, Mason township, is classed with the worthy citizens 
that Ohio has furnished to Michigan. He was born in Cuyahoga county. 
August 30, 1832, and is descended from an old New England family. 
His father, Henry ,A.rnold, was a native of Massachusetts, born July 
25, 1807, and his youth was passed in his native state, where he was 
married to Miss Maria Hewitt, who was also born in Massachusetts. Re- 
moving to the west they took up their abode in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, 
in T828, which was the year of their marriage. There they resided for 
about eight years, when, in 1835, they came with their family to Cass 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY tjio 

county, Michigan, and Mr. Arnold entered a tract of land from the 
government in what is now Mason township. Not a furrow had been 
turned nor an unprovement made upon the place. In fact he had to cut 
Ins way through the woods to his claim, for no roads had been laid out. 
There were some old Indian trails through the forests, but the trees 
stood in their primeval strength and there was little evidence of future 
development or improvement to be seen. Mr. Arnold built a little log 
cabin with a stick chimney. There was a large hreplace which occupied 
almost one entire side of the room, and this not only furnished heat for 
the little cabin, but cooking was also done over the fire, the pots and 
kettles hanging from the crane, while baking was done by placing the 
iron pans amid the coals. The Arnold family is one of the oldest pioneer 
families of the county. Few indeed were the settlers living within its 
borders at tlie time they arrived, and there were many difficulties to be 
met, owing to their remoteness from towns or villages, which would 
afford them the comforts and conveniences of life. The journey west- 
ward had been made with teams, for it was long prior to the era of 
railroad building in this part of the state. Mrs. Arnold was not long 
permitted to enjoy her new home, but during the period of her resi- 
dence here proved a worthy pioneer woman, ably assisting her husband 
in his efforts to establish a home in the midst of the wilderness. She 
died in 1844, and was long survived by Mr. Arnold, who lived to the 
advanced age of eighty-two years. By that marriage there were born 
five children, three of whom are natives of Ohio. For his second wife 
the father chose Lovica Dille, and they had si.x. children. His third 
wife was Airs. Jerusha Lake. 

William Arnold, whose name introduces this record, was the second 
child of his father's first marriage, and was only three years old when he 
was brought to Cass county, the family locating in Mason township. 
He was reared in this township, where he has now lived for seventy-one 
years. When a boy he attended the district school, walking two miles 
to a little log school house, wdierein he conned his lessons, sitting on 
a slab bench. There was a large fireplace in one end of the room, and 
the few pupils were arranged around the teacher's desk to receive the 
instruction in reading, writing, arithmetic and perhaps a few other 
branches of learning, but the curriculum was quite limited at that day. 
Mr. Arnold's training at farm labor, however, was not limited, as 
from an early age he was set to the tasks incident to the development and 
cultivation of the farm, and he remained at home until he had attained 
his majority. On the day that he became twenty-one years of age, he 
started out in life on his own account, and whatever success has come 
to him in later years, is owing entirely to his persistent effort and honor- 
able labors. He first secured a situation as a farm hand at ten dollars 
per month for five months, and he worked in that way until he was able 
to carrv on farming on his own account. 

An important day in his life record was that nf April 5. 1857, at 



(ilf. HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

whicli lime hv was united in marriage to Miss Ada Hatch, a daughter of 
Ezra and Sarah ( AHen) Hatch, both of whom were natives of the state 
of New York, and in their family were six children, Mrs. Arnold being 
the second. Her l)irth occurred in Mason township in 1837, and the 
family did much for the development and improvement of the county. 

Vt the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Arnold located upon 
llie farm where they now reside, living at first in a little log cabin with 
its fireplace and primiti\'e furnishings, and over that open fire Mrs. 
Arnold did her cooking. They started with very little, and made all that 
tlvey possessed by hard work and strict attention to business. The im- 
provements upon the farm are the visible evidence of the life of thrift 
and industry which Mr. Arnold has led, all having been made b}' him. 
As the }ears have passed he has prospered and has erected here a com- 
fortable house, good barns and other outbuildings for the shelter of 
grain and stock. He has secured the latest improved machineiy to facil- 
itate the work of the fields, and evei^ything about his farm is neat and at- 
tractive in ajipearance. He began with only fifty acres and bad to 
incur an indeljtedness to secure that amount, but he soon discharged 
his financial obligation, and in the course of years has added to his 
property from time to time until his farm now comprises three hundred 
acres of excellent land, and he gathers from the fields rich crops an- 
nually. The home has been blessed with two children: Ruell C, 
who is a sj^eculator; and Aileen, who is at home. Mr. Arnold is the 
oldest continuous resident of Mason township, having lived here for 
more than the psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten. 
He has been identified with the growth and development of the county 
and is familiar with its history from pioneer times down to the present. 
He has watched each progressive movement that has had bearing upon 
the welfare and progress of this portion of the state, and has done his 
full share in the line of agricultural development. His political alle- 
giance has been given to the Democracy. His life has indeed been a 
useful one, and he has closely adhered to the golden rule as his life 
motto, douig unto others as he would have them do unto him, and thus 
living at peace with all men, being honest in his business dealings and 
considerate of those with whom he has come in contact. Such a course 
in life is well worthy of emulation, and his example might be profitably 
followed, for his life history proves the value of character and at the 
same time shows what may l^e acomplished through earnest labor, for 
Mr. Arnold started out in life emiit\--handed and has worked his wav 
ujnvard from a humble financial position to one of affluence, with the 
aid of bis estimable wife, who has aided him in counsel and advice in 
the rearing of their children and the founding of their happy home. 
For almost a half century ha\-e ]\Tr. and Mrs. .\rnoId traveled life's 
journey, sharing alike tlie jovs and sorrows of this life, and now in 
the golden eve of their lives they enjoy that peace and contentment 
which comes of a well sjicnt life. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 617 

MARION McNEIL. 

Marion McNeil, who is now serving as township treasurer and 
resides on section 14, Mason township, where he carries on general agri- 
cultural pursuits, was born on this farm, his natal day being May i, 
18G2. His father, H. C. McNeil, was a native of Cayuga county, New 
York, born August i, 1822, and was a son of James McNeil, who was 
born in the same county. H. C. McNeil was brought to Michigan by 
his parents when but twelve years of age, the family home being estab- 
lished in Cass county, upon the place where our subject now resides. 
This was in the year 1835, and the property has since been in possession 
of the family. The grandfather took up the land from the government, 
tlius coming into possession of a claim which was entirely wild and 
uncultivated. Mr. and Mrs. McNeil have in their possession one of the 
old parchment deeds, which dates September 10, 1838, and it is signed 
by President Martin Van Buren — ^the third deed of its kind found so 
far in the county. In the way of old relics they have an old bull's eye 
watch, which is one hundred and fifty years old. It passed down from 
Mr. McNeil's great-grandfather, and it was given him 1)\' a soldier in 
the Irish rebellion of Ireland, about the seventeenth century. Mr. 
McNeil at once began die development and improvement of the farm, 
but was not long permittetl to enjoy his new home, for his death oc- 
curred a few years later, as he pas.sed away in 1841. 

H. C. McNeil was reared upon the home farm from the age of 
twelve years and shared with the family in the usual experiences and 
liardships of life on the frontier. He early became familiar with the 
arduous task of developing a new farm, and for many years was closely 
associated with general agricultural pursuits. On tlie ist of January. 
1849, he was united in marriage to Miss Martha A. Ives, who was born 
in Lewis county, New York, June 14, 1829, and was a daughter of 
Samuel and Roxann (Hubbard) Ives, who were liorn in New York 
state. They removed to Calhoun count}', Michigan, in 1S35. and thus 
in both the paternal and maternal lines Mr. ]\IcNeil of this review is 
descended from an honored pioneer ancestry, his mother having been 
but fourteen years of age when she came with her parents to Cass 
county. Mr. and Mrs. H. C. McNeil located on the old family home- 
stead at the time of their marriage, purchasing the interests of the other 
heirs in the property. By trade he was a carpenter and joiner, and fol- 
lowed that business in connection with farming, erecting many buildings 
in his township. He was well known in the county by reason of his 
activity in business life, his capable service in public office and his de- 
votion to high and honorable principles in his social and home relations. 
His political allegiance was given to the Democracy, and he held many 
local offices, the duties of which he discharged with absolute loyalty and 
fidelity. He was township clerk for fifteen years and treasurer for 
two years, while for a long period he acted as justice of the peace, ren- 



618 FIISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

dering decisions which were strictly fair and unbiased and which "won 
him golden opinions from all sorts of people." He was a member of 
the Masonic fraternity and in his life exemplified the beneficent and 
helpful spirit of the craft. He died October 4. 1897, and thus the 
community lost one of its honored and representative pioneer settlers 
who for almost two-thirds of a century had Vwed in the county. There 
were .seven children in the family : Harriet Emma, Mary Adelaide, 
Carrie Fdlen, Lenora, Annetta, Marion and Sherman, all of whom are 
now living, and were born upon the farm which is now the home of our 
subject. 

Marion McNeil is the eldest son and sixth child in his father's 
famih', and was reared upon the old family homestead to farm work, 
devoting his time and energies to the labors of field and meadow through 
the summer months. He was educated in district school No. 5, in 
Ma.son township, and has always continued to reside upon the farm 
'which his grandfather entered from the government with the exception 
of a brief jieriod of one year spent in the northern peninsula of Michi- 
gan. He was married on the i6th of March, 1802, to Miss Mabel 
Bement, a daughter of George and Mary (Walker) Bement, and a 
native of Ontwa township, Cass county. 

Mr. McNeil is a Democrat, with firm faith in the principles of the 
party, and has taken an active and helpful interest in its work. In 
1899 he was elected township treasurer and was re-elected in 1904, 
since which time he has filled the office. He is well known in the 
county where he has always resided, representing a pioneer family, the 
name of McNeil being inseparably associated with the history' of devel- 
opment and progress since 1835. The work which was instituted by 
his grandfather and carried on by his father, has been continued by 
him, and he is now a leading agriculturist of his community with a val- 
uable farming property^ which he keeps under a high state of cultivation 
and well improved with modern equipments. 

SIDNF,Y J. GRAHAM. 

Sidney J. Graham, a prominent farmer living on section 2, Mason 
township, was born in Medina county, Ohio, March 18, 1842. His 
father. LvTnan Graham, was a native of Vermont, and after leaving 
New England took up his abode in the middle west. He settled in 
Cass county, Michigan, in 183c;, and as much of the land was still in 
possession of the government, he entered a claim and began the dcA'd- 
opment of the farm upon which his son Sidney now resides. It was 
in the year 1845 that he removed his familv to this place. His atten-. 
tion was given to its cultivation and development, and as the vears 
passed, he transformed the land into rich and productive fields. He 
was of Scotch descent and displayed in his life and character manv of 
the sterling traits of the Scotch people. His political allegiance was 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 619 

given to the Democracy, and lie died in Union, Michigan, at the age 
of sixty-seven years. In early manhood he had married Miss Sarah 
Knapp, a native of Ohio. 

Sidney J. Graham is the only child of their marriage, and was 
three years of age when his parents took up their abode in Mason town- 
ship, Cass county, so that he was reared upon the farm where he now 
lives, early becoming familiar with the practical methods of tilling, the 
soil and caring for the crops. He was only nineteen years of age when 
in response to the country's call his patriotic spirit was aroused, and 
he offered his aid to the government, becoming a member of Company 
H, Twenty-first Ohio Vohmteer Infantry. He joined the service as a 
private for three months, and on the expiration of that period, it being 
seen that the war was to be a prolonged and bitter contest, he re-enlisted 
on the 1 2th of August, 1861, for three years' service, or during the 
continuance of hostilities. At this time he became a member of Com- 
pany E, r'orty-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served as a private 
until the close of hostilities. He once more enlisted in 1864 as a mem- 
ber of the same company and regiment, and continued with the army 
until the 9th of June, 1864, when he was wounded at the battle of 
Buzzard's Roost by a gun shot in the left arm. On the 20th of June, 
because of his injuries, he received an honorable discharge after a 
faithful and valorous service of over four years. His military record is 
one of which he has every reason to be proud, and he is numbered 
among the brave boys in blue to whom the country owes a debt of 
gratitude that can never be repaid for what they did in support of the 
Union cause. He was with the Army of the Cumberland and partici- 
pated in all of the battles of that military organization until he was in- 
jured. 

In the spring of 1866, Mr. Graham located on his present farm, 
which is the old family homestead that was taken up as a claim by his 
father. He made further arrangements for having a home of his own 
by his marriage on the first of June, 1866, to Miss Elizabeth Bagley. 
a daughter of Knapp Bagley. She was born in Ohio and has been to 
him a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey. They have 
become the parents of two daughters : Lulu, the wife of George Rus- 
sell, who is living in Mason township: and Myrtie, who married .Mbert 
Keeley, their home being in Calvin township, Cass county. 

Mr. Graham owns one hundred and sixty-five acres of well im- 
proved land and now^ rents his place, thus leaving the active and arduous 
work of the farm to others, while he is enjoving a well-earned rest. 
He is a member of Carter Post. No. q6. G. A. R.. at Union, and is also 
a memlier of the Masonic lodge at Edwardsburg. His political alle- 
giance has alwavs been eiven to the Republican party, and he has taken 
an active and helpful interest in its work, doing all in his power to 
secure its success. A\''ith the exception of a period of about four years 
spent in Ohio, he has resided continuously in Cass county for six dec- 



620 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ades, and at all times has been loyal in his citizenship, displaying the 
same clevotifin to tlie public welfare that he manifested when at the out- 
break of llie Cixil war he donned the blue uniform of the nation and 
entered his country's service. His farming interests have been carefully 
conducted and his labors have resulted in bringing to him a goodly meas- 
ure of success. 

GABRIEL EBY. 

No history of Cass county would be complete without mention 
of Gabriel Eby, who is the oldest living resident of Porter township, 
having passed the eighty-eighth milestone on life's journey. His resi- 
dence is on section 6, South Porter township, and from pioneer times 
he has remained upon this farm, an interested witness of the changes 
that have occurred and the transformation that has been wrought as the 
county has been developed from a wild and unimproved region into one 
of ricli fertility, becoming a center of agricultural development in Mich- 
igan. Mr. Eby was born in Stark county, Ohio, five miles east of Can- 
ton, on the 27th of July, 1818. His paternal grandfather, David Eby, 
was born on the ocean while his parents were en route from Germany 
to America and the family home was established in Virginia in early 
colonird days. His father,- the Rev. John Eby, was a native of Virginia 
and was a minister of the United Brethren church, who devoted his en- 
tire life to the cause of preaching the gospel. He exerted a wide and 
beneficial influence, in behalf of moral development and wherever he went 
labored earnestly for the welfare of the people among whom he located. 
He became a pioneer settler of Stark county, Ohio, and there he died 
in the sixty-second year of his age, leaving behind an honored name and 
a memory that has been cherished by all who knew him. His Avife bore 
the maiden name of Mary M. Dague and was of Pennsylvania Dutch 
descent. She died at a comparatively early age, being but forty years 
old when called to her final rest. Rev. Eby afterward married again, 
his second union being with Miss Man,' Hamger, and by the two mar- 
riages he became the father of seventeen children, all of whom reached 
adult life. By the first marriage there were nine children, eight sons and 
a daughter, while of the second union four sons and four daughters 
were born. 

Gabriel Eby was the seventh child and sixth son of the first mar- 
riage, and was reared in Stark' county, Ohio, amid the wild scenes and 
environments of pioneer life. The work of improvement and cultiva- 
tion had scarcely been begim in that section of the state in his earlv 
>'outh. Only here and there was a little cabin to show that some ad- 
venturous settler was endeavoring to found a home in the wilderness. 
He was sixteen years of age when the first schoolhouse was built in his 
district and in consequence his educational privileges were limited, but 
through experience and observation he has gained a good practical bus- 
iness knowledge. He was nineteen years of age when he left Ohio and 




AND LITTLE GRANDSON. 



HISTORY OV CASS COUNTY 621 

made his way to Elkhart county, Indiana, hut later he returned to the 
county of liis nativity and was there married in 1846 to Miss Caroline 
Wagner. W'ith his hride he returned to Elkhart county, where he re- 
sided for a brief period, when, in i(S48, they removed to Cass county, 
Michigan, settling in Porter township. They took up their abode upon 
the farm where Mr. Eby yet resides and their first home was a little 
log cabin sixteen by eighteen feet, in which they lived for fifteen years. 
He had up to this time always lived on the frontier, first in Ohio, later 
in Indiana and now in Michigan, and the hardships and privations in- 
cident to settlement in a pioneer country were familiar to him and were 
courageously torne in his attempt to establish a good home for his fam- 
ily. He lived in his first house for fifteen years, during which period 
it was roofed three different times. Later he built a brick house, manu- 
facturing the brick on his own farm. His life has been one of earnest 
and unremitting toil, and it has only been in recent years that he has 
left the work of the farm to others. He secured one hundred and sixty 
acres of land on coming to the coimty and resolutely began the task of 
clearing and cultivating this, placing it in the course of time under a 
high state of cultivation. He still owns eighty acres of the original 
tract, having sold the remaining eighty acres to his son. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Eby were born eight sons and one daughter, 
and the family circle remained unbroken until after all had attained years 
of maturity. The record is as follows : Catherine, the widow of John 
B. Harmon and a resident of Cassopolis ; Peter, who is mentioned on 
another page of this work; Christian, who is living in Antrim county, 
Michigan; William, who is engaged in the grocery business in Union, 
Cass county; Samuel, a resident of Jones; Daniel, a teacher and farmer 
living in Porter township; Gabriel, who is devoting his attention to 
fruit-raising in the same township; Ulysses S., who is engaged in the 
practice of law in Cassopolis; and David, who is devoting his time and 
energies to the profession of teaching. In 1891 the family were called 
upon to mourn the loss of the wife and mother, who died on the 7th of 
November of that year. In 1893 Mr. Eby was again married, his sec- 
ond union being with Melissa Morse, who was born in Newark. Wayne 
county, New York, in the year 1844, and was brought to Michigan in 
1853 by her father, E. Z. Morse. 

Mr. Eby cast his first presidential ballot for William Henry Harri- 
son in 1840, and continued to support the Whig party until its disso- 
lution, when he joined the ranks of the new Republican party, voting 
for Lincoln in i860 and again in 1864. Since that time he has not 
voted a straight ticket, but has voted for the men whom he has thought 
to be best qualified for oflice. being fearless in support of his honest 
convictions. For about forty years he has been a member of the Free- 
will Baptist church and has always taken an interest in the material 
progress, educational development, moral advancement and political 



022 HIST(7RY of CASS COUNTY 

standing of his community. In fact he gives his approval and in many 
cases his co-oi>eration to the various movements which have been of di- 
rect and serviceable benefit to the county, where for fifty-eight years he 
has lived, watching its development from a pioneer district to its pres- 
ent advanced state of progress and prosperity. He is now the oldest 
living settler in Porter township and is remarkably well preserved for 
one of his years. He has led a busy, useful and active life, living at 
peace Avith his fellowmen, faithfully performing the duties that have 
devolved upon him. and now in the evening of his days he can look back 
over the past without regret. He has won the regard and friendship 
of all who know him and is indeed worthy of representation in the his- 
tor}- of this county. 

E. A. PLANCK, M. D. 

He whose name introduces this review has gained recognition as one 
of the able and succesful physicians of Cass county, and by his labors, 
his high professional attainments and his sterling characteristics has 
deserved the respect and confidence in which he is held by the medical 
fraternitA- and the local public. He resides in Union, where he is prac- 
ticing his profession, and he is also serving as county coroner. 

Dr. Planck is a native of Indiana, his birth having occurred in 
LaGrange county on the 27th of September, 1869. His father, C. K. 
Planck, was a native of Pennsylvania, and a miller by trade. He fol- 
lowed that pursuit in Indiana for a number of years, and in 1877 crossed 
the border into Michigan, settling in Porter township, Cass county, 
where he is still living, devoting his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
He married Miss Emma Duesler. a native of Ohio, born in Sandusky 
county. She, too, is yet living. In their family were six children, three 
sons and three daughters, and Dr. Planck, who is the eldest of the num- 
ber, was a youth of thirteen years when the family came to Michigan. 
He attended school in Union, living during that time with Dr. Bulhand, 
and at the age of sixteen years he began teaching, which profession he 
followed successfully and capably for seven years in the district schools 
of the county. He afterward continued his studies in the Northern 
Indiana Normal College at Valparaiso, and in the University of Illinois, 
and thus gained broad, general information, which sen'ed as an excel- 
lent basis for his professional knowledge. Determining upon the prac- 
tice of medicine as a life work he matriculated in the College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons at Chicago, and completed the regular course, being 
graduated there in the class of 1894. Immediately afterward he located 
in Union, where he has since been successfully engaged in practice, 
and that he is capable and skillful is indicated by the liberal patronage 
extended to him. 

Dr. Planck was united in marriage in 1892 to Miss Grace E. Hart- 
man, a daughter of Joseph and Eliza fRinehart) Hartman. Three 
children have graced this marriage, Joseph W., George E. and Lena, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 623 

but the latter died at the age of fifteen months. Dr. Planck votes with 
the Republican party and is serving^ for the third term as county coroner, 
havin.o; been elected in iSqR, a.?ain in 1902 and a third time in 1904. 
He has held various local offices in his township and his duties have 
been promptly and faithfully performed. He belons;s to the Knig^hts of 
the Maccabees and to the IMasonic fraternitv, and in his life work finds 
ample opportunity to exemplify the spirit of beneficence and helpfulness, 
which is the basic element in the craft. Tn addition to a Inrjje private 
practice he is exainininsf physician for many insurance companies and 
he belongs to Cass County Medical Society, the I\Tichi.s;an State Med- 
ical Society, the IMississippi Valley Medical Association and the Amer- 
ican Medical Association. He thus keeps in touch with the advance 
thoug^ht of the profession, and by reading' and research is continually 
broadening: his knowledgfe and promotingf his efiiciency. He is widely 
recogfnized as an able physician, not only by the general public, liut also 
by the medical fraternity. 

CHARLES OUDERKIRK. 

Charles Ouderkirk, a representative ag:riculturist. thoroughly 
familiar by reason of practical experience with the best methods of 
carrv'ing on farm work, resides on section 4. Mason township, where he 
now owns and operates ninety-six and a half acres of land. He was 
bom in the neighboring state of Indiana, his birth having occurred on 
the banks of the St. Joseph river on the site of the present city of Elk- 
hart, in Elkhart countA', October 8, 1843. His grandfather, Adam 
Ouderkirk. was born in Scotland, where be spent his boyhood and youth, 
and in early manhood, seeking better business opportunities and advan- 
tages, be crossed the Atlantic, locating in New York city. His father. 
John Ouderkirk, is a native of Onondaga countv. New York, where he 
was reared and educated. Removing westward, he settled in Elkhart 
county. Indiana, in T841, upon a tract of land upon which the city has 
since been partially built. He first rented land and afterward removed 
to a farm three miles northeast of Elkhart, where he continued to make 
his home and cany on general agricultural pursuits up to the time of 
his death, which occurred when he was in his seventv-ninth year. His 
life was a busy and useful one, and his unfaltering diligence constituted 
the key which unlocked for him the portals of success. In his political 
allegiance he was a Democrat, and sensed as township trustee. John 
Ouderkirk was united in marriage to Miss Mar\' Wilkes, a native of 
New York, whose father was a native of England. Mrs. Ouderkirk 
also lived to a verv advanced age, passing away in her eightieth year. 
She shared with her husband in the hardships and privations of pioneer 
life, and was a worthy assistant and helpmate to him on life's iournev. 
In their family were five children, three dauehters and two sons, all of 
whom reached mature years, the family record being as follows: Elma 



624 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Jane and Andrew H., both now deceased; Elizabeth, the wife of J. M. 
McDonald, of South Bend; Charles, of this review; and Amelia, who is 
the wife of Orlando Babcock, of Waverly, Iowa. 

Charles Ouderkirk was the fourth in order of birth in this family 
and was reared in the county of his nativity, acquiring a common school 
education, after which he assisted in the work of the home farm until 
he had passed his twenty-tirst birthday. In 1865 he enlisted in response 
to his country's call for troops, and served with the Union army as a 
member of Company A, One Hundred and Fifty-second Indiana Vol- 
unteer Infantry, until the close of the war, acting as duty sergeant. 
When hostilities had ceased he returned to Elkhart and was engaged 
in farming on the old homestead. 

On the 22(1 of January. 1872, Mr. Ouderkirk was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Louisa Dickerhoof. a daughter of Samuel and Abigail 
(Gearhart) Dickerhoof, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of 
Pennsylvania. She had a twin sister, Lovina, and they were born in 
Portage county. Ohio. August 2, 1847, being only two years old when 
taken b\- their ])are!!ts to Indiana, their girlhood davs being passed near 
Elkhart'. 

In the year 1892 Mr. and Mrs. Ouderkirk removed to Mason 
township. Cass county, locating on the farm where he now resides. 
He is a general farmer and stock man. who has placed his fields under 
a high state of cultivation and raises good grades of stock which find 
a ready sale on the market. There has been nothing especially exciting 
in his life history, which has been characterized, however, by faithfulness 
to duty in all life's relations. Unto him and his wife have been born 
three children, but all have passed away. He votes with the Democracy, 
and has served as a member of the board of review. He is a member of 
Elmer Post. G. A. R.. at Elkhart. Indiana, and in fraternal and social 
circles is esteemed for his genuine worth. His attention is given to his 
farm, which, comprising ninety-six and a half acres of land, has been 
placed un<ler a high state of cultivation and is now an excellent tract, 
returning golden harvests for the care and labor bestowed upon it. 

G. H. DENIKE. M. D. 

Dr. G. H. Denike. who is engaged in the practice of medicine and 
surgery in Lniion. was born in Ottawa. Canada, on the 15th of Decem- 
ber, 1864. and is a son of .-Vndrew J. and Delilah C Snider) Denike. 
who were also natives of Canada. The paternal grandfather w-as a phy- 
sician in England, and on coming to the new world settled in Canada 
at an eru'lv day, there practicing his profession up to the time of his 
death, which occurred when he was in his sixty-seventh year. The 
mother of our subject was of Irish lineage, and her father came to 
Canada from Ireland also at an early period in the development of the 
northern country. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 625 

Dr. Denike was the fifth in order of birth in a family of three 
sons and three daughters. He was reared and educated in his native 
country, attending the common and high schools and also Alexander 
University, from which institution he was graduated on completing a 
classical course. Determining upon the practice of medicine as a life 
work he took up study in Queen's Medical College at Kingston, On- 
tario, with broad general learning to serve as a foundation upon which 
to rear the superstructure of his knowledge. He completed his col- 
legiate course by graduation in the class of 1882, and immediately after- 
ward located for practice at CampMlsford, Ontario. He was afterward 
upon the road for about four years as examiner for insurance companies, 
when, in 1898, he came to Union, where he has since engaged in the 
practice of medicine and surgery. In order to still further perfect him- 
self in his chosen calling he pursued a course in 1904-05 in Hahnemann 
Medical College and Hospital of Chicago. Afterward he resumed his 
professional labors in Union. He is well versed in the principles of 
practical science, and that he possesses skill and ability is indicated by 
the excellent results which have followed his efforts. 

Dr. Denike was married in 1888 to Miss Ida A. Wilson, a daughter 
of George Wilson, of Sterling, Ontario, in which place she was born 
and reared. This union has been graced with three daughters. Pearl. 
Nellie May and Ollie. The family occupies an enviable position in 
social circles, the hospitalit}' of the best homes of Union and the sur- 
rounding district being freelv accorded them. Dr. Denike is a mem- 
ber of Elkhart Medical Association, of Elkhart, Indiana. He is well 
known as a physician and citizen, and is prominent and popular, both 
socially and professionally. He has given undivided attention to his 
professional duties since entering upon the active practice of medicine, 
and a liberal patronage is now accorded him. 

CHARLES A. RITTER. 

Charles A. Ritter, cashier of the First National Bank of Cassopnlis, 
was born in Cassopolis, September 19, 1858. His paternal grandfather, 
John Ritter, was a native of Virginia, and came to Michigan in T828, 
first locating in Berrien county, but the following year he removed to 
Cass county, and located on the prairie in LaGrange township. He 
had but recently completed his cabin when one morning, while standing 
in the door, he was struck by lightning, his death occurring in the year 
of his arrival in this county. He left a family of three sons and one 
daughter, including Joseph K. Ritter. the father of our subject. He 
was the voungest and was reared upon the old homestead farm in La- 
Grange township. In 185 1 he came to Cassopolis and engaged in 
the drv goods business. In 1862 Mr. Ritter was elected county treas- 
urer, and served in that capacitv four years. In 1865 he again went into 
business, and continued in active mercantile life until 1875. He was 



62fi IITSTOm' Ol'- CASS COUNTY 

one of the original stockliolders and a director in the First National 
Bank of Cassopolis, and was made president in 1884, which position he 
held at the time of his death, which occurred July 30. 1891. Joseph 
K. Ritter was married to Miss Amanda l''. Kingslmry, a native of 
Necdham, Massachusetts, and a daughter of Asa Kingshuiy, who is rep- 
rcscnlcd on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Ritter became 
the jjarents of four children, one died in infancy and one flaughter at 
the age of thirteen years, the other daughter, Mrs. Dr. I'"unk, is living 
in Cassopolis. 

Charles A. Ritter is the second child of the family and was reared 
in Cassopolis. On the ist of July, 1877, he entered the First National 
Rank of Cassopolis as bookkeeper. Soon afterward he was made assist- 
ant cashier, continuing in that capacity until 1891, when he was chosen 
cashier, which position he is now filling. His connection with the bank 
covers a period of more than twenty-eight years, and the success of the 
institution is attributable in no small degree to his efforts. 

On the 13th of December. 1881, w-as celebrated the marriage of 
Mr. Ritter and Miss Mary F. Davis, a daughter of William and Fliza 
F. (Saunders) Davis. Mrs. Ritter was Ixirn in Trenton, Michigan, 
but was reared and educated at South Bend, Indiana. They have one 
son, Joseph K.. w^ho is yet at home with his parents. 

Mr. I^ilter was a trustee of the village of Cassopolis for a number 
of years and also i>resident of the village board for two terms, and he 
exercised his official prerogatives in support of all movements which 
he deemed of inililic benefit. 

WILU.\:\T H. STRFTCH. 

William H. Stretch is one of the old settlers of Cass county, and as 
such deserves re))rescntation in this \-oIume, for through many years he 
has lived within its borders, bis mind bearing the impress of the early 
historic annals of this part 1 if tlie state. He resides on section 27, 
LaCrange township, and is numbered among the native sons of Pokagon 
township, his birth having occurred upon the old Taylor homestead 
there on the 21st of .Xpril, 1846. His father, John Stretch, was a native 
of Wayne county, Indiana, and came to Cass county when only six 
years of age with bis parents. Joseph and Sarah Stretch, who were 
among the first settlers of the county. They received the first deed to 
a farm in their locality. The grandfather cultivated and improved a 
tract of land, spending his entire life upon the farm which he entered 
from the go\ernment, bis efforts contributing in substantial measure to 
the luaterial improvement of this part of the county. 

John Stretch was reared in Cass county amid the wild scenes and 
environments of iiionccr life. The primitive home of the family was 
a log cabin, and Ibc members of the household shared in all the hard-* 
ships and trials incident to life on the frontier. All around them was 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY C27 

unbroken prairie or stretches of timber land, and the work of cultivation 
seemed scarcely begun. Only here and there would Ije seen a little 
cabin to mdicate that the seeds of civilization had been planted which 
were in due time to bring forth good fruit. John Stretch assisted in the 
arduous task of developing new land and chose as his life work the 
occupation to which he was reared, always giving much of his time and 
attention to farming. However, he was likewise a preacher of the Ger- 
man Baptist church, and in this connection was well known in the 
county, his influence and efforts being of no restricted order. Both by 
precept and exam])le he led many into the better way of life and his 
memory is still cherished by a large number of those who were his 
friends and neighbors in his lifetime. He lived to be about sixty-five 
years of age. His early political support was given to the Whig party, 
and upon its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new Repulilican 
party. He married Miss Emilj- V. McCoy, a native of Virginia, who 
came to Cass county with her parents when about five years of age, 
and was here reared. She is still living in her eighty-first year, one of 
the most highly esteemed old ladies of the county. In their family were 
five sons, all of whom reached mature years, and they also reared an 
adopted daughter. Mrs. Anna Scheline. Air. Stretch, of this review, 
is the eldest of the five children, and four of the sons are now living in 
Cass county, while George is a resident of Berrien county. Michigan. 
The others are : Joseph, who resides in Pokagon townshij) ; Isaac, who 
is foreman in the drill shop at Dowagiac; and Ira. who is living upon 
the old homestead. 

William H. Stretch was reared in Pokagon township and pursued 
his education in the common schools. He assisted in clearing the farm 
in his boyhood days and in performing the various duties incident to 
the work of the old homestead. He continued under the parental roof 
until twenty-four years of age. when he was married. He first wedded 
Miss Margaret J. Collins, who died leaving one son, Clyde L. After 
losing his first wife, Mr. Stretch was married to Mrs. Edith (Jewell) 
Goodrich, who was killed by lightning. His present wife bore the 
maiden name of Emma Grace \\niite, and at the time of their marriage 
was the widow of W. W. Van Slyke. Mr. Stretch made his home in 
Pokagon township until about eight years ago, when he sold his property 
there and removed to LaGrange township, settling on section 27, where 
he vet resides. He has been a life-long resident of Cass county, having 
made his home here for fifty-nine years. .Any movement or plan for 
the public good receives his earnest attention and endorsement, and his 
aid can always be counted upon to further any mo\'ement that promises 
to result beneficially to the county. He is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church of Cassopolis. and his life has ever been honorable 
and u])right, in harmony with his professions. He has had a full realiza- 
tion of his duties of citizenship, and also of his duties to his fellow men. 
and has never been known to take advantage of the necessities of others 



(i2S HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

in any trade transaction. In fact his life is in many respects worthy of 
emulation and his fellow townsmen speak of him in teniis of regard 
and esteem. 

JOSEPH HESS. 

Joseph Hess, influential and enterprising, has found in his intense 
and well-directed energy the key that has unlocked the portals of suc- 
cess. Without special advantages to aid him at the outset of his career 
he has ne\'ertheless persevered in his work and has today valuahle land 
holdings in Cass county. He resides on section 34, Jefferson town- 
ship, where he has eighty acres of land and in addition to this he owns 
eighty acres of the old family homestead, ninety-three acres on section 
21, Jefferson township, and ninety-two acres in Ontwa township, so 
that his landed possessions now comprise two hundred and sixty-five 
acres, some of which he rents. Ohio has furnished a number of repre- 
sentative and valued citizens to Cass county, including Mr. Hess, who 
was born in Huntington township, Ross county, of the Buckeye state, 
on the 1 6th of August, 1846. His parents were Joseph and Belinda 
(Staines) Hess, both of whom have now passed away. The father 
was jjorn in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, where he spent his youth, 
subsequent to which time he removed to Ohio, locating in Ross county 
about 1838. There he lived for more than a decade, when with his 
family he came to Michigan in 1849, settling in Cass county. He then 
located in Jefferson township, where he purchased a farm, his land lying 
in both Jefferson and Ontwa townships. It was largely raw and unim- 
proved when it came into his possession but his labors soon wrought 
a transformation in the appearance of the property and the once uncul- 
tivated tract began to yield him good harvests as a reward for the care 
and labor he bestowed upon the fields. His entire life was devoted to 
farming and he kept in touch with modern progress as the primitive 
machinery was replaced by improved agricultural implements and large 
and commodious buildings were erected to supercede the small log cabins 
of pioneer days. In all matters of public progress he was deeply inter- 
ested, rejoicing in what was accomplished in the county and giving his 
active co-operation to any plan or measure for the public good. His 
study of the political issues and questions of the day led him to support the 
Democracy and upon that ticket he was elected supervisor and also to 
other local offices, the duties of which he discharged with promptness 
and fidelity. As a member of the school board he proved his interest in 
the cause of education by his advocacy of measures that tended to raise 
the standard of public instruction. He was a member of the old school 
Baptist church and his life was characterized by integrity that was un- 
assailable, while his business reputation would bear the closest investiga- 
tion and scrutiny. He was twice married, his first union being with ATiss 
Belinda Staines, who was a native of Pennsylvania and was of Ger- 
man and Swiss descent. She died at the age of sixtv-two vears, after 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY (329 

which Mr. Hess was again married, his second union being with a Mrs. 
Lewis. There were eight children born of the first marriage and one 
son by the second marriage. Of this number four are still living: 
Sarah, who was the wife of Richard Turner, a resident of Chillicothe, 
Ohio; Anna, who was born in Pennsylvania, May 3, 1838, and is now 
keepmg liouse with her brother upon the old homestead farm; Joseph, 
of this review ; and John, of Chillicothe, Ohio. The father reached the 
very venerable age of eighty-five years and in his death the county 
mourned the less of one of its representative pioneer settlers. 

Joseph Hess, the youngest member of his father's family, was a 
young lad when he came with his parents to Ohio. In fact he had 
scarcely attained his third year. His sister Anna, too, was a young 
child and both were reared in Jefferson township upon the farm where 
they have been keeping house for many years. Mr. Hess was educated 
in the district schools and received ample training at farm labor under 
the direction of his father, working at the plow from an early age and 
performing all such farm work as his years and strength permitted. He 
afterward purchased the interest of the other heirs in the old home prop- 
erty. Both he and his sister Anna own eighty acres of land in Jeffer- 
son township, to the cultivation and improvement of which he gives his 
energies and his close application and strong purpose are winning for 
him success that increases year by year. He also has ninety-three acres 
of land on section 21, and ninety-two acres in Ontwa township, so that 
his farm property covers two hundred and sixty-five acres, some of 
which he rents. He is likewise one of the stockholders in the creamery 
at Edwardsburg, a productive industry which is of value to the com- 
munity, furnishing a market to the farmers who keep a large number 
of cows and who sell their milk to the institution. 

Mr. Hess has been a lifelong Democrat, giving inflexible support 
to the principles of his party. He belongs to Edwardsburg camp. No. 
1492, M. W. A. If one could see a picture of the county as it appeared 
fifty-six years ago wdien Mr. Hess was first brought here there would 
be large tracts of forest in which not a tree had been felled, while upon 
the prairie would be seen the native grasses, as the land had not yet 
been broken. No bridges had been built across the streams and few 
roads had been laid out and it seemed that the work of development 
and improvement lay entirely in the future. The Hess family bore their 
full share in the work of upbuilding and the name has ever stood as a 
synonym for progressive citizenship and reliability in business during 
the long connection of the family with Cass county. 

GEORGE M. ETELDS. 

George M. Fields, the prosecuting attorney of Cass county, is pos- 
sessed of legal learning, an analytical mind and a readiness ingrasping 
the points in an argument — cpialities which coml>ine to make him a cap- 



630 HISTORV OF CASS COUNTY 

able lawyer of the Cass county bar. While his professional duties call 
him largely to Cassopolis he continues to make his home in Dowagiac 
His natal day was December 14, 1868, and his birth occurred upon a 
farm in Ottawa county, Ohio. His father, Edward Fields, was also a 
nati\e of that county and is a farmer by occupation. He still resides 
upon the old homestead where his entire life has been passed. His 
parents died when he was only ten years of age, and he then started 
out in life on his own account, since which time he has been dependent 
entirely upon his own resources. He was a soldier of the Civil war, 
serving- for about four years, and he lost his left arm while participating 
in the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. He married Miss Louisa Hunt, 
a nati\e nf .Seneca county, Ohio, who is also living. In their family 
were two st.ns. the elder being Hosea, who is an attorney by ])rofession 
but a farmer b\- occu]iaticin. 

(icorge M. I'iclds, reared upon the ulil family homestead, began his 
education in the country schools and afterward continued his studies in 
the high school at Monroeville, Huron county. Ohio, where he com- 
pleted his course in 1889. He then engaged in teaching school for one 
year in the Buckeye state, after which he entered the Michigan State 
University at .\nn Arbftr for the study of law and was graduated from 
the l<iw department in the class of 1893. He was then admitted to 
practice at Columbus, Ohio, and opened a law office in Toledo, that 
state, in 181)4. In June, 1895, he came to Dowagiac, where he entered 
into parlnershii) with Charles E. Sweet, which connection was con- 
tiiuied for one year, since which time he has been alone in business. He 
was elected circuit court commissioner in 1900 and prosecuting attf)r- 
ney in 19C12, since which tiiue he has been re-elected, so that he is now 
serving for the second term. He was also city attorney of Dowagiac in 
1900. 

Tn 1895 occurred the niarriage of George M. Fields and Miss Emily 
F. Bond, of Dowagiac, by whom he has one son, Harold B. In polit- 
ical affairs Mr. Fields is deeply interested, keeping well informed on 
the questions and issues of the day and giving his aid to every legitimate 
mea.sure which he believes will promote the success of the party and 
therein- advance the good of the State and natiou. Fraternally he is 
connected with the Elks Lodge, No. 889 at Dowagiac, and he has per- 
sonal characteristics which niake hini popular with his fellow towns- 
men, gaining for him wide friendships and favora1)le regard. Since 
locating in Dowagiac his practice h.'is been quite extensive and of an 
important cb.-iracter and be i)repares his cases with provident care and 
wide research. 

WTLLTAM F. PUTERBAITCH. 

William F. Futerbaugh, supervisor of Calvin township and living 
oil section t8. is a native of the neighboring state of Indiana, his birth 
having occurred in Concord township, Flkbait ciiunly, on the 25th of 







/^ 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 631 

September, 1852. He is a son of Joseph and Sarah (Patterson) Puter- 
baugh. His paternal grandfather, George Puterbaugh, was a native of 
Pennsyhania, and the great-grandfather, a native of Gennany, 
was the only representati\'e of this family that e\er came to Amer- 
ica as far as the knowledge of his posterity extends. George 
Puterbaugh was reared in the Keystone state, learned the millwright's 
trade in early life and built many mills. He was also a farmer and was 
quite a successful business man, providing liberally for his family. He 
was also a minister of the German Baptist church and took an active 
part in the moral development of the communities in which he lived and 
labored. 

Joseph Puterbaugh, father of our subject, was torn in Ohio and 
in the year 1849 removed to Elkhart county, Indiana, where he en- 
gaged in farming. For many years he followed that pursuit, but eventu- 
ally put aside business cares and in the enjoyment of a well earned rest 
made his home in the city of Elkhart during the last ten years of his 
life. He also filled the office of justice of the peace and was assessor 
of Concord township. Local progress and national advancement were 
both causes dear to his heart and his active co-operation could be counted 
upon for the benefit of any plan or movement intended for the general 
good of his county. He married Miss Sarah Patterson, who was born 
in central Indiana and died in Elkhart county in her sixty-fifth year. 
She was of Scotch lineage and was a daughter of William Patterson, 
who was born in the state of New York. He left home when a small 
boy under peculiar circunistances and therefore little is known con- 
cerning the ancestral history of the family. 

William F. I'uterbaugh, whose name introduces tliis record, is the 
eldest in a family of three sons and two daughters. He was reared in 
Concord township, Elkhart county. Indiana, and at the usual age en- 
tered the district schools, wherein he mastered various branches of 
learning that qualified him for life's practical and responsible duties. 
He afterward remained at home until about twenty-six years of age 
and assisted in the work of the farm from the time oi early spring plant- 
ing until crops were harvested in the late autumn. Thus he gained 
practical knowledge of the business which he has made his life work and 
whicli now claims his time and energies. 

March 17, 1878, occurred the marriage of Mr. Puterbaugh and 
Miss Ida M. Dodge, a daughter of Eliphalet and Sarah J. (Riggs) 
Dodge. Mrs. Puterbaugh was a nati\'e of Elkhart county, where her 
parents located at an earl)' day, and there her girlhood days were passed. 
She, too. wn-^ a student in the public schools and in her father's home 
she was trained to tlie duties of the household, so that she was well 
equipped to care for a liome of lier own at the time of her marriage. 
Supplemenling her training in the common schools she took a full 
teacher's course at the Goshen Normal, at Goshen, Indiana, graduating 



(532 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

in the class of 1874, and was a successful teacher in her native county 
of Elkhart, Indiana, from 1872 to 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Puterbaugh 
began iheir domestic life in Concord township, Elkhart county, where 
he engaged in farming. He lived in three different townships of that 
county, remaining for four years in Concord township, two years in 
Osolo townshi]) and one year in Baugo township. He then removed to 
California, in 1884, and spent one year on the Pacific coast, crossing 
the continent each time by rail. When he again came to the middle 
west he established his home in Calvin township, Cass county, where he 
purchased the farm upon which he has since resided. Here he has one 
hundred and seven acres of good land, which he has improved in many 
ways. He has brought his fields under a high state of cultivation and 
annually harvests tliercfroni good crops. He also has good grades of 
stock upon his place and the improvements are in keeping with the mod- 
ern farm properties of the twentieth centur\\ He votes with the Re- 
publican party, and in 1905 was elected to the office of township super- 
visor, which position he has since filled. He has also been officially 
connected with the schools of this community, and he is a valued and 
exemplary member of the Masonic lodge at Cassopolis and of the Odd 
Fellows lodge at Redfield, Cass county. His residence in the county 
covers about twenty-two years, and his record has ever been such as 
would bear close investigation and scrutiny, for he has conducted his 
business aiifairs honorably, has lived at peace with his fellow men and 
has wrought along lines contributing to individual success and to the 
public good as well. 

JOHN LONGSDUFF. 

Long a resident of Cass county, John Longsduff has therefore wit- 
nessed much of its growth and development as the years have gone by 
and changes have been wrought that have transformed it from a frontier 
district into one of the leading counties of this great commonwealth. 
He lives on section 8, Calvin township, where he has a good farm prop- 
erty comprising one hundred and twenty-eight acres of rich and arable 
land. Here he took up his abode in 1865 and in partnership with his 
wife he owns this property and gi\"es his attention to its further develop- 
ment and cultivation. 

His life record began in Pennsylvania on the 20th of August. 1836. 
He is a son of Martin Longsdufif, also a native of Pennsvlvania and a 
brother of George Longsdufif, one of the enterprising citizens of this 
county. His paternal grandfather, Martin Longsduff. Sr., was a native 
of Germany and in that countr}' was reared and married. Crossing 
the jXtlantic to the new world he became one of the early residents of 
Pennsvlvania. In his family were ten children, of whom Martin Longs- 
duff, Jr.. was the eldest. He was a native of the same state and was 
there reared and educated. He was married twice and in 1834 re- 
moved from Pennsylvania to Ohio, taking up his abode in Union town- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY G33 

ship, Logan count}-, where he secured a tract of land and improved 
a farm. He remained a resident of that state for ahnost four decades 
and came to Michigan in 1872. Here he spent his remaining days, 
passing away at the age of eighty-five years. In his rehgious views he 
was a Lutheran and he exemphfied in his Hfe iiis behef in the teach- 
ings of holy writ. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name 
of Matilda (Juigley and was a native of Hagerstown, New Jersey, 
where her girlhood days were passed. She was the second wife of Mar- 
tin Longsduff, his former union having been with a Miss Searfoss, by 
whom he had one daughter, Elizalieth. By the second marriage there 
were born eleven children, one of whom died in early youth, while ten 
reached adult age and four of the number, two sons and two daugh- 
ters, are still living and are residents of Cass county. 

John Longsduff was only about a year old when his parents removed 
to Logan county, Ohio, where they remained lor eleven years, and he 
then accompanied them on their removal to Michigan. The familv 
home was established in Cass coimty near \'andalia and he grew to man- 
hood upon the farm from the age of twelve years. His educational 
privileges were those afforded by the public schools of the different 
localities in which he resided. The period of his minority was spent 
upon the old family homestead and he assisted in the operation of the 
farm and in the support of his mother. After attaining his inajority 
he purchased land and improved a farm in Penn township. On the Qtli 
of February, 1865. he was married to Miss Martha E. Hull, who was 
b"om on the farm where she now resides. Her parents were Isaac and 
Maria Hull, who came from Ohio to Cass county at an early day. In 
the year of tlieir marriage Mr. and Mrs. Longsduff located where they 
now reside and his labors have further improved the property until it 
is now a splendidly cultivated farm. In connection with the tilling of 
the soil he engaged in buying and shipping hogs for a number of years 
and found this a profitable source of income. 

Mr. Longsduff exercises his right of franchise in support of the 
men and measures of the Democracy and is regarded as an enterprising 
citizen of the county, who has taken an active interest in public affairs, 
his efforts proving far reaching and beneficial. He is connected with 
one of the prominent old families of this part of the state and is justly 
entitled to mention among its representative citizens. 

BARAK L. RUDD. 

Barak L. Rudd. proprietor of the Forest Hall Hotel, at Diamond 
Lake, near Cassopolis. was born in Newburg township. October 21, 
1846, and belongs to that class of citizens who find in the faithful per- 
formance of each day's duties opportunity for the exercise of their tal- 
ents and energies and gain through their industry, perseverance and 
diligence the success which is the desired goal of all business endeavor. 

Mr. Rudd is descended from New England ancestry. His father. 



634 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Barker F. Rudd. was a native of Rutland, Vermont, born in 1810, and 
in 1834 he came to Cass county, being then a young man of twenty- 
four years. He found here a district largely wild and unimproved, and 
he established his home in what is now Newberg township, teing one 
of the first settlers of the county, and aiding in its primitive development 
and progress. He assisted in organizing the township, in formulating 
its plan of government and he was afterward called to the offices of 
justice of the peace and supervisor. In i>olitics he was originally a 
Whig, and upon the organization c^f the new Republican party joined 
its ranks, continuing to give it his support until his death, which oc- 
curred when he was seventy years of age. In early manhood he mar- 
ried Lucinda Brakeman. a daughter of Lewis Brakeman, who was cap- 
tain nf a schooner and was lost on Lake St. Clair. The Rudds were of 
Scotch and Irish descent. In the father's familv there were four daugh- 
ters and four sous. 

Barak L. Rudd, the second son and fourth child, was reared upon 
the old family homestead and in his youth attended the common schools, 
while in the summer months his attention was devoted to the work of 
plowing, planting and han-esting. He was a young man of but .seven- 
teen years when in response to his country's call for aid he enlisted in 
1863 as a member of the Fourteenth Michigan Batten,' of light artillery. 
He joined that command as a private and served for two years, or until 
the close of the war, being largely engaged in duty in the vicinitv of 
Washington. Following the cessation of hostilities he returned to his 
native township, where he was engaged in farming. He continued to 
till the soil until 1880, when he turned his attention to commercial 
pursuits, opening a store in Vandalia, where he carried on. business for 
si.x years, or until 1886. The same year he was elected supervisor of 
Penn township, and was also chosen to the office of county clerk, which 
position he held for four years, or two terms. In 1891 he purchased the 
Forest Hall Hotel, which he has since been conducting. It is a well 
known hostelry, containing about forty rooms, and is pleasantly situ- 
ated on the north shore of Diamond lake. A liberal patronage is ac- 
corded, the hotel having become a favorite summer resort, and in con- 
nection with its conduct Mr. Rudd also maintains a boat livery. He 
closely studies the needs and wi.shes of his patrons, and does everything 
in his power for the comfort, welfare and happiness of his guests. At 
the same time he manages the business interests of the house with capa- 
liility and is meeting with good success. 

In i88o' Mr. Rudd was united in marriage to Miss Alice G. Gep- 
liart, a daughter of Jacob and Margaret Gephart, and unto them has 
been born a son, Leo E. Rudd, wlio died when eleven years of age. 
When age gave to Mr. Rudd the right of franchise he acknowledged 
his belief in the principles of the Republican party, and has since been 
one of its stalwart advocates. He is a member of the Albert .Anderson 
Post. No. 157, G. A. R.. and maintains pleasant relationships with his 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 635 

old army comrades at the camp rires and in the work of the organiza- 
tion. His devotion to his country is manifest in the same loyal spirit 
of helpfulness and progress which he displayed when upon southern bat- 
tlefields he fearlessly defended the old flag and the cause which it rej)- 
resented. He has always lived in Cass county and the fact that many 
of his stanchest friends are numbered among those who have known him 
from his boyhood days down to the present is an indication of an hon- 
orable and upright life. 

HENRY CLAY WiYLKER. 

Henry Clay Walker is one of the prominent old settlers of Cass 
county and a veteran of the Civil war. He resides on section 5, Cal- 
vin township, being owner of Brookside farm, which is a well improved 
property. His birth occurred in LaGrange township, Elkhart county, 
Indiana, on the 13th of September, 1841, and he is descended from an 
old New England family. His father, Lucius Walker, was a native of 
Vermont, in which state he spent the days of his Ijoyhood and youth. 
He became a farmer by occupation and has devoted his entire life to 
that calling. About 1846 he removed to Indiana, establishing his home 
in Elkhart county. He married Miss Lydia S. Sanborn, who was also 
a native of New England, born either in A'^ermont or New Hampshire. 
They became the parents of eleven children, nine of whom reached man- 
hood or womanhood, while five are living at this writing in 1906. 

Henry Clay Walker, the ninth in order of birth in his father's 
family, spent his youth in the county of his nativity. In 1858 his par- 
ents removed from the farm to Bristol, Elkhart county, and he remained 
at home until the time of his enlistment for service in the Civil war. 
His patriotic spirit was aroused by the continued attempt of the south 
to destroy the Union, and in August, 1862, he enrolled his name among 
the boys in blue of Company I, Eighty-eighth Indiana Volunteer In- 
fantry. He joined the army as a private and served until the follow- 
ing Januarv, when he was honoralily discharged on account (if physical 
disability occasioned by illness. 

Following his return to Bristol, Mr. ^^'alker continued his educa- 
tion by pursuing a course of study in the Nnrthern Indiana College at 
South Bend, where he remained "for one year. He afterward entered 
business life as a merchant at Vandalia, Michigan, opening a general 
line of goods there. He was also postmaster of the town for nine years 
and discharged the duties of the position in connectinn with the man- 
agement of the store, in which he met with a fair measure of success, 
enjoying a growing trade by reason of his fair dealing and his earnest 
desire to please his patrons' In 1873, however, he retired from com- 
mercial life and took up his aliodc upon the farm on which he now 
resides on section 5, Calvin township, and has since given his attention 
to general farmino-. His fields are well tilleil and the place is equipped 



rm HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

with many iiiudern improvements, including the best machinery for 
plowing, planting and harvesting. In his work he is practical and me- 
thodical arid his lalxjrs have been so carefully directed that a gratifying 
measure of jin^sperity has attended him. His farm comprises two hun- 
dred acres, the greater part of which is under a high state of cultivation 
and it is appropriately named Brookside farm. 

In 1872 Mr. Walker was united in marriage to Miss Olive M. Hull, 
a daughter of Isaac and Maria Hull. They have become the parents 
of one daughter and one son. but the former, Minnie, died when only 
three years of age. The son. T. McKinnon Walker, an accomplished 
pianist, is at home. 

Mr. Walker has taken an active interest in public affairs and his 
fellow townsmen, recognizing his fitness for positions of public trust, 
have called him to a number of offices. He has served as township 
clerk, occupying that position while in Vandalia and for three terms 
has been township treasurer in Calvin township. The cause of educa- 
tion finds in him a stalwart friend and all matters for the general good 
receive his endorsement and co-operation. He has been justice of the 
peace for about sixteen years, rendering decisions which are strictly 
fair and impartial and be always votes with the Republican party. Fra- 
ternally he is connected with Albert Anderson Post, No. 258. G. A. R., 
at Cassopolis, and has filled some of the offices in that order. Through- 
out his entire life he has manifested the same spirit of loyalty which 
prompted his enlistment for service in the Civil war. 

WILLIAM H. COULTER. 

William H. Coulter, a grain dealer of Cassopolis, was born in 
Howard township, this county, on the loth of October, 1842. He is a 
son of James Coulter and a grandson of John Coulter, the latter a native 
of Ireland, who .served as a soldier in the Irish rebellion. He came to 
America in 1798, becoming the founder of the family in the new world, 
establishing his residence in Cincinnati, where he was married. At a 
later date he removed to Clinton county, Ohio, and in 1834 he came to 
Cass county, Michigan, locating over seven hundred acres of land in 
Howard town.ship. The journey was made with an ox team and John 
Coulter cast in his lot with the pioneer residents of this part of the 
state. Few improvements had been made as yet, the greater part of the 
land being still in its primitive condition, while the forests were uncut, 
the streams unbridged and the sod unturned upon the prairies. 

James Coulter, father of our subject, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
and on coming to Cass county in 1835 l<^cated in Howard townsliip. 
He was then a young man and he bore his full share in the work of 
early imiirovement and progress here. After two years he returned to 
his native state and was then married, after which he brought his bride 
back to Howard township, where he spent his remaining days, there 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 637 

developing and improving a good farm. He was an active supporter 
of the Republican party and held various local offices. His early politi- 
cal allegiance, however, was given to the Democracy, and he voted for 
Franklin Pierce, but in 1856 he cast his ballot for John C. Fremont, 
the first presidential candidate of the new Republican party. In the 
Methodist Episcopal church he was a very earnest and active worker 
and in Howard township he erected a house of worship, which is still 
standing. He died in his sixty-sixth year, and his loss was deeply re- 
gretted by many friends, for all with whom he had come in contact 
knew him to be a man of sterling integrity, of steadfast purpose and of 
unquestioned honor. He married Miss Ann Wilson, a native of Clin- 
ton county, Ohio, and a daughter of Amos Wilson, also of the same 
coimty. Her father was a Baptist minister and was of Welsh descent. 
Mrs. Coulter lived to be eighty-three years of age. In the family were 
seven children, all of whom were born in Howard township, Cass county, 
and of this number two sons and two daughters are yet living, namely : 
]\Iargaret, the wife of Ephraim White, who is living upon the old Coul- 
ter homestead in Howard township: John, a prominent politician and 
farmer, who resides in the same township: William H., of this review; 
and Sarah A., the wife of James Douglas, of Marion, Indiana. 

Mr. Coulter is the sixth child and youngest son in the family. No 
event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life 
for him in his youth. He was reared upon the old family homestead 
in Howard township and early became familiar with the best methods 
of tilling the soil and caring for the stock. He resided upon the farm 
until 1892, when he was elected sheriff of Cass county and the same 
year took up his abode in Cassopolis. Following the expiration of his 
term of service he made a trip to California, where he remained from 
January until April, enjoying the mild climate and the beauties of that 
sunny land. He then returned to his farm in Howard township, where 
he again lived for two years, when he once more took up his abode in 
Cassopolis. Here he turned his attention to the grain trade in company 
with James Johnson, which partnership continued for a year, since which 
time Mr. Coulter has had different partners. He is now associated with 
John Atkison under the firm style of Coulter & Atkison. grain ship- 
pers. He has done quite a large business and has thereby provided an 
excellent market for local producers. He deals in grain, produce and 
coal and has a large patronage, so that he makes extensive sales an- 
nually. He also owns a farm of one hundred and sixty-seven acres in 
Jefferson township, which is valuable and productive land and returns 
to hirn a good income. 

Mr. toulter was united in marriage on the 4th of January. 1866, 
to Miss Abigail Vary, a daughter of Benjamin and Mary (Rogers) 
Vary, who was bom in Oneida county. New York, near Rome andcame 
to Cass county in 1860 when she was twelve years of age._ She died in 
1893 during her husband's incumbency in the office of sheriff, and on the 



638 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

3r(l of January. 1895, Mr. Coulter was again married, his second union 
being- with Adche Smith, a daughter of D. B. and Charlotte Smith. They 
iiave no children of their own, but have adopted a daughter, Maria W. 
Mr. Coulter has ever manifested the interest of a public spirited citizen 
in all matters relating to the general welfare, and he exercises his right 
of franchise in support of the men and measures of the Republican 
party. He desires general advancement and improvement along lines 
of permanent good, and in his views relating to the public welfare he 
is jjractical as well as progressive. He holds membership in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, of which he is a trustee and in the work of 
which he takes an active and helpful part. 

D.WID CLARENCE THICKSTUN. 

David Clarence Thickstnn, a well known dealer in lumber and coal 
in Cassopolis, was born in Cassewago, Crawford county, Pennsylvania, 
on the 26th of May, 1850. His father, David Thickstun, was a native 
cf the same locality and was a farmer by occupation. His death oc- 
curred at the place of his nativity when he was about sixty years of 
age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Nancy Erwin, was also 
a native of Crawford county, where she died when fifty-seven years of 
age. In their family were six children, who reached adult age. 

David C. Thickstun. the youngest, was reared under the parental 
roof, remaining at home until twenty-three years of age, when, think- 
ing that he might have better business opportunities in the middle west, 
he made his way to Lapeer, Michigan, where he secured a position as 
bookkeeper in the emplov of J. L. Beringer & Company, dealers in lum- 
ber. He continued with that house until his removal to Cassopolis to 
take charge of a branch lumber yard here. After two vears he was 
admitted to a partnership in the business in Cassopolis by Mr. Beringer, 
this relationship being maintained for about two years, when he pur- 
chased bis partner's interest, being alone in business until T905, when 
he admitted his son-in-law, Frank K. Arnold, to a partnership under the 
firm style of Thickstun & Arnold. Mr. Thickstun has now been engaged 
in the lumber business in Cassopolis for twenty-seven years and is one 
of the best known and most prominent business men of the town, hav- 
ing a liberal patronage, which is accorded him in recognition of his 
straightforward and honorable dealing, his reasonable prices and his 
earnest efforts to please his customers. 

Mr. Thickstun married Miss Hattie May Rogers, a daughter of 
Stilnian M. Rogers, who was born in Mexico, New York. Her mother 
liorc the maiden nan.ie of Sarah Rnnkle and was a native of Paterson, 
New Jersey. Mr. Rogers departed this life at the age of fiftv-seven 
years and his wife Avhen fifty-eight years of age. They were the par- 
ents of ten children, five sons and five daughters, of whom Mrs. Thick- 
stun is the voungest. Unto our subject and his wife have been born two 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 639 

daughters: Elnora. the wife of Frank E. Arnold, who is engaged in 
business with her father; and Irma, the wife of Vernon Tourje, who is 
abstract clerk in the Grand Trunk freight office at Durand, Michigan. 

In his political affiliation Mr. Thickstun is a Democrat, while fra- 
ternally he is a prominent Mason. He has taken the degrees of the 
lodoe 'chajjter and commanderv, is also a member of the Mystic Shrine 
and" belongs to the Benevolent' & Protective Order of Elks and also to 
an organization of lumbermen, the Hoo Hoos. He has been a represen- 
tative of the lumber trade in Michigan for over thirty years and is thor- 
oughly informed concerning the luisiness in all its departments. He 
has from the beginning of his residence in Cassopohs enjoyed a con- 
stantly increasing trade and his excellent business qualifications and en- 
terprise combined with strong puqMse and unfaltering diligence have 
constituted the source of his prosperity. He foimd m the middle west 
the business opportunities he sought, and by the improvement ot his 
advantages made steady progress until he is now classed with the sub- 
stantial and prosperous residents of Cass county. 

JONATHAN H. RENCH. 

Tonathan H Rench, formerlv identified with agricultural interests 
and now a well known resident of Cassopolis. was born m Clark county 
Ohio, January lo, 1842. His father. Daniel Rench. was a native of 
the Buckeye state and came to Cass county in 1856. Two_ years after- 
ward he removed to Calhoun county. Michigan, where his remaining 
days were passed. He was a farmer and miller, devoting bis entire life 
to 'the milling business, while in Ohio and in Michigan he gave ^'^ atten^ 
tion to the ttlling of the soil. His father Avas of a Pennsylvania Dutch 
family Daniel Rench reached the advanced age of seventy-seven years 
ere he was called to his final rest in Calhoun county. His wife bore 
the maiden name of Mary Williams, xvas a native of Ohio ^"'1 d'ed in 
Calhoun county, Michigan, in the eighty-fifth year of her age. "their 
Sly were twelve children, of whom two passed away m childhood, 
while ten reached mature years and seven are now hving. 

Tonathan H. Rench is the ninth child in his fathers family and 
was ixteen years of age when he came to Cass county. Here he began 
vorkinc: by 'the month as a farm hand and he has since been dependent 
lin his own resources, so that he may well be termed a se! -made 
S who as the architect of his own fortunes has '-" ^ f w^e Y and 
well It was about the time of his arrival in Cass county tl^at lie cast 
his first presidential vote supporting the Democratic nominee for pres- 
cient and he has never failed to vote at a presidential election since that 

''""in 186^ Mr. Rench was united in marriage to Miss Percilla J^ 
Thorn a daughter of Laben and Lydia (Reams) Thorp, who came to 
Ss 'cnmU at an earlv epoch in its development. Mrs. Rench was 



640 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

born in Jefferson township, Cass county, on the 4th of January, 1846, 
and tia? spent her entire hfe here. At the time of their marriage Mr. 
and Mrs. Rench located on a farm in Jefferson township, their home 
being a log house in which they lived in pioneer style. He continued 
farming there for about ten years, when he removed to Cassopolis and 
for a time was in the employ of the Michigan Central Railroad Com- 
pany. Later, however, he turned his attention to the butchering busi- 
ness, which he followed for eleven years, at the end of which time he 
invested his capital in fifty-five acres of land about a mile and a quarter 
south of Cassopolis. There he carried on farming, but at a more recent 
date he sold the property and now lives just outside the corporation 
limits of Cassopolis. His life has been active, his years characterized 
by enterprise and diligence and he is now in possession of a comfortable 
competence which has come to him through his own labors. 

Unto. Mr. and Mrs. Rench ha\-e been born four children : Capitnla, 
now the wife of H. D. Badgley. of Cassopolis; Grant, who is living in 
Battle Creek, Michigan; Verna, the wife of S. S. Albright, of Sacra- 
mento, California ; and Delpha. who is at home. Mr. Rench has been a 
lifelong Democrat, and for fourteen years he has filled the office of 
supervisor of roads. He belongs to the KJnights of Maccabees fratern- 
ity, and has a wide acquaintance in Cass county, where for forty-nine 
years he has made his home, taking an active and helpful interest in its 
public affairs. He has rejoiced in what has been accomplished as the 
conditions of pioneer life have been done away with through the efforts 
of the enterprising citizens in behalf of general improvement and ad- 
vancement. He has never sought to figure prominently in official cir- 
cles, but has been content to perform his daily duty and found in labor 
the reward which has made him one of the substantial citizens of his 
communitv, now enabling him to live a retired life. 

Z.\DOK JARVIS. 

Few residents of Cass county have resided longer within its bor- 
ders than has Zadok Janns, who for almost seventy-three years has been 
a citizen here, watching with interest its growth and development as 
great changes have occurred. He has been a witness of its various 
transition stages as the evidences of pioneer life were replaced by the 
indications of a more advanced civilization and as the county has taken 
on all of the improvements of our modern day prosperity and progress. 
His mind goes back to the time when Cassopolis was but a small village 
and other cities of the county had not yet sprung into existence or were 
but mere hamlets. He rernembers where there were great stretches of 
forest where now are seen fields of waving grain, for much of the land 
at that time was still in possession of the government and only here 
and there was a little cabin to indicate that the work of clearing and 
development had been begun. There was much hard labor to be done 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 641 

in those early days, for the improved farm machiner}^ of the present 
time was unknown and much of the work had to be done by hand. Few 
of the household comforts now so common were then enjoyed, but 
there was a spirit of hospitality abroad in pioneer districts that made 
those early homes notable. As a representative pioneer settler Mr. Jar- 
vis certainly deserves mention in this volume. 

He was born four miles south of Richmond in Wayne county, In- 
diana, on the 15th of December, 1827, a son of Zadok and Lucy 
(Owens) Jarvis, both of whom were natives of North Carolina, born in 
Rowan county. After living for some time in Indiana the father came 
with his family to Cass county in 1833, locating first in LaGrange town- 
ship. He was a lifelong farmer, always following that occupation in 
order to provide for those dependent upon him for support. In many 
ways he was identified with the improvement and upbuilding of the 
county and aided in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which 
has been builded the present superstructure of progress and prosperity. 
He voted with the Democracy, was fearless in support of his honest 
convictions and was regarded as a man whom to know was to respect 
and honor. His death occurred in His sixty-eighth year, while his widow 
reached the very advanced age of ninety-seven years, being perhaps the 
oldest citizen of Cass county at the time of her demise. In the family of 
this worthy couple were seven children, four sons and three daughters, 
all of whom reached mature 5'ears, married and reared families of their 
own with the exception of one sister, who was married but had no 
children. 

Mr. Jarvis of this reviev^^ was the sixth child and }'oungest son, 
and was a little lad of six summers when he came with his parents to 
Cass county, Michigan. He can remember many incidents of those early 
days — incidents which became important factors in the history of the 
county. Flis education was obtained in the pioneer schools and he re- 
ceived ample training at farm labor, taking his place in the fields as 
soon as old enough to handle the plow. He remained with his father 
until the latter's death and in fact he is the only surviving member of 
the family. In 185 1 he was married to Miss Rebecca Simpson, whose 
birth occurred in Cass cotmty, her parents being Elias and Rachel 
Simpson, who were pioneer settlers of this part of the state. 

Immediately after his marriage Mr. Jarvis located upon the farm 
upon which he now resides, and it has been his home almost continuously 
since, save that he spent about three years in Dowagiac. The farm was 
covered with timber or stumps at the time it came into his possession 
and he entered upon the difficult task of preparing the fields for the 
plow. He has cleared most of the farm himself and for fifty-four years 
has lived in LaGrange township, working earnestly and persistently year 
after year and gaining through his unfaltering purpose and capable man- 
agement the reward of all well-directed labor. He now owns one hun- 



642 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

dred and twenty acres of good land and in 1905 he gave to his son 
John eighty acres of land. 

Unto Mr. Jarvis by his first marriage were born five children, 
namely : Henry, Helen, Francis, Almanson and Almira, the last two 
being twins. Having lost his first wife Mr. Jarvis was again married, 
his second union being with Margaret Cudderback. They became the 
parents of four children : Zed. John and two who are now deceased. 

Mr. Jarvis voted with the Republican party until 1872, when he 
became a Democrat. He has served as a member of the township board, 
was at one time a member of the Masonic fraternity and belongs to the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Dowagiac. An honorable and straight- 
forward life characterized by recognition of the rights of others in busi- 
ness has made Mr. Jarvis one of the esteemed and prominent old settlers 
of LaGrange township. He can rememlier the days when the pioneers 
had to go long distances to market or mill and often over roads that in 
certain seasons of the year were almost impassable. There were no 
railroads and all communication with the outside world was made by 
private conveyance or by stage. The most far sighted would not have 
dreamed that there would one day be a rural mail route and that there 
would be telephonic connections between the towns and the farm homes. 
As we look back and think of the conditions that existed in those early 
days the change seems marvelous, and yet it has resulted from the care- 
ful, laborious effort of the settlers who have been men of enterprising 
spirit and have kept pace with the uniform progress and improvement 
here. Mr. Jarvis has made continual advancement in his business ca- 
reer, keeping in touch with ideas of modern farming and as the years 
have gone by be has prospered in his undertakings. 

WILLL^M H. C. HALE. 

William H. C. Hale, county commissioner of schools and a resi- 
dent of Cassopolis. was born in Wells county, Indiana, on the 6th of 
July, T853. In th^ patemal line he comes of Scotch and English ances- 
try. His grandfather, Henry Hale, was a native of Mar\'land, born in 
T787, wlience he removed to Jefiferson county, Ohio, there devoting his 
time and cnergie? to farming until his later years, when he put aside 
active business cares. He died in the ninety-fourth year of his age. 
Stephen ?Iale. father of our subject, was born in Jefferson county. Ohio, 
was reared to the occupation of farming and made that pursuit his life 
work. Removing westward, he became one of the early residents of 
Wells countv Indiana, where he settled about 1840. and in January, 
1864, he removed to Cass county, Michigan, taking up his abode in Cal- 
vin township, where be was engaged in general agricultural pursuits up 
to the time rif his death, which occurred when he was sixty-six years of 
age. Rcalip^ing the value of education, he was deeply interested in the 
cause of nubb'c instruction, and for some years ser\'ed as a school di- 
rector. In politics he was a lifelong Republican. He wedded Miss 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 643 

Nancy Reed, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Arthur Reed, 
who was born in Ireland. Mrs. Hale passed away at the age of sixty- 
five years. By her marriage she had become the mother of eleven chil- 
dren, seven daughters and four sons, of which number seven reached 
adult age. 

Professor William H. C. Hale of this review was the third son and 
tenth child. He was reared in his native county until ten years of age, 
when he came with his parents to Cass cormty, and after acquiring his 
preliminary education in the district schools he entered the State Nor- 
mal College at Ypsilanti, Michigan, completing the common school 
course in 1878. He then engaged in teaching school for several years 
in Cass county, after which he returned to Ypsilanti in 1889 and com- 
pleted the regular normal course by graduation in 189 1, having finished 
the assigned work in the literary and scientific departments. He re- 
ceived a teacher's life certificate for the state of Michigan and for three 
years he was principal of the Ouinnesec school, after which he returned 
and taught in Cas.s county for about four years. He was then elected 
county commissioner of schools in igoi and was re-elected in 1903, so 
that he is still holding the office. He has made a close and earnest study 
of the needs and possibilities of the schools and his efforts in this direc- 
tion have been attended with gratifying success, for under his guidance 
the standard of the schools has been raised and good work has been 
done. 

Other political offices and honors have been conferred upon Pro- 
lessor Hale, who for four years served as justice of the peace in Cal- 
vin township. His decisions were strictly fair and impartial and he 
proved a capable officer. He was also school inspector in the same 
township for six years and in 1900 he took the United States census 
in Calvin township. In 1884 he was the Republican candidate for coun- 
ty clerk, but that year witnessed a Democratic landslide and he failed 
of election. He is now and for some years has been a member of the 
Republican county central committee and does all in his power to pro- 
mote the growth and insure the success of his party. His entire life 
has been devoted to educational work and official duties, and over the 
record of his public and private career there falls no shadow of wrong, 
for his labors have been characterized by an imquestioned fidelity to 
duty. Earnest effort, close application and the exercise of his native 
talents won him prestige as an educator, while his per.sonal characteris- 
tics have made him a popular citizen. 

ALLEN M. KINGSBURY. 

Allen M. Kingsbury, resides on section 29, LaGrange township, 
where he owns and controls valuable farming interests and in addition 
to carrying on agricultural pursuits he is also acting as vice-president 
of the First National Bank of Cassopolis. He represents one of the 



644 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

oldest and most prominent pioneer families of Cass county. The stu- 
dent of history cannot carry his investigations far into the annals of 
this county without learnins: cf the close, valuable and honorable con- 
nection of the Kingsburys with the events which have molded the pol- 
icy and shaped the development of this part of the state. His father 
was Asa Kingsbury, a native of Massachusetts, who came to Michigan 
when much of this district was wild and unimproved. In his family 
were thirteen children, seven sons and six daughters, of whom Allen 
M. Kingsbury is the third child and second son. He was born upon the 
old homestead farm in LaGrange township' and was there reared to 
manhood, acquiring his education in the schools of Oak Grove, Cass- 
opolis and Jackson townships. When not busy with his text-books he 
aided in the work of field and meadow and continued to assist his father 
in the operation of the home farm until twenty-one years of age, when 
he started out in life on his own account, following the pursuit to which 
he had been reared. He became an energetic agriculturist of LaGrange 
township and as the years have gone by has carefully conducted his 
farming interests. After his marriage he located upon the old home- 
stead for a year and then removed to the farm upon which he now 
resides and which has since been his place of residence. It comprises 
two hundred acres of rich and arable land, which responds readily to 
the care and cultivation that is bestowed upon it. He is both practical 
and progressive in his methods, is methodical and systematic in his work 
and keeps in touch with the most advanced ideas of modern farming. 
He is also numbered among the stockholders of the First National Bank 
of CassopoHs and is now serving as its vice-president. 

In 1877 Mr. Kingsbury was united in marriage to Miss May L. 
Haynes, who was born and reared in Jackson county, Michigan, and 
by this marriage five children have been born : Floy, who is now the 
wife of Fred B. Lamb, a resident of Perth Amboy. New Jersey ; Jessie 
who is engaged in teaching in Lewistown, Montana; Alberta, who is a 
teacher in New Jersey; Allen W., who is assisting his father in the work 
of the home farm ; and Catharine, who is attending school in Cassopolis. 
All are natives of Cass county and were reared upon the old family 
homestead. 

Mr. Kingsbury has likewise spent his entire life in Cass county 
and is a worthy representative of one of its most honored and promi- 
nent pioneer families, and his lines of life have been cast in harmony 
therewith. He has always stood for good citizenship and for all that 
is straightforward in man's relations with his fellow men. and he re- 
ceives and merits the confidence and good will of those with whom he 
has been associated. Since age conferred upon him the right of fran- 
chise he has voted for the men who are pledged to support the princi- 
ples of Democracy. He sen'ed as township treasurer of LaGrange 
town.ship and has also been justice of the peace, rendering decisions in 
that office that were strictly fair and impartial. In the Masonic fra- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 645 

temity he has attained the Knight Templar degree and he is ever true 

to the teacliings of tlic craft whose principles make for good citizenship 
and for honorable manhood, 

REV. O. P. MILLER. 

Rev. O. P. Miller is active in Ixtth church and temperance work 
and his influence has ever been for the uplifting and benefit of his fel- 
lov^^men. There is in him an abiding sympathy and charity which have 
won for him the deserved confidence and good will of his fellow towns- 
men and his efforts have been a moving force in the moral development 
of the community in which he has long made his home. He was born 
in Jeff^erson township, Cass county, Michigan, on the 20th of Febru- 
ary, 1847, his parents being the Rev. John "p. and Mary (Shrum) Mil- 
ler, prominent and honored residents of this part of the state. In their 
family were the following named: Mrs. Sarah Garvy; Adam, de- 
ceased ; Martha, the widow of Jeremiah Keneston and a resident of Jef- 
ferson township, Cass county; Mrs. Lydia Weaver, who died in 1898; 
Rev. B. R. Miller, who is living in Goshen, Indiana ; Susan, who died 
at the age of thirteen years : O. P., of this review ; and Leander. de- 
ceased. 

As the above record indicates. Rev. O. P. Miller is next to the 
youngest of the family. His b<3yhood days were quietly passed in the 
usual manner of farm lands. He was reared in Jefferson township and 
his education was accjuired in the common schools. When not busv 
with his text-books he often aided in the work of the fields, and he re- 
mained with his father up to the time of his marriage, which event was 
celebrated on the 20th of November, 1864.' Miss Jane Wade becoming 
his wife. She Avas born in Canada but was reared in Illinois and Mich- 
igan, her parents being William B. and Anna (Gilmore) Wade, who 
removed from Canada to Illinois and afterward came to this state. Mr. 
and Mrs. Miller began their domestic life upon a farm in Jefferson 
township, where they resided until 1881, in which year they took up 
their abode in LaGrange township, two miles west of Cassopolis. There 
Mr. Miller carried on farming until 1891, in which year he was ordained 
to the ministry of the Christian church and he has since devoted his 
life to preaching the gospel. Fie is now located in Cassopolis. He 
comes of a family of ministers, there having been many clergymen 
among the Miller family. In the father's family there were four broth- 
ers who became preachers of the word, most of them being connected 
with the Church of the Disciples or Christian church. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Miller have been born three children : Edwin, 
who is living in Cassopolis: Anna O., now the wife of Lewis Cays, 
of the same city: and Alva, who is at home. Thev also reared two 
adopted children, Charles Wade and Addie Miller, both of whom be- 
came members of the household in infancy. 



646 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

At one time Mr. Miller was a stanch advocate of Democratic prin- 
ciples but in later years has been associated with the Prohibition party, 
which embodies his views on the temperance question. He has done 
all in his power to promulgate temperance principles and has been very 
active in the work of the church. He is an earnest and conscientious 
minister of the gospel, laboring untiringly for the adoption of the relig- 
ious principles in which he believes and liis efforts have carried consid- 
eralile weight and inBuence in the community. All who know him re- 
spect him for his fidelity and for his courageous expression of the views 
which he entertains and he has won the love and confidence of many 
by his sympathy and his earnest work in behalf of those who have 
needed not only sjiiritual but material aid as well. 

NELSON J. CROSBY. 

Nelson J. Crosby, one of the widely known citizens of Cass county, 
who has figured quite prominently in political aft'airs and is now engaged 
in deahng in horses in Cassopolis and is also a well known real estate 
agent, was born in Lenawee county, Michigan, on the 3rd of February, 
18-)/, and is descended from Irish ancestry. The family, however, was 
founded in America at an early day, the grandfather, William Crosby, 
having been a native of New York. The father, Asaph Crosby, was 
also born in that state and settled in Lenawee county in 1835, becoming 
one of its pi(jneer residents. He was a farmer by occupation, devoting 
his entire life to that pursuit, and on his removal to Cass county in 
1856 he located upon a farm in Penn township, which he greatly im- 
proved, bringing it under a high state of cultivation and transforming 
it into a valuable tract. He lived a life of well-directed energv and 
unfaltering enterprise. In early manhood he wedded Jnlia Holmes, who 
was a native of New York and was also of Irish descent. She died in 
1852 in Lenawee county and Mr. Crosby survived for twenty years, 
passing away in Cass county in 1872 when more than sixty-six years 
of age. 

Nelson J. Crosby was the sixth in order of birth in a family of 
eight children, five sons and three daughters, all of whom reached man- 
hood or womanhood. He w'as about nine years of age at the time of 
the remov.al of his father to Cass county, and upon the old family home- 
stead in Penn township he spent the davs of his boyhood and youth, 
acquiring his education in the schools of Vandalia. He has largely been 
dependent upon his own resources from the age of seven years. He 
was only five years old at the time of his mother's death, and about two 
years later he began working, since which time he has provided largely 
for his own support, doing any labor for which his age and strength 
permitted him upon the farms of the neighborhood. Thinking that he 
would find other occupation mure congenial, when eighteen years of 
age he began learning the cooper's trade, serving an apprenticeship of 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 647 

one year, during which time he received only his board in cunipensa- 
tion for his services. He afterward worked for a year as a journey- 
man and then purchased the shop in which he had learned tlie trade, 
thus becoming a factor in the business life of Vandalia. He carried on 
the business tiiere for about twelve years, meeting with good success, 
after which he disposed of his shop and resumed farming operations, 
becoming an agriculturist of P'enn township, where he engaged in till- 
ing the soil for seven years. On the expiration of that period he re- 
moved to Cassopolis and was appointed undersberiff under Sheriff Mac- 
intosh, occupying that position for four years, at the end of which time 
he was elected village marshal and served for two years. He then 
again became undersberiff under Sheriff W. H. Coulter and after two 
years was elected sheriff in 1896, filling the office for one term. His 
previous experience as undersberiff bad well qualified him for the posi- 
tion, the duties of which be discharged with promptness and fidelity. 
Since his retirement from office he has been engaged in dealing in 
horses and has also engaged in real estate operations, handling consid- 
erable valuable property. 

In June, 1872, Mr. Crosby was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Snyder, a daughter of Peter Snyder. He has been a stanch Republican 
and served as constable in Penn township for a number of years in 
addition to the offices previously mentioned. His fraternal relations 
are with the Odd Fellows and the Masons. He has taken the degrees 
of the lodge, chapter and commandery, in which he has filled some of 
the offices, and he is also a member of the Mystic Shrine, having crossed 
the sands of the desert with the nobles of that ancient Arabic order. 
Through much "of his life he has resided in Cass county, being identi- 
fied with its interests and giving helpful co-operation to many move- 
ments that have been of direct and permanent good to the community. 

WILLIAM C. McCUTCHEON, M. D. 

By the consensus of public opinion Dr. William C McCutclieon 
is accorded a creditable position as a representative of the medical fra- 
ternity of Cass county. He is practicing successfully in Cassopolis, 
where he is accorded a liberal patronage, and in the conscientious per- 
f(_)rniance of bis duties he is rendering valuable aid to his fellowmen, 
while his fellow members of the medical fraternity recognize his de- 
votion to a high standard of professional ethics. 

Dr. McCutcheon was born on Seeley's Bay in the province of Onta- 
rio, Canada. December 29, 1870, and is the eldest in a family of three 
children, whose parents were James and Sarah CCollinson) McCutch- 
eon. the former a native of Scotland and the latter of America. Dr. 
]\IcCutcheon was reared in the place of bis nativity and continued his 
education in the Sydenham High School and at the Gananoque Collegi- 
ate Institute, from which be was graduated 'in the class of 1888. The 



048 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

fdllowint;- year lie matriculated in Queens University for the prepara- 
tion for the meilical fraternity and after completing the prescribed 
course in medicine and surgery he was graduated with the class of 
1894. He then came to Cassopolis, opening an office here on the i8th 
of June of the same year, and has continuously practiced. He is also 
a licensed physician of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons 
of Kingston and he belongs to the Cass County Medical Association, 
tlie Michigan State Medical Society and the American Medical Asso- 
ciation, thus keeping in touch with the onward march of the profession. 
In 1897 Dr. McCutchenn was united in marriage to Miss Bertha 
Kingsbury, a representative of a prominent family of Cassopolis, her 
father being the late C. H. Kingsbun,', who was one of the pioneer 
settlers of this county and a son of Asa Kingsbury. Mrs. McCutcheon 
was born in this county and has many warm friends among those who 
have known her from her girlhood days as well as among the acquaint- 
ances of her later years. Dr. McCutcheon is a valued representative 
of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has attained the Knight Tem- 
plar degree. In politics he is a Republican, but is without aspiration 
for office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his professional 
duties. He is now local surgeon for the Grand Trunk Railroad, and 
he is recognized as a leading member of his profession in Cassopolis, 
which is indicative of the large measure of confidence reposed in him 
by his fellow townsmen. There is perhaps no profession which calls 
for greater care, precision and accuracy than does the practice of med- 
icine, where the issues of life and death are in the hands of the physi- 
cian. He must make no mistake in his administration of remedial 
agencies and his efforts must be founded upon broad and comprehensive 
knowledge of the scientific principles which underlie his work. Dr. 
McCutcheon, with a keen sense of conscientious obligation, follows his 
chosen calling, rendering valued service to his fellow men and finding 
in his chosen work the deserx'ed financial reward of his labor. 

HUGH P. GARRETT. 

The people of the younger generation cannot realize the conditions 
which were met and the work which has been done by the early settlers 
of the county. The traveler of today noting the enterprising towns and 
villages and improved farms, the substantial homes and other evidences 
of prosperity and culture, cannot realize that scarcely more than a half 
century has passed since the greater part of Cass county was an unde- 
veloped wilderness. It requires stout hearts and willing hands to sub- 
due the wilderness and plant the seeds of civilization in a wild district, 
and early settlers certainly deserve the praise and gratitude of those 
who follow later and enjoy the benefits of their labors. Mr. Garrett 
is numbered among the early and honored residents of Cass county, 
and at his pleasant home on section 31, LaGrange township, is enjoying 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 649 

the fruits of iiis former toil. His mind forms a connecting link be- 
tween the pi-imiti\e past and the progressive present. He was born in 
Montgomery county, Ohio, his natal place being in Miami township 
and the date of his birth October 26, 1830. His" father, John Garrett, 
was born near Belfast, Ireland, and when twenty years of age crossed 
•the Atlantic to America, thinking that he might enjoy better business 
opportunities and privileges in the new world than could be secured on 
the green Isle of Erin. He landed at Philadelphia and made the jour- 
ney on foot across the Alleghany mountains to Cincinnati, Ohio, whence 
he afterward went to Montgomery county, that state. He had no 
money and he worked at anything that he could get to do that would 
yield him an honest living. He was thus employed up to the time of 
his marriage to Miss Rosa Petticrew, a native of Montgomery county, 
Ohio. He then turned his attention to farming, and in partnership 
with an uncle established what was a large distillery for those days in 
Montgomery county. They conducted quite an extensive business not 
only in the manufacture of whiskey, but also engaged largely in the 
raising of cattle and hogs, which they fed upon the refuse of the dis- 
tillery. They shipped their stock by canal to Cincinnati and for a num- 
ber ol years conducted a prosperous business. At length, however, 
Mr. Garrett disposed of his interests in Ohio and came to Michigan, 
arriving in Cass county on the 2nd of April, 1848. He afterward re- 
moved to VatiBuren county, this state, where be remained until called 
to his final home in the sixty-third year of his age. His widow contin- 
ued to reside upon the old homestead farm there until her death, which 
occurred in 1878, when she was in her seventy-third year. This worthy 
couple were the parents of ten children, three sons and seven daughters, 
all of whom reached adult age before there was a death in the family. 
Five of the number, three sons and two daughters, are yet living at this 
■writing, in 1906. 

Hugh P. Garrett, the eldest, spent the first seventeen years of his 
life in his native state and during that period worked with his father 
and attended the common schools. He then accompanied his parents 
to Michigan, locating in LaGrange township, Cass county, and when 
about twenty years of age he started out upon an independent business 
career, since which time he has relied entirely upon his own efforts for 
a living. He was first employed as a farm hand by the month and he 
also spent two years in a commission warehouse at Lockington. Shelby 
county, Ohio. Following that interval he returned to Cass county and 
here he sought a companion and helpmate for life's journey, being mar- 
ried on the 15th of November. 1854, to Miss Elizabeth \Vhite. Losing 
his first wife, he was married October 22, 1857, to Miss Jti'ia A. Dunn, 
and unto them were born two sons: John S., who is now a resident 
farmer of Hamilton township, VanBuren countv, Michigan ; and David 
E., who makes his home in Fillmore county, Nebraska. The wife and 
mother died October 9, 1874, and on the loth of April, 1876, Mr. Gar- 



650 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

relt was again married, Miss I'hoebe Crawford becoming his wife. 
She died leaving three children : Charles W., who was born in 1877 
and is living in Howard township; Ralph F., who also resides in How- 
ard townsiiip; and Rosa A., who was born May 14, 1885. and died 
August 21, 1903. Mr. Garrett's second wife had a son and daughter by 
a former marriage : William H. Garrett, who is living in Nebraska ; 
and Fmma J., now the wife of James McCarty, of Owosso, Michigan. 
His third wife had one daugther by a former marriage, Mrs. Viola F. 
Jones, the wife of \Varner D. Jones, of Cassopolis. 

At the time of his first marriage Mr. Garrett rented land in Wayne 
township, whereon he resided for a year. He afterward lived at vari- 
ous places and he found his second wife in Franklin county, Indiana, 
where he resided until 1865. In that year he returned to Michigan and 
bought the farm where he now resides. In 1880 he sold this property 
and removed to Fillmore county, Nebraska, settling on a farm of one 
hundred and sixty acres. In the fall of 1883 he sold this farm and 
returned to Cass county, where he purchased tlie old homestead upon 
which he now resides. He rents his land at the present time, but 
gives his personal supervision to the property, having one hundred 
and five acres which constitutes a valuable farm that returns him a 
good income. He has been a Republican since the organization of 
(he party "under the oaks" in Jackson, Michigan, in 1854. Previous to 
that time he had voted with the Whig party and he cast his first presi- 
dential ballot for General Winfield Scott. He voted twice for Lincoln 
and twice for Grant, also for McKinley, and in fact has supported 
each presidential nominee of the Republican party. He has kept well 
informed on questions and issues of the day and has never faltered in 
his allegiance to the principles which he espouses, but he has never 
sought or desired political preferment for himself. He was reared in 
the faith of the Presbyterian church. His life has been straightfor- 
ward, characterized by honesty in all his business dealings, and he is 
well known in Cass county for his genuine personal worth. 

E. J. RUSSEY. 

On the roster of county officials in Cass county appears the name 
of E. J. Russey, who is serving as sherifif and who makes his home in 
Cassopolis. His birth occurred in Howard township on the 13th of Oc- 
tober, 1866. His father, ^^'■illiam Russey, was a native of Winchester. 
Tennes.see, born in 181 1. His paternal grandfather, William Russey, 
was of French lineage and the name was originally DeRussey. About 
1 82 1 the grandfather removed with his family to Muncie, Indiana, where 
William Russey, then a youth of ten years, was reared and educated. 
He continued a resident of that state until about 1856, when he came 
to Cass county, settling at Vandalia. Here he was engaged in the hotel 
business for a time, but later removed to Howard township, locating 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 051 

on a I'ariii, where he resided until 1877, when he removed to Newberg 
township. Tliere he carried on general agricultural pursuits, and his 
death occurred there on the i8th of March, 1892. He was a Republican 
in politics and was justice of the peace. His interest in community af- 
fairs was deep and sincere and arose from an earnest desire for public 
progress and improvement. He was one of the active workers of the 
Republican party and never missed an election. His fraternal relations 
were with the Masons, and his life exemplified the beneficent spirit of 
the craft in its teachings concerning mutual helpfulness and brotherly 
kindness. He lived to be eighty years of age and since his death his 
memory has been enshrined in the hearts of many who knew and re- 
spected him. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Brakeman. and 
she was a native of St. Clair county, Michigan, born March 25, 1830, 
and in 1836 she came to Cass county with her mother. Her father, 
Captain Lewis G. Brakeman, was drowned in Lake St. Clair while 
commanding a vessel. The mother, Mrs. Candace Brakeman, afterward 
removed to Cass county, settling in Newberg township, where Mrs. 
Russey was reared, the family being among the early pioneer residents 
of that locality. Mrs. Russey has watched almost the entire growth 
and development of this part of the state, watching its transition from 
a wilderness to its present state of cultivation and improvement. She 
is now seventy-five years of age and she makes her home with her son, 
E. J. Russey. She was married in this county^ and became the mother 
of five sons, two of whom are now deceased. The three yet living are: 
William B., a resident of Owosso, Michigan; Wiley, who is a twin 
brother of William and follows farming in Newberg township, Cass 
county; and E. J. of this review. 

The last named was reared on the old homestead farm in Newberg 
township and acquired a common-school education. He worked at farm 
labor during the period of his youth and remained a resident of his 
native township until 1900, when he came to Cassopolis to accept the 
position of undersherift", which he filled for four years. In 1904 he was 
elected sheriff by the Republican party of Cass county, which position 
he is now filling. He was married in December, 1891, to Miss Carrie 
Harwood, a daughter of William and Clarissa (Easton) Harwood, 
who was born in Newberg township and there was reared, her parents 
being pioneer settlers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Russey have four 
children: Lena, born June 3, 1894; Mabel, May 10, 1897; Mark Han- 
na, August 9, 1899 ; and Hazel, Januar}' 3, 1902. 

Mr. Russey is a member of the Knights of the Maccabees. He 
has been a lifelong resiflent of Cass county, being connected with agri- 
cultural pursuits until called to public office, wherein he has discharged 
his duties with promptness and fidelity. Realizing fully the responsi- 
bility that devolves upon him, be has displayed neither fear nor favor 
in the exercise of his duties, and his course has made him a menace to 



652 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

all representatives of the criminal class, while those who hold them- 
scKes amenable to law regard him as a stalwart defender of life, liberty 
iiiid justice. 

ISAAC S. POUND. 

Isaac S. Pound is one of the leading old settlers of Cass coiuity and 
a veteran of the Civil war. Coming to southern Michigan at an early 
dav he has assisted in making the county what it is, the labors of the 
early settlers winning for it a place among the leading counties of this 
great commonwealth. His mind bears the impress of the early historic 
annals of southern Michigan and he can relate many interesting inci- 
dents of the early days when the land was largely unimproved and the 
work of development had been scarcely begun. He was bom in Ontario 
countv, New York, September 22, 1S37, and is of English lineage. His 
paternal great-grandparents came from England, settling in New Jer- 
sey. The great-grandfather, Thomas Pound, served as a soldier of 
the Revolutionary war, becoming aide-de-camp on the stafif of General 
^^'ashi^gton and acting for a part of the time as staff quartermaster. 
He had three sons, Thomas, Isaac and John. The second was the grand- 
father of our subject and he, too, manifested his loyalty to his coun- 
try by serving in the war of 18 12 as a private. The family record is 
notable because of the industry, integrity and high principles of its 
representatives. There has never been a drunkard, a pauper nor a crim- 
inal among the Pounds and such a record is one of which any man 
might well be proud. 

Thomas Pound, father of our subject, was a native of Orange 
county. New York, in which locality he was reared and educated. He 
was married in that county to Miss Sallie Smith, also a native of that 
county and a daughter of Isaac Smith, who likewise served as a pri- 
vate in the war of 18 12. He was supposed to have been of Irish lineage. 
Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Pound removed to 
Chemung county. New York, and afterward became residents of Ontario 
county, that state, where they resided until 1844. Hoping to enjoy bet- 
ter opportunities in the west they then started for ^Michigan and, as this 
was before the era of railroad transportation, they traveled by wagon. 
making their way direct to Newberg township, Cass county, where Mr. 
Pound had secured one hundred and sixty acres of land. The tract was 
entirely wild and uncultivated, not an improvement having been made 
on the place. He first built a log house about sixteen by twentv-four 
feet and then began to clear the land, performing the arduous task of 
cutting away the timber, taking out the stumps and preparing the fields 
for the plow. In due course of time, however, his land was placed under 
cultivation and brought forth rich harvests. He was a hard working 
man, energetic and enterprising, and was regarded as one of the lead- 
ing and representative early citizens of his communitv. His political 
allegiance was given to the Whig party until the organization of the 




t^iNia^o of (Po^^--iyU^ 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY Qryd. 

Republican party, when he joined its ranks and continued one of its sup- 
porters until his death. He served as highway commissioner and acted 
as a member of the grand jury that held a session in 1856. His re- 
ligious faith was indicated by his membership and loyalty to the Protest- 
ant Methodist church. He died upon the old homestead November 26, 
1863, and was for some years survived by his wife, who reached the 
advanced age of eighty-three years. In their family were eight chil- 
dren, seven sons and a daughter, of which number five reached adult 
age, while four are still living. 

Isaac S. Pound, the second child and the first son born of this mar- 
riage, was a lad of seven summers when brought by his parents to Cass 
county. His education was acquired in one of the old-time log school- 
houses of the township, with its slab seats and other primitive furnish- 
ings. The building was heated by a large fireplace, occupying almost 
one entire end of the room. His educational privileges, however, were 
very limited, for his services were needed upon the farm and he assisted 
in the development of the fields until about twenty-one years of age. 
He afterward took charge of the old homestead property, which he 
farmed for three years, when he purchased the place upon which he now 
resides. For a year thereafter he kept "bachelor's hall," but in March 
1862, won a companion and helpmate for life's journey, being married 
at that time to Miss Elizabeth Hinchman, a daughter of J. K. and 
Panena (White) Hinchman. Mrs. Pound was born in Boone county, 
West Virginia, and was seven years of age when she came to Cass 
county with her parents, who settled in Silver Creek township. She 
was the youngest in a family of eleven children. At the time of his 
marriage Mr. Pound brought his bride to the farm upon which he now 
resides, having lived here for forty-five consecutive years with the ex- 
ception of a brief period of four years spent in Van Buren county and 
his term of service in the war of the Rebellion. In August, 1864, he 
responded to the country's urgent need for troops, enlisting as a mem- 
ber of the F-Qurteenth Michigan Battery of Light Artillery, and served 
until July, 1865, when, the war having closed, he was mustered out as 
a private and returned to his home. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
Pound has been blessed with six children, who are yet living: Ella, 
now the wife of Fred W. Timm, a resident of Cassopolis; Fred J., a 
mail carrier living in Marcellus, Michigan; Eva E., the wife of Andrew 
J. Poe, whose home is m Newberg township; Carrie, the wife of Thomas 
G. Barks of Vandalia ; Arthur W., who is living upon the old home 
farm; and Jane, the wife of W. Butler of Newberg township. 

Throughout his entire life Mr. Pound has followed the occupation 
of farming, and is now the owner of one hundred and twentv acres of 
arable land, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation, 
and it is known as " The Maple Grove Farm." ' There are good build- 
ings upon the place and he has divided the land into fields of convenient 



654 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

size by well kept fences. He has secured many of the late improved 
farm implements and in all of his work is progressive and enterprising. 
He votes with the Republican party and is unfaltering in his advocacy 
of its ]irinciples. He has attended the county conventions for forty 
years or more, usually as a delegate, and his opinions have carried 
\\eight in the party councils. He held some minor offices, and at all 
limes is loyal and progressive in his citizenship. He belongs to W. J. 
May post, No. 65, G. A. R., in which he has filled all of the chairs save 
that of chaplain, and he has been a member of the Grange for more than 
thirty years. His residence in the county covers a period of sixty-one 
years, and he has been closely and helpfully identified with its develop- 
ment and progress. When the family located in Michigan there were 
only about twenty-five voters in Newberg township, and now there are 
about five hundred. There were a number of wild animals and consid- 
erable wild game, including bears, wolves, deer and turkeys and prairie 
chickens, so that it was not a difficult task for the pioneer settler to 
secure game for In's table. This was largely a timber region, the for- 
ests having as yet been uncut, but to-day there are seen waving 
fields of grain where once stood the native trees. The little pioneer 
cabins have long since given place to commodious and substantial farm 
residences, while here and there towns and villages have sprung up, 
containing excellent industrial and commercial interests. Mr. Pound 
rejoices in what has been accomplished, and at all times he is regarded 
as a citizen whose aid can be cnunted upon to further every movement or 
measure for the public good. 

C. H. FUNK, D. D. S. 

Dr. C. H. Funk is engaged in the practice of dentistrv in Cassop- 
olis, where be has a well equipped office, and in his work he keeps in 
touch with modern scientific research and with the most advanced ideas 
and methods of the profession. He was liorn in Elkhart, Indiana, Mav 
^7- ^^5S- His father, William Funk, was a native of Pennsvlvania 
and became one of the early settlers of Elkhart county, Indiana, where 
h.e carried on farming and milling. He was of German descent, as 
was his wife, who bore the maiden name of Catherine Myers. In their 
family were four sons and five daughters, all of whom reached adult 
age and are still living with but two exceptions. 

Dr. Funk is the third child and eldest son. He was reared and 
educated in Elkhart county, pursuing his studies in Goshen, Indiana, 
after which he engaged in teaching school for four years in that county. 
The year T87R witnessed his arrival in Cassopolis, He had previouslv 
studied dentistry under the direction of Dr. Cummins, of Elkhart, and 
he practiced for four years in Cassopolis. He afterward attended the 
Indiana Dental College, from which he was graduated in the class of 
TR83. when he once more resumed practice in Cassopolis, where he has 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 655 

remained continuously since. By reading, investigation and study he 
has kept in touch with the progress made hy the dental fraternity and 
he has the meclianical skill and ability without which no member of the 
profession attains the highest success. His work has given a uniform 
satisfaction and his patronage is large and growing. He is also inter- 
ested in real estate, has negotiated some important property transfers 
and has contributed to the improvement of the city through' die build- 
ing of the Ritter & Funk block and the postofiice block in Cassnpolis. 
He is also interested in farming in connection with Mr. Ritter, so that 
the extent and scope of his activities have made him a prominent busi- 
ness man of Cassopolis. 

Dr. Funk was married in 1890 to Miss Ellen R. Ritter, a daugh- 
ter of Joseph K. and Amanda F. (Kingsbury) Ritter. She was born 
and reared in Cassopolis and has become the mother of two sons, Le- 
land R. and Cyrus R. 

Dr. F"unk is a well known Mason, having taken the lodge and chap- 
ter degrees in the craft. He is an honorary member of the Indiana 
State Dental Society, a member of the IMichigan State Dental Society 
since 1885, and is president of the Southwest Michigan Dental Society. 
He supports the Republican party, giving his ballot to those men who 
are pledged to uphold its principles, and in the work of the organization 
he has taken an active and helpful part, serving as secretary of the Re- 
publican county central committee. His residence in Cassopolis covers 
twenty-eight years, during which time he has served for five years on 
the school board and for three years as its treasurer. The cause of edu- 
cation finds in him a warm and stalwart friend and he is also the cham- 
pion of every progressive movement that tends to prove of practical 
and permanent good to the county. He is wide-awake, alert and enter- 
prising, and is a typical representative of the citizenship of the middle 
west productive of the rapid and substantial advancement of this sec- 
tion of the countr}'. 

JOHN ATKINSON. 

The growth and substantial progress of a community do not de- 
pend upon the efforts of a single individual but are the result of the 
aggregate endeavor of many who have due regard for opportunity and 
exercise tb.eir powers for the general improvement and progress. To 
this class belongs John Atkinson, a dealer in carriages, wagons, farm 
implements, hay and grain in Cassopolis. He possesses the enterprising 
spirit which has been the dominant factor in the upbuilding of the 
west. He is a western man by birth, training and preference, having 
first opei;ed his eyes to the light of day in Mason township. Cass county, 
on the 8th of May, 1858. His father, Thomas Atkinson, was a native 
of England, and in an early day crossed the Atlantic to the new world, 
settling in the state of New York, whence he afterward removed to 
Elkhart. Indiana. On leaving that locality he came to Cass county. 



650 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Michigan, where he met his death, being killed when forty-tive years 
of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Jane Ann Ingledo, 
was a native of England and also became a resident of New Castle, 
Indiana. She long survived her husband and died in Cass county at 
the ripe old age of seventy-eight years. In their family were thirteen 
children, eight of whom reached adult age, while seven are now living. 

Mr. Atkinson is the tenth in order of birth in the family of thirteen 
children. He was reared in his native township and remained at home, 
assisting in the work of the farm in his early youth and when twelve 
years of age beginning work as a farm hand in the neighborhood by 
the month. The first pair of boots which he ever owned were paid for 
by a month's wages at farm labor. The money which he made during 
his minority went to support the family. He was only about five years 
of age when his father was killed, leaving a family of seven children, 
one of whom was born after the father's demise. The family were left 
in limited financial circumstances, so that the boys had to support the 
mother and the smaller children. Mr. Atkinson early came to a real- 
ization of the value of earnest and persistent endeavor and by his close 
application and stalwart purpose he made good progress in the business 
world. After working by the month for eleven years Mr. Atkinson 
went to Manistee county, Micliigan, and engaged in lumbering in the 
midst of the forests of that district. He worked for a part of the time 
by the month, spending about two years in the lumber trade. Leaving 
the lumber woods' he came to Cass county, Michigan, where he engaged 
in the manufacture of ties for the Michigan Central Railroad. He also 
devoted a portion of his time to farm labor, spending two and a half 
years in this way, on the expiration of which period he came to Cassop- 
olis and engaged in shipping wood and in baling hay. He also traded in 
hay and wood, getting in exchange wagons and buggies from the Stude- 
baker Company of South Bend, Indiana. He also traded for the brick 
which was used in the construction of the first hotel in the town. He 
has now- one of the largest business enterprises of Cassopolis, his trade 
representing one luindred thousand dollars per year. He is in the grain 
Ijusiness in addition to the agricultural implement business, and in the 
various departments of trade with which he is connected he has secured 
a liberal patronage. He shipped one hundred and sixty car loads of 
hay. straw and grain in 1900. He has likewise extended his efiforts to 
the field of real estate operations, buying and selling farms. He makes 
a specialty of heavy farm machiners' and has sold threshing machines 
to the value of fifteen thousand dollars since the ist of February, 1905. 
He also handles saw-mill machinery, boilers and engines and does all of 
the trade in this line in the county. In the year T905 he sold sixty- 
seven head of horses. He has a farm comprising about two hundred 
acres of land, and as has been indicated his business interests are of a 
varied and important nature, bringing to him gratifying success by rea- 
son of his careful control, capable management and keen insight. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 057 

• On the 15th of June, 1888, Mr. Atkinson was united in marriage 
to Miss Ida Belle Hunt, who was born in Ontwa township, Cass county, 
and was reared by Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Hunt. Mr. and Mrs. Atkin- 
son have become the parents of five children, but lost their daughter, 
Zerl. The others are : Maud, Lucile, Louis and Cyrus. 

Mr. Atkinson is a lifelong Republican, who has worked earnestly in 
behalf of the party but has never sought or desired office, nor would he 
accept any political preferment. He is a member of the Modern Wood- 
men camp and is well known in the county as a liberal man who has 
contributed generously to the support of many measures for the general 
good. He !s also a stalwart advocate of the temperance cause, working 
earnestly in behalf of the party. An analyzation of his life record shows 
that energy and strict attention to business have been his salient char- 
acteristics and have constituted the secret of his success. He has sought 
to live honorably and peaceably with his fellowmen, practicing the golden 
rule in daily affairs and at all times he has enjoyed in full measure the 
confidence, good will and trust of those with whom he has been brought 
in contact. 

HARSEN D. SMITH. 

Harsen U. Smith is a prominent attorney of Cassopulis equally well 
known because of his activity in political circles. He has chosen as a 
life work a profession in which success results only from individual 
merit, from comprehensive knowledge and close application, and his high 
reputation is well deserved because he has manifested all of the salient 
characteristics demanded of the successful and able lawyer. A native 
of Albion, New York, he was born on the 17th of March, 1845, and is 
a son of E. Darwin and Maria (Arnold) Smith, the former a native of 
Connecticut and the latter of New York. The paternal grandfather. 
Moses B. Smith, was a minister of the Universalist church and had a 
very wide and favorable acquaintance in the western part of the Empire 
state, to which he removed from New England. He was of Scotch line- 
age, his father, ]\Ioses Smith, Sr., having emigrated from the land of 
the hills and heather to the new world. E. Darwin Smith, father of our 
subject, was a manufacturer of agricultural implements. Following his 
removal to New York he devoted his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
He married Miss Maria Arnold, a native of the Empire state and a 
daughter of Benjamin Arnold, who was of English descent. They be- 
came the parents of three children, two daughters and a son. 

Flarsen D. Smith, who was the second in order of birth, acquired 
an academic education at Newark, Wayne county. New York, where he 
was graduated. He afterward engaged in teaching school in that state 
for a short time, and in 1862 he went to Iowa, locating at Eldora, where 
for one year he acted as principal of the Eldora Union Schools. He 
then became a teacher in the Iowa Lutheran College at Albion, Iowa. 



658 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

beinji: jirofessor of mathematics. In the meantime he had taken up the 
study of law and for a period was a student in the office of Governor 
Eastman, of Iowa. Subsequently he went to Rochester, New York, 
where he entered the law office of Tud.o;e Georee F. Danforth, a mem- 
ber of the court of appeals of the Fmpire state. For about two years Mr. 
Smith remained in that office and was then admitted to the New York 
bar, after which he removed to Coldwater, Michio-an, and spent about 
six months in the office of E. G. Fuller. He afterward removed to 
Jackson, Michigan, and entered the office of Hon. W. K. Gibson. In 
Ausjtist, iRyo, he removed to Cassopolis, where he formed a partner- 
ship with Hon. Charles W. Clisbee. with whom he continued for two 
years. He then practiced by himself for a year, after which be formed 
a partnership with Jud.efe Andrew J- Smith, that connection being- thus 
continued until Andrew J. Smith was elected circuit judf^e, since which 
time Harsen D, Smith has been alone in practice. He has for thirty-five 
years been a representative of the Cassopolis bar and is therefore num- 
bered amon,g the pioneer attorney.s of the county. He has gradually 
worked his way upward, demonstrating his abilitv to cope with intricate 
problems of jurisprudence and in the handling of his cause he displavs 
great strength, while his devotion to his clients' interest is proverbial. 

In October, 1873, Mr. Smith was united in marriage to Miss Sate 
R. Read, who was born in this coimty in 1853, and is a daug'hter of S. 
T. and Rhoda R. (Hayden) Read. 

In his political views Mr. Smith is a stalwart Republican, thor- 
oughly in sympathy with the principles of the party. He was elected 
and served as chairman of the Republican County Central Committee 
for ten years, was a member of the State Central Committee for six 
years, and for four years a member of the executive committee. He is 
widely recognized as one of the foremost Republicans of Michigan, and 
his effiiits in behalf of the organization have been far reaching and bene- 
ficial. In 1876 he was elected prosecuting attorney, filling the office for 
four years, and in 1898 he was appointed bv the governor to the posi- 
tion of circuit judge to j^-eside over the bench of a new circuit until an 
election could be held. He served in that capacity for one year. He 
was a member of the state pardon board for about seven >'ears, but 
when appointed judge resigned that position. Following his retirement 
from the bench he was reappointed on the pardon board. He was nom- 
inated for state senator in 1884, but that was the ye^v of the Demo- 
cratic landslide. Fraternally he is connected with the lodge, chapter 
and coniman(ler\- in the Masonic fraternity and also with Saladin Tem- 
ple of the "Mystic Shrine at Grand Rapids. He has been very success- 
ful in liis practice, beins' connected with the greater number of the im- 
portant cases tried in his district and his broad intellectuality, great 
strength of character and determined purpose have made him a valued 
factor, not only as a legal practitioner but also in social, fraternal and 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 659 

political circles. He has done much to mold public thought and opinion 
in his community and is justly classed with the prominent and represen- 
tative citizens of Cass county. 

JOHN F. SWISHER. 

John F. Swisher devotes his time and energies to agricultural pur- 
suits. More than a century ago George Washington said that "agri- 
culture is the most honorable as well as the most useful occupation of 
man," and the truth of this assertion has been abundantly verified in all 
the ages. Mr. Swisher has given his entire life to farm work and now 
has a good property on Section 8. Silver Creek township, which is the 
farm upon which he was born, his natal day being March 7, 1858. His 
father, John T. Swisher, was a native of Virginia, born in 1812, and 
with his parents he removed to Ohio when seventeen years of age, the 
family home being established in Preble county. There he grew to man- 
hood and was married there to Miss Millicent Elliott, a native of South 
Carolina, who was brought to Preble county, Ohio, during her infancy 
and was there reared. Her parents died when she was a small child. 
She remained in Preble county until after she gave her hand in marriage 
to Mr. Swisher. About 1849 tl^^y removed to Cass county, Michigan, 
settling in Silver Creek township, where their remaining days were 
passed. Mr. Swisher departed this life in his seventy-ninth year and 
left behind him that priceless heritage of an untarnished name, because 
he had always been loyal in citizenship, straightforward in business and 
honorable in private life. He took an interest in political questions and 
situations and was a stanch Republican who held various township of- 
fices, the duties of which were capably and promptly performed. He 
was a devoted member of the Christian church and was a leader in the 
work of building the house of worship, while in the various church 
activities he took a helpful part. His wife, who was a faithful com- 
panion and helpmate to him on life's journey and who displayed many 
sterling traits nf heart and mind, also passed away in Cass couiit\-. In 
their family were nine chiUh'cn. four sons and five daughters, all of whom 
reached adult age. 

John F. Swisher, the )'Mungest of this family, was reared upon the 
old homestead farm, where he now lives. His early educational priv- 
ileges were afforded by the district schools of Silver Creek township and 
later he continued his studies in Battle Creek high school. During the 
periods of vacation he worked in the fields, assisting his father in the 
task of developing and improving his land, and he thus gained good 
practical knowledge of the best methods of farm work. He was mar- 
ried in 1883 to Miss Alice G. Calvert, and unto them have been born 
two children, Clarence and Erma. but the latter died January 9, 1891. 
She won the first premium as the prettiest girl among thirty-three con- 
testants at the Dowagiac fair in 1890. Her loss was deeply felt by 



G60 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

her parents and many friends. Her mother survived her for only a few 
months, passing away August 23, 1891, at the comparatively early age 
of thirty-three years. In 1893 Mr. Swisher was again married, his 
second union being with Emma J. Benner, the widow of George Nor- 
ton. There is one child of this marriage, Neal, who is now eight years 
of age. 

Mr. Swisher has been a general stock farmer and in addition to till- 
ing the soil has raised high grades of stoclv, finding both branches of 
his business profitable. He has led a busy and useful life, cliaracterized 
by thorough understanding of his work, by diligence m all that he does 
and by straightforward dealing at all times. His political allegiance is 
given to the Republican party, and he is a firm advocate of its prin- 
ciples and does all in his power to promote its growth and extend its 
influence. In 1902 he was elected to the office of supervisor, and his 
capable service during his first term of service led to his re-election in 
1903. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Chris- 
tian church, in which he is now serving as deacon, and for twelve years, 
with the exception of a brief interval of two years, he has been con- 
tinuously superintendent of the Sunday-school. His efforts in behalf 
of the church have been far-reaching and beneficial and he is most earnest 
and zealous in his labors to promote religious instruction among the 
young, realizing the beneficial effects upon one's after life. He has 
always lived in this county and is a valued representative of a worthy 
pioneer family. The circle of his friends is extensive because he has 
ever displayed those sterling traits of character which in e\ery land and 
clime command confidence and regard. 

CHRIS A. HUX. 

Chris A. Hux, well known in financial circles in Cass county as the 
cashier of the Lee Brothers & Company bank at Dowagiac, is a native 
son of Michigan and seems imbued with the spirit of enterprise and 
energy which have been the dominant factors in the upbuilding of the 
middle west. His birth occurred in Grand Haven on the ist of June, 
1868. His father, Christian Hux, was a native of Germany, and in 
that land spent his youth and acquired his education in the schools of 
Wurtemberg. Crossing the Atlantic to America, he made his way into 
the interior of tiie country, locating at Lansing, Michigan, where he 
followed the machinist's trade, which he had mastered in his native 
country. He later was engaged in similar work at Grand Rapids, and 
subsequently took up his abode in Grand Haven in 1866. There he 
carried on business as a machinist until his removal to Owosso, Mich- 
igan, where his last days were passed, his death occurring when he was 
in the fifty-ninth year of his age. He had married subsequent to his 
arrival in the new world Miss Frederica Lambert, a native of Wurtem- 
berg, Germany, who came with her parents to the United States, the 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 661 

family settling in Lansing, Michigan, about 1S64. She is still living 
and now makes her home in Dowagiac. The members of the family are : 
Chris A., of this review; Lizzie, the wife of William Elliott, of Owosso, 
Michigan; Fred, who is residing in Durand, Michigan; Emma; and 
Charlie, who is also living in Owosso. 

Chris A. Hux, the eldest of his father's family, spent the greater 
part of his youth in Owosso, whither his pai-ents removed in his early 
boyhood days. He spent five years as a student in the Flint school and 
was afterward sent to the Fenton public schools. After putting aside 
his text books he secured a position in the employ of the Michigan 
Central Railroad Company in the freight department at Owosso. Later 
he was transferred to Jackson, Michigan, and subsequently sent to 
Grand Rapids, to Augusta and to Dowagiac. whence he went to Chi- 
cago Heights, Illinois, on the 13th of October, 1892. In 1896, however, 
he returned to Dowagiac and became cashier in the private bank of Lee 
Brothers & Company, in which capacity he has since remained. He has 
thoroughly acquainted himself with the banking business in every de- 
partment and has rendered faithful and capable service to the house 
which he represents. At the same time he has become popular with its 
patrons by reason of the uniform courtesy which he extends to them 
and the promptness and ability with which he discharges the business 
which he transacts for them. 

Mr. Hux is a member of the Masonic fraternity, in which he has 
attained high rank. He is now a past eminent commander of Niles 
Conimandery No. 12, K. T., has also attained the thirty-second degree 
of the Scottish rite and is a member of the Mystic Shrine. He is one 
of the youngest Masons in Michigan to have advanced thus far in the 
craft and is a wortliy exemplar of the order, being in hearty sympathy 
with its principles of brotherly kindness and mutual helpfulness. Al- 
though he usually gives his political supjxirt to the Republican party, 
he does not consider himself Iwund by party ties and often casts an in- 
dependent ballot in support of the candidates whom he thinks best qual- 
ified for office. He is very widely and favorably known in his part of 
the county, having been a resident of Dowagiac for thirteen years, 
his business and social relations bringing him into contact with many 
people, and he easily wins their friendship and regard by reason of the 
possession of those sterling traits of character whicli e\'er\'where com- 
mand respect and confidence. 

ANDREW BARNHART. 

Andrew Barnhart is one of the old settlers of Cass county now liv- 
ing on Section 18, Silver Creek township. Many are the changes that 
have occurred since he took up his abode in this portion of the state 
and the traveler of today can scarcely realize that it has been within 
onlv a few decades that this countv was covered with a dense growth of 



662 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

forest trees and that the work of clearing and developing had scarcely 
been Ijegun. Mr. Barnhart is moreover one of the most venerable cit- 
izens of the county, having reached the eighty-fourth milestone on life's 
journey. He was born in Preble county, Ohio, about 1822 and was one 
of a family of ten children, six sons and four daughters, who were born 
of the marriage of David and Sarah (Shoemaker) Barnhart, both of 
whom were natives of Indiana, while their respective parents were of 
German birth. Both Mr. and Mrs. David Barniiart lived to a good old 
age and all of their ten children grew to years of maturity, although but 
one sister of our subject is now living, Mrs. Hulda Young, who yet re- 
sides in Preble county, Ohio. 

Andrew Barnhart remained at home during his boyhood and youth 
and assisted in the farm work. His education was received in a log 
schoolhouse in Preble county and he attended school for only a brief 
period during the winter months, while during the remainder of the 
year he woiked at farm lal»r, taking his place in the fields at the time 
of early spring planting and continuing to assist in their cultivation until 
the crops were harvested in the late autumn. Farm work was also more 
difficult than at the present time, for the machinery was crude and much 
of the labor was done by hand. Mr. Barnhart started out in life on 
his own account at the age of twenty-one years, coming to Michigan on 
foot. He made his way direct to Cass county and settled in Silver 
Creek township, where he purchased the farm upon which he now lives, 
paying two dollars per acre for a tract of one hundred and sixty acres, 
which was all covered with trees. In the midst of the green trees he 
began clearing the land. There were no improvements whatever upon 
tlie place and he had to cut down the timber and grub out the stumps 
before he could plow and plant the fields. His first home was a little 
log cabin atout sixteen by sixteen feet and containing only one room. 
When he had made arrangements for having a home of his own he re- 
turned to Ohio and was married in Preble county to Miss Mary Ann 
Fraze, who was born in Preble county, Ohio. He returned to Cass 
county with a team and wagon bringing his bride. He also drove two 
cows. In true pioneer style the young couple began their domestic life 
on the western frontier, and for many years they traveled life's journey 
together, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its adversity 
and prosperity, but in 1891 Mr. Barnhart was called upon to mourn the 
loss of his wife, who died on the 28th of January of that vear. They 
had no children of their own but adopted three: William Moit, who 
died at the age of thirteen years; Mrs. Sarah E. Strackangast, also de- 
ceased ; and Mary E. Fraze, who is the only one now living. She was 
born in Winchester, Indiana, and is the wife of C. A. Green. They 
reside upon tlie old homestead with Mr. Barnhart. 

hnim tlie age of twenty-one years to the present time Mr. Barn- 
hart has cfmtinuously been a resident of Cass county and is therefore 
numbered among its jiionecr settlers. He is now the owner of one bun- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 668 

dred and eighty acres of good land which he rents. He started out in 
Hfe practically empty-handed but he possessed strong determination and 
unfaltering enterprise and upon this as a foundation has builded his 
success. After worlving for a time at farm labor he was enabled to 
make purchase of his land at the very low price at which property 
sold in those days, and through the intervening years he has improved 
his farm, converting it into a valuable place. As the years have gone by 
he has prospered in liis undertakings and is now in comfortable financial 
circumstances. Such a life record should serve as a source of inspiration 
and encouragement to others, showing what may be accomplished by 
unfaltering energy, diligence and perseverance. For long years he gave 
his political allegiance to the Republican party, but because of his pro- 
nounced views on the temperance question and his belief that it is one 
of the dominant issues before the people, he joined the ranks of the 
Prohibition parly, and has since done all in his power to promote its 
growth and insure its success. He has for many years been a member 
of the Christian church, has served for a long period as one of 
its elders, and has labored eftectively and earnestly for the inter- 
ests of the denomination. His life has indeed been honorable 
and upright characterized by devotion to those principles which work 
for righteousness, justice and truth, and now in the evening of his days 
he can look back over the past without regret, knowing that he has never 
taken advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in any business trans- 
action nor favored an\' mo\-ement or measure that would prove det- 
rimental to his town or county. He has on the contrar)- supported all 
plans for the public good and is justly classed with the representative, 
respected and honored pioneer citizens of Silver Creek township. 

MARK JUDD. 

Mark Judd, a pioneer lumberman and sawmill operator of Dowagiac, 
was born in Fairfield county, Connecticut, June i8, 1833. The family 
is of English lineage in the paternal line and William Judd, the father 
of our subject, was also a native of Fairfield coujity. Connecticut, where 
m early life he learned and followed the cooper's trade. Emigrating 
westward in 1844, he took up his abode in Silver Creek township, Cass 
county, Michigan, where he located upon a farm, giving his attention 
to its cultivation and improvement for a number of years. His last 
days, however, were spent in Dowagiac, where he died at the age of 
ninety-three years. His wife, .\bigail Beardsley, was also a native of 
Connecticut, and died in New York when her son Mark was only about 
four years of age. In the family were four sons and four daughters. 
After losmg his first wife the father was again married. 

Mark Judd, the youngest of the eight children, came to Cass county, 
Michigan, when about twelve years of age, and when a young man of 
seventeen years started out in life on his own account, working as a 



064 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

farm hand by the month. He was thus employed for three years, when, 
thinking that he might find other occupations more congenial, he began 
learning the carpenter's and joiner's trade, which he followed for sev- 
eral years, becoming intimately associated with building operations in 
Cass county. Watchful of opportunities pointing to success, he was 
enabled, in 1859, as the result of his enterprise, diligence and frugality 
in former years, to establish a planing mill, of which he became one- 
third owner and which was conducted under the firm style of Ashley, 
Case & Company. The firm had an existence of about four years in its 
original form and then became Case & Judd, business being carried on 
in that way for some time, when Mr. Judd became sole owner. This 
is the oldest enterprise of the kind in the county, or in fact in any of 
the adjoining counties, having a continuous existence of almost a half 
century. The planing mill was the first built in this part of the state, 
there being none nearer than Kalamazoo. The mill has been in opera- 
tion throughout all these years and its manufactured product represents 
an enormous amount of lumber. 

Mr. Judd was married in 1864 to Miss Amanda Stillwell, a native 
of Michigan, and they now have three sons : William, who is living in 
Porter township: .\llie, the wife of Arthur Jewel, of Dowagiac; and 
Lena, the wife of Dr. George W. Green, a practicing physician of 
Dowagiac. 

In his political affiliation Mr. Judd has been a life-long Republican, 
joining the party on its organization. He has held several offices, act- 
ing as alderman for two years and in other connections has done efifec- 
tive service for the welfare and progress of his home town. He is a 
member of .Dowagiac Lodge, No. 214, A. F. & A. M., in which he has 
attained the degree of Master Mason, and he is also connected with the 
Ancient Order of LTnited Workmen. A pioneer business man of Dow- 
agiac, he has spent the greater part of his life in Cass county and has 
been identified with its interests both in behalf of public progress and 
through his business relations. He stands today as one whose success 
is the fitting crown of earnest and honorable labor. Realizing that work 
— earnest, persistent work — is the basis of all desirable prosperity, he has 
in his business career spared not that laborious attention to detail which 
is one of the chief elements of success and as the outcome of his clear 
judgment, his enterprise and diligence he is today classed with the sub- 
stantial residents of his adopted county. 

HON. JAMES G. HAYDEN. 

Hon. James G. Hayden, elected to the state senate of Michigan in 
1904, is one of the distinguished and honored citizens of Cassopolis and 
in public life has won attention and esteem by reason of his devotion to 
duty and his masterful grasp of even,' problem that has been presented 
for solution. His life record began in Calvin township. Cass coimty, on 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 605 

tlie loth uf November, 1854. His father, Joseph G. Hayden, was a na- 
tive of New York and a pioneer settler of this part of the state, con- 
tributing in substantial measure to the early progress and improvement 
of Cass county. He was of Irish lineage and died when his son James 
was only three years of age. The mother, who bore the maiden name 
of Hannah Lincoln, was a native of Ohio and was brought to Cass 
county during her early girlhood, so that she was married here. She 
died when sixty-six years of age, and of her six children one died in 
infancy. 

Hon. James G. Hayden, who was the fourth member of the fam- 
ily and the third son, was reared by an uncle in Cassopolis until eight- 
een years of age, when, desirous of providing for his own support, he 
engaged to wuik on a farm by the month. He was thus employed for 
two years, after which he returned to Cassopolis and again attended 
school for six months. He then entered commercial life as a clerk in 
a general store, wOiere he remained for three years, after which he pur- 
sued a course of study in Bryant & Stratton's commercial college in 
Chicago, spending a year in that institution. F<_)llowing his return 
home he engaged in farming in LaGrange township, devoting his ener- 
gies to general agricultural pursuits for seven years. Whatever he 
undertook was carried forward to successful completion by means of 
his unremitting diligence and strong purpose. 

In 1879 Mr. Hayden was united in marriage to Miss Ruth T. 
Kingsbury, a daughter of Asa and Mary (Monroe) Kingsbury. Mrs. 
Hayden was born in Cassopolis, her people having been early settlers 
of the county. In 18S6 Mr. Hayden returned to Cassopolis and en- 
gaged in the grocery business. In November of the same year he was 
called by popular suffrage to the office of county treasurer, which posi- 
tion he filled for four years and then retired in 1888, enjoying the same 
confidence and trust which was given to him when he entered office. In 
the meantime he continued in the grocery trade, which he successfully 
conducted for seven years, and then gave his attention to the hard wood 
lumber business for two years. When that period had passed he re- 
turned to tlie home farm, whereon he continued for seven years, when 
in 1902 he once more took up his abode in Cassopolis, this time giving 
his attention to the real estate and insurance business, in which he has 
since continued, having now a good clientage. He handles a large 
amount of valuable realty each year and he is thoroughly informed con- 
cerning property in this part of the state. All through the period of an 
active business career Mr. Hayden has also maintained a deep interest 
in political questions, and has done much effective work for his party. 
In 1904 he was elected state senator and is now in 1906 a member of 
the upper house of the Michigan legislature. His first office was that of 
township treasurer, and although the township had a normal Demo- 
cratic majority of one hundred and twenty he was elected on the Re- 



6ti0 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

piihlican ticket. Over the record of his official career there falls no 
shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil, and he has proved himself an 
active working member of the house, unfaltering in his supi^rt of any 
measure or movement which he deems of public value or general utility. 
He has also been president of the Cass County Agricultural Society and 
of the Farmers' Institute, occupying the latter position for three years. 
Deeply interested in the agricultural development of the county, his la- 
bors in those positions proved effective and far reaching. At the pres- 
ent writing he occupies the position nf county superintendent of the 
poor, and he assumed the duties nf pnstmaster at Cassopolis March i. 
1906. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hayden have become the parents of five children. 
Asa, who was born in 1881, is a graduate of the high school of Cassopo- 
lis and of the law department of the state university at Ann Arbor and 
is now engaged in the practice of his chosen profession in the county 
seat. Vera is a graduate of the state normal school at Ypsilanti, Mich- 
igan, and is now engaged in teaching in Kalamazoo. Jay G. is now a 
student in the state university. Hazel, who is a graduate of the high 
school at Cassopolis and now a student of the Western State Normal 
School is now at home. Robert is a student in the schools of Cassopo- 
lis. 

Mr. ITayden belongs to the Masonic fraternity, in which he has 
taken the Royal Arch degree. He is likewise connected with the 
Knights of Pythias and with the Modem Woodmen of America, and 
his activity is manifest m many lines. He is president of the Creamery 
Association and connected with other local affairs, and his efforts in 
behalf of progress along agricultural and commercial lines, of intel- 
lectual development and of general progress have been effective and 
beneficial. He lost his father when only three years of age and was 
left with no inheritance. He educated himself and he had some hard 
knocks when a l;oy, but he developed self-reliance and force of charac- 
ter and has steadily worked his way upward, gaining a prominent po- 
sition in puliHc regard and honor, his course reflecting credit upon those 
who have honored him. 

JOHN BILDERBACK. 

When the tocsin of war sounded in 1861 men from all walks of 
life flocked to the standard of the nation. They came from the counting 
houses, the offices, the shops and the farms and representatives of alt 
classes nu'ngled and met together with the one common purpose of de- 
fending the Union. There has been on the pages of the world's history 
no greater record of loyalty and patriotism than was displayed by the 
sons of the north when the supremacy of the Federal government wa= 
threatened. Mr. Bilderback, now living retired in Dowagiac, was among 
the niunber wlio followed the stars and stripes, making a creditable 
militarv record on various battlefields of the south. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY CO? 

A native of Preble county, Ohio, he was horn on the iStli of June, 
1843, and was of German hneage. His father, Wilham Bilderback, 
was a native of New Jersey, and when a young man went to Preble 
county, Ohio. Througiiout his entire hfe lie carried on farming, and 
removed from Ohio to Michigan in 1846, settHng in Berrien county, 
where he remained until 1850, when he came to Cass county. Here 
he located in Silver Creek township, about three miles from Dowagiac, 
and as the years came and went he worked in the fields, bringing his 
land under a high state of cultivation and annually harvesting good 
crops. While his attention was cliiefly directed to his business interests 
he yet displayed a commendable and patriotic citizenship and was ever 
loyal to the public good, giving his co-operation to many movements for 
the promotion of the general welfare. He served as highway commis- 
sioner, and as justice of the peace rendered decisions which were strictly 
fair and impartial. In early life he became a member of the United 
Brethren church and afterward joined the Methodist Episcopal church. 
He lived as a worthy Christian gentleman and died at the age of sixty- 
nine years, respected and honored Iw all who knew him. His wife, 
who bore the maiden name of Sarah Nye, was born in Preble county, 
Ohio, in 18 18, and spent her last days in Cass county, where she passed 
away in 1889, at the age of seventy-one years. She was devoted to her 
family and was always faithful to the ties of friendship, and her death 
was deeply regretted by many who knew her. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bilder- 
back were born three sons and three daughters. Peter, who in response 
to the country's call for aid became a private in the Twelfth Michigan 
Infantry, died at Pittsburg Landing while in the service of his country, 
his death being occasioned by arduous militai^y duty and the exposures 
and hardships incident to war. William W. was but sixteen years of 
age when he enlisted and was but a boy when he laid down his life upon 
the altar of his country. Mary, the eldest daughter, is now the wife of 
D. W. Sammons, a resident farmer of Silver Creek township. Martha 
A. is the wife of James H. Momany, also li\-ing in Sih'er Creek town- 
ship. Sarah R. is the wife of Elias Smith, a resident farmer of Pokagon 
township. 

John Bilderback, who was the second son and second child in the 
father's family, was only two years old when the parents left Ohio and 
came to Michigan, making the journey westward with teams after the 
primitive manner of travel in those days liefore the advent of railroad 
transportation. They first lived in Berrien county and Mr. Bilderback 
of this review was a lad of six summers at the time of the removal of 
the family to Cass county. He was then reared in Silver Creek town- 
ship and pursued his studies in a log schoolhouse such as was common 
on the frontier. In one end of the room was a large fireplace and the 
furnishings were primiti\-e and the methods of instruction were very 
crude as compared with modern ideis of education. The family lived 
in a log' cabin and shared in the usual hardships and privations of pioneer 



<5t;s HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

life. It was not until 1858 that the father built a frame house. John 
Bildcrback remained at home through the period of his youth and as- 
sisted in clearing up the farm, working in the fields through the summer 
months, while in the winter seasons he pursued his study. He was thus 
engaged until August, 1861, when at the early age of eighteen years 
he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting for service as a 
private of the First Michigan Cavalry. He was with that command for 
about four and a half years and was then honorably discharged as first 
<Iuty sergeant, at which time he was attached to the Army of the Po- 
tomac. He took part in many of the principal battles and a number of 
the lesser ones of the war. He was never wounded nor captured and 
his experience in the hospital covered only three days. With the ex- 
ception of that very brief period he was continuously on active duty 
during the four and a half years of his connection with the Union army. 
His last service was in the west at Camp Douglas, Salt Lake City, and 
lie participated in the Grand Review in Washington, D. C, where "wave 
after wave of bayonet crested blue" swept by the reviewing stand on 
which stood the president and other dignitaries of the nation cheering 
the return of the victorious army, whose brilliant efforts, heroism and 
patient endurance had saved the Union. Mr. Bilderback received an 
lionorable discharge at Salt Lake City and returned home by way of 
San Francisco, the Isthmus of Panama and New York City, making his 
way to Dowagiac. 

When he again arrived in Cass county Mr. Bilderback took up liis 
abode in Silver Creek township, purcliasing a tract of land adjoining his 
father's farm. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey he chose 
Miss Cynthia .\. Becraft, to whom he was married on Christmas day 
of 1866. She is a daughter of Isaiah and Caroline (Wallace) Becraft, 
the former born May 2, 181 1, and the latter on the 4th of December. 
18 1 7. They became the parents of four children, of whom Mrs. Bilder- 
back was the youngest. She has one brother living, W. F. Becraft, who 
resides in Augusta. Kalamazoo county, Michigan. After losing his first 
wife Mr. Becraft was again married. Of this union there were five 
children, of whom three sons are living: Julius O., M. C. and I. W. 
Becraft. Mrs. Bilderbad-; was born near Detroit, but in Macomb county, 
Michigan, on the ist of November, 1843. and came to Dowagiac with 
her father in June. 1849, since which time she has been a resident of this 
county. Fler father was prominent in public affairs in an early day, 
serving as postmaster of Dow-agiac, also as deputy sheriff and as provost 
marshal during the period of the Civil war. He was closely identified 
willi the early history of Cass county. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bilderback at the time of their marriage located on 
a farm in Silver Creek township, where he engaged in general agri- 
cultural pursuits until 1899, when he retired from active business cares 
and removed to the city. While farming his place displayed every evi- 
dence of careful supervision and painstaking effort. Tlie land was trans- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY fi6;> 

formed into productive fields and he annually harvested good crops, and 
in all of his work he was practical and energetic. Unto him and his 
wife were born two sons and two daughters: Ella Grace, who is now 
the wife of D. J. Stilwell; Jesse N., a mail carrier of Dowagiac; Verna 
C, who is the wife of 1. C. Scattergood, who is living in Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania; and William R., who is a molder residing in Dowagiac. 

Mr. Eilderback has a farm of eighty acres which is well improved 
and this yields to him a good financial return. He is a Republican, hav- 
ing given inflexible support to the party since age conferred upon him 
the right of franchise. He has been called to various positions of public 
trust, serving as justice of the peace, as supervisor, as township treas- 
urer of Silver Creek township and treasurer of the school district for 
thirty-two years, resigning the last named position when he removed to 
Dowagiac. He is and has been supervisor of the second ward of 
Dowagiac. Every public duty has been faithfully performed and the 
trust reposed in him by his fellow townsmen has been well merited. That 
he occupies an honored position in Grand Army circles is indicated by 
the fact that he has been commander of H. C. Gilbert Post No. 47, 
G. A. R., for about twelve years. He has been a member of the Baptist 
church for thirty years, and Mrs. Bilderback also belongs to this church 
and has taken a most active and helpful part in its work. They contribute 
generously to its support and do everything in their power to promote 
its activities and extend its influence and for about a quarter of a century 
Mr. Bilderback served as superintendent of the Sunday-school. He has 
no business interests now save the administration of estates, but various 
trusts of this nature have been given to him. He has been a resident 
of Cass county for frfty-six years and in looking back over his history it 
will be seen that there are many commendable elements in him, as dis- 
played in his patriotic service in defense of the Union, in his straight- 
forward and honorable business life, in his devotion to duty in civic 
office and his fidelity to the ties of friendship and of the home. He is 
one of the best known citizens of the county and it is with pleasure that 
we present the record of his career to our readers. 

EDD W. EASTON. 

Edd W. Easton operates and occupies a fine farm of two hundred 
and twenty acres, pleasantly situated on section 21, Silver Creek town- 
ship. It was upon this farm that his birth occurred on the 17th of Febru- 
ary, 1861. Throughout his entire life he has lived in Silver Creek town- 
ship and has become widely recognized as an enterprising, progressive- 
agriculturist, whose business interests are capably conducted and who in 
all his dealings is upright and reliable. His father, Thomas Easton, was 
a native of Kentucky and came tu Alichigan with his parents when a boy, 
locating in Berrien county, where he was reared amid pioneer surround- 
ings. When a voung man he removed to Cass count)- and was married 



670 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

here to Miss Emily Hinciinian, a native of Virginia, who came with her 
parents to this state in her early girlhood days. Following their mar- 
riage Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Easton located on Section 21, Silver Creek 
township, where the husband devoted his time and energies to general 
agricultural pui suits, placing his land under a high state of cultivation 
and developing an excellent farm. He continued in active farm work 
until his life's labors were ended in death, when he was in his seventy- 
hfth year. He is still survived by his wife, who is one of the worthy 
pioneer women of the county. In their family were four children, three 
sons and a daughter, namely : Dr. W. W. Easton, who is living in 
Dowagiac; Jennie, the widow of William Allen, also a resident of 
Dowagiac; Dr. J. M. Easton, of Decatur; and Edd W., of this review. 

The youngest of the family, Edd W. Easton, was reared under the 
parental roof upon the farm where he now resides, and pursued his edu- 
cation in the common schools of the township. When not busy with his 
text-books or engaged with the pleasures of the playground his atten- 
tion was given to the work of the farm, and in early life he became 
familiar with the best methods of cultivating the soil and caring for the 
crops. He remained at home until his marriage, which was celebrated 
on the 14th of October, 1883, the lady of his choice being Miss Florence 
Mason, a daughter of A. H. and Temi^erance (Cross) Mason, the former 
a native of New York and the latter of Canada. They came to Cass 
county in an early day, being among the first settlers of Dowagiac. The 
father is a carpenter by trade but has conducted a hotel and planing mill 
and has been closely associated with the business development of his 
ndojitetl city. Mrs. Easton was born in Dowagiac August 7, 1862, and 
is the seventh in order of birth in a family of nine children. She re- 
mained with her parents during the days of her girlhood and' is indebted 
to the public school system of her native city for the educational priv- 
ileges which she enjoyed. At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Easton located upon the farm where he has since resided with the excep- 
tion of a brief period spent in Dowagiac. He has here two hundred 
and twenty acres of land belonging to his mother. He has placed the 
farm under a high state of cultivation and it richly repays his efforts 
in splendid crops which the fields annually yield. Everything about the 
]>lace is kept up in good condition and its neat and thrifty appearance 
indicates the careful supervision of a practical and progressive owner. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Easton have been born two daughters. May, 
who finished the eleventh grade in the Dowagiac city school, took the 
normal course in IQ06, and also has taken instrumental music. She will 
take charge of District No. Six in Silver Creek. Alma, the youngest, 
is in the fnurth grade. The family is well known in the community 
and h;i\c many warm friends here. Mr. Easton is an earnest Repub- 
lican in his political views, and in 1904 was elected to the office of 
super\isnr (if his township, in which capacity he served for a year. He 
lias been a school director for a numlicr of vears, and the cause of edu- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 071 

cation finds in iiim a warm friend. In fact he is a recognized supporter 
of all progressive nioxenients, and his co-operation has been of value in 
measures for the public good. He belongs to the Ivnights of the Mac- 
cabees at Dowagiac. He has known no other home than Cass county 
nor has he wished to change his place of residence. Tbe lives of such 
men are an indication of the attracti\-eness of the county as a place of 
residence and of the opportunities here afforded to the citizens, for were 
conditions otherwise enterprising men like Mr. Easton would seek homes 
elsewhere. On the contrary they recognize that they have good ad- 
vantages here and they are always laboring to promote the welfare and 
progress of the county, while at the same time carefully conducting pri- 
vate business interests. 

HON. HENRY B. WELLS. 

Hon. Henry B. Wells, whose position in public regard has long been 
a creditable and enviable one and who has been entrusted with various 
duties of a puUic nature, showing the confidence reposed in him by his 
fellow' townsmen, makes his home on Section 28, Wayne township, where 
he conducts and cultivates a farm of two hundred acres. Its excellent 
improvements are indicative of his progressive spirit, which has been 
manifest in all the associations of public and private life. 

Mr. Wells is a native of the state of New York, his birth having 
occurred in Otsego county on the -|th of February, 18129. His father, 
Werden Wells, was a native of Rhode Island and a son of Joshua Wells, 
who was a son of one of seven brothers who came from England and, 
settling in Rhode Island, established the town of Wellsville. When a 
young lad Werden Wells accompanied his parents on their removal froirt 
New England to Otsego county. New York, where he acquired his edu- 
cation and was married. In early life he learned tlie trade of a harness- 
maker and continued in that business for a number of years. He wedded 
Miss Julia Baker, a daughter of Henry Baker and a native of Otsego 
county. New York, where they began their domestic life, remaining there 
for a number of years. In 1835, however, the father brought his family 
to Michigan, making his way to Kalamazoo county, where he took up 
government land in Charleston townsliip. It was wild and unimproved, 
but he at once began its cultivation and develojied therefrom a good farm, 
which he made his place of residence until be was called to the home be- 
yond, when about eighty-five years of age. His first wife died when 
forty-five years of age and he afterward wedded Mrs. Elipha Filkins, a 
widow. There were ten children born of the father's first marriage and 
two of the second marriage. Of the first family only three are now living. 

Henry B. Vv''ells. the second child and second son born of tliat 
union, was a youth of seven years when he accompanied his parents to 
Kalamazoo county, where he remained until nineteen years of age. He 
then came to Cass county in 1848 to enter upon an independent business 



672 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

career here. He had mastered the branches of learning taught in the 
httle log schoolhouses of the early days and feeling the necessity of 
providing for his own support, following his removal to this county, 
he at once began working for the Michigan Central Railroad Company 
at or near Dowagiac. He was employed as station hand at Decatur, and 
about 1 85 1 he took the contract for loading piles for the railroad com- 
pany, which supplied him with an engine and train. He afterward made 
arrangements to run a construction train for the company and continued 
in that department of the railroad service until 1854, when he was called 
upon to take charge of the construction of the St. Mary ship canal, which 
was to be completed by the following May. He pushed the work for- 
ward so vigorously that he had fulfilled the terms of the contract by 
December of the same year. In 1905, fifty years after the work was 
completed, he made a visit to the canal. Following its building he re- 
turned to the Michigan Central Railroad Company, which he repre- 
sented as wood and lumber inspector for a number of years. He was 
afterward made conductor on a regular train of that line running from 
Marshall to Chicago, in which capacity he served for about fifteen years. 
Each step in his career has been a forward one. He has eagerly watched 
his opportunities for advancement and his capable service, unflagging in- 
dustry and promptness in the discharge of his duties won him recog- 
nition and gained him promotion. Ambitious, however, to engage in 
business on his own account, he at length left the railroad company 
and with the money which he had saved from his own earnings he em- 
barked in merchandising at Dowagiac, opening a general store in 1866. 
He continued in that business for four years and was then in the grain 
trade for about six years. In 1876 he located upon the farm which he 
had purchased in 1849 ^"^ which he had carried on in connection with 
the management of his other business interests from the time that it had 
come into his possession. During a part of that period he had also made 
his home upon the farm. He is now giving his undivided attention to 
agricultural pursuits and is the owner of two hundred acres of land which 
is rich and productive. The fields annually return good harvests and 
there are n'loclern improvements upon the place which indicate a pro- 
gressive spirit. 

In December, 1854, Mr. Wells was married to INIiss Phebe Carr, 
a daughter of Cary and Eliza (Hazlett) Carr. Mrs. Wells was born 
in the Empire state but was brought to Cass county when eleven years 
of age and has resided here continuously since. They now have two 
living children, a son and daughter: Alice, the wife of Judge Harry 
B. futhill, of Michigan City, Indiana, : and Elbert C. who is in the 
mail service on the railroad and makes his home in Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Wells is a stanch Republican, having supported the party con- 
tinuously since its organization. He voted for Fillmore in 1852, for 
I'remont in 1856 and Lincoln in i860 and he has since supported each 
jiresidcntial nominee of the party. He has been township treasurer and 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 073 

supervisor for six years and held other local ot'lices. In 1866 he was 
elected to the legislature to represent the northern district of Cass 
county and in ihat position as in local oltices he was found worthy the 
trust reposed in hnii, discharging his duties with credit to himself and 
satisfaction to his constitutents. In the Congregational church at Dow- 
agiac in which he holds membership he has tilled most of the offices, 
acting as treasurer, trustee and in other positions and co-operating in 
many movements for tlie extension of the mtluencc of the church and 
Its power as a moral force in the community. He has been a continuous 
resident of Cass county for fifty-seven years, active in all things per- 
taining to its good, and now in the evening of life, for he has passed 
the sevent} -seventh milestone on life's journey, he receives the venera- 
tion and respect which should ever be accorded those of similar years 
whose career has been characterized by all that is honorable and straight- 
forward. 

F. H. ROSS. 

The German poet, Goethe, has said, "Merit and success go linked 
together," and this statement tinds verification in the life record of F. H. 
Ross, who by his diligence and unabating energy acquired the compe- 
tence that now enables him to live retired in the enjoyment of well- 
earned ease at his pleasant home in Dowagiac. He was born in ILssex, 
New York, August 3, 1834, a son of Henry H. Ross, who was also a 
native of that county. The paternal grandfather, Daniel Ross, was born 
in Rosshire, Scotland, and following his emigration to the new world 
became a manufacturer at Essex, New York, where he was connected 
with the operation of iron works and also the conduct of a lumber indus- 
try. Henry H. Ross followed the acquirement of his literary educa- 
tion by the study of law and became a practicing attorney in the village 
of Essex, New York, where his last days were passed. He was one of 
the electors on the presidential ticket when Zachary Taylor was chosen 
chief executive of the nation. His ability in the trial of important law 
cases won him prominence and enabled him to command high fees. For 
a single case he received ten thousand dollars. His mind was keenly 
analytical, logical and inductive and he had comprehensive knowledge 
of the principles of jurisprudence and displayed great accuracy in their 
application to the points at issue. He filled the office of judge of the 
circuit court in New York and was also a general of the state militia, 
serving as aid-de-camp on the staff of General McComb at the battle of 
Plattsburg. He lived to be sevent\-two years of age and was regarded 
as one of the most prominent and honored men in his portion of the 
Empire state. His wife bore the maiden name of Susanna Blanchard. 
and was a daughter of Judge Blanchard of Salem, New York, who was 
of French Huguenot descent and became a distinguished attorney of the 
Empire state. Mrs. Ross was also a representative of the family of Dr. 
Proudfoot, who was a noted Presbyterian minister. She was reared and 



674 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

educated in Salem, whicli was tlie place of her birth and she Hved to be 
seventy-two years of age. In the family were seven children, two daugh- 
ters and five sons, all of whom reached adult age, while the daughters 
and two of the sons are yet living, namely : John, who resides in Platts- 
burg, New York, where he is connected with manufacturing interests ; 
Frances Ellen ; and one daughter who is living in New York City. 

F'. H. Ross of this review was the third in order of birth of the 
seven children. He acquired a common school education in Essex and 
was graduated at Burlington College. He studied law but on account 
of his eyesight was compelled to relinquish the plan of following the 
profession and came west to Detroit, where he entered upon his business 
career as a clerk in a hardware store. In i860 he removed to Dowagiac 
and established a hardware business on his own account, conducting the 
same with success until 18S6, when he disposed of his stock and turned 
his attention to the real estate, loan and insurance business, in which he 
soon secured a good clientage, continuing in that business until 1901, 
when he retired altogether from active connection with commercial or 
industrial interests. He won a fair amount of prosperity in his under- 
takings and in fact accumulated capital sufficient to now enable him 
to rest in the enjoyment of his fruits of his former toil, having all of 
the necessities and comforts and some of the luxuries of life. 

Mr. Ross was married in 1859 to Miss Frances Dixon, daughter of 
Captain William Dixon, of Burlington. Vermont. She was born in that 
city, where her girlhood days were passed and her education was acquired. 
Two children have blessed this union: Frances Minnie, at home; and 
Susanna D., who became the wife of R. W. Sheldon and died, leaving a 
son, Frederick R., who is the only grandchild of Mr. and Mrs. Ross. 
In his political affiliation Mr. Ross is independent, voting for the candi- 
dates whom he regards at best qualified for office. He has served as 
president of the village board, but has never been an office seeker and 
has refused to become a candidate. He belongs to the Masonic frater- 
nity, in which he has attained the Royal Arch degree. For many vears 
he has been identified with the interests of Dowagiac, his residence here 
covering four decades. Tlie town contained only about seven hundred 
inhabitants when he arrived, and from that time to the present he has 
been closely associated with its business interests and its material, in- 
tellectual, moral and social progress. His life has been actuated by no 
mad rush for wealth, for he has been content with a fair share of the 
world's goods and is now enjoying life in well-earned rest. 

CHARLES T. AMSDEN. 

Charles T. Amsden. the secretar\^ of the Dowagiac Gas & Fuel 
Company and also partner in a grocerv enterprise of this citv, possesses 
excellent business and executive ability that have gained him prominence 
and won his success in his business operations. He was bom in Red 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 675 

Wing, Minnesota, on the 31st of October, 1856. The ancestral home 
of the family in this country was in New York and one of its representa- 
tives served as a soldier in the war of 1812. The Amsdens came of 
English hneage. George W. Amsden, the father of our subject, was horn 
in New York and came to Michigan m 1857, while at the present writ- 
ing, in 1905, he is living in Baldwin, Kansas. Following the occupa- 
tion of farming throughout his entire business career, he located on a 
farm in Wayne township when he took up his abode in Cass county 
and while residing here served as supervisor of Wayne township for 
a number of years. He was at one time an active and valued member 
of the Masonic fraternity and his political support has long been given 
to the Republican party. He now makes his home in Baldwin, Kansas, 
at the age of eighty years. His wife, who bore the maiden name of 
Caroline Turner, is a native of Ohio. She belongs to the Congregational 
church. In their family were seven children: Israel, deceased; Charles 
T., of this review ; Israel, the second of the name, who has also> i>assed 
away; Lois, the wife of Roland E. Morse, a grocery merchant of 
Dowagiac: Clara, the wife of William Stilhvell, a farmer of Ocosto, 
Washington ; Ida, the wife of A. C. Vaughan, who is also a farmer of 
Ocosto; and Daniel C, who is engaged in the hardware business at 
Dinuba, California. 

Mr. Amsden of this review was reared to farm life and early became 
familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agricult- 
urist. He was only about a year old when brought by his parents 
to Michigan and he pursued his education in the schools of Cassopolis, 
after \\hich he engaged in teaching school for four years. He then 
became connected with mercantile interests as a clerk in the employ 
of Mosher & Palmer, grocers of Dowagiac, with whom he remained 
for four years. He then embarked in the grocery business on his own 
account in association with James P. Bond, and that partnership was 
maintained for four years. In 1888 Mr. Amsden and Julius Becraft 
purchased the Dowagiac Republican and in the second year thereafter 
Mr. Amsden retired and embarked in the grocery business in connection 
with Roland E. Morse, with whom he is still associated, their business 
being a profitable enterprise of the city. In 189 1 the Dowagiac Gas & 
Fuel Company was organized and the following year the plant was 
installed. Mr. Amsden has been secretary' and manager since that time 
and devotes the greater part of his attention to the duties of this office 
in connection with the management of the interests of the gas company, 
which has given to its patrons good service and is a valued inrlustrious 
enterprise of the city. 

In 1882 Mr. Amsden was united in marriage to Mrs. Susan E. Jewel, 
a native of Cass county and a daughter of John N. and Mary A. 
(Bonnell) Jewel. Her father was a farmer by occupation. In his 
fraternal relations Mr. Amsden is a Mason, having attained high rank 
in the craft, for he is now a Knight Templar and a Shriner. He also 



676 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

belongs to the Elks lodge, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Legion of 
Honor ainl the Knights of Pythias. In politics he is an unfaltering 
Republican, and has served for two terms as city treasurer, as city clerk 
for one term and as alderman for the second ward for two temis. In 
the discharge of his official duties he displays the same fidelity and care 
which are manifest in the management of his private business interests 
and in Dowagiac he has a wide and favorable acquaintance resulting 
from a genial manner and an upright life. 

THEODORE F. WILBER. 

Theodore F. Wilber, an honored veteran of the Civil war, who 
enlisted in defense of the Union when only seventeen years of age, 
is now living in Dowagiac. He was born in Seneca county. New York, 
at the family home on the west bank Oif Cayuga Lake, June 12, 1846. 
His father, Gideon S. Wilber, was also a native of Seneca county, 
where he resided until 1854, when with his family he came to the 
middle west, settling first on a farm in Wayne township, Cass county, 
where he lived for about a year. In the spring of 1855 he lx>ught a 
farm in La Grange township, removed to that property and continued 
to make his home there throughout his remaining days. His entire 
life was devoted to general agricultural pursuits and he tilled the fields 
and cultivated the crops until his life's labors were ended, being a dili- 
gent, energetic man. He was also a public-spirited citizen and his 
fellow townsmen, recognising his worth and loyalty, frequently called 
him to positions of trust and responsibility. He heldi many offices 
during the years of his residence in this county. He was superintend- 
ent of the poor for about fifteen years and was deputy sheriff for two 
years. He gave his political allegiance to the Republican party from 
the time of its organization, watched with interest the progress of 
events in the south prior to the Civil War and when the Republican 
party was formed to meet existing conditions, he joined its ranks and 
was one of its most loyal advocates. For forty years he was a reader 
of the semi-weekly New York Tribune and at one time was the only 
subscriber to the paper in this part of the countiy. He was well known 
in the county as a man of public spirit, interested in eveiything relating 
to the material, intellectual and moral as well as political progress of 
the communitv, and he assisted in building three different churches, 
although he did not ally himself with any denomination. He was, how- 
ever, a man of high moral principles and genuine worth who was re- 
liable in Inisiness affairs and at all times commanded and merited the 
confidence and esteem of those with whom he came in contact. He 
married Miss Louisa M. Hause, also a native of Seneca county. New 
York, and a daughter of John Hause, whose birth occurred in the Em- 
pire state and who died in Cass county at the age of eighty-three years. 
The death of Gideon Wilber occurred when he had reached the vener- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 677 

able age of eighty-five years. In his family were five children, one daugh- 
ter and four sons, all of whom are living with one exception. 

Theodore F. Wilber, the second child and eldest son, was about 
eight years of age when brought by his parents to Michigan and has since 
remained a resident of Cass county. He began his education in the 
public schools of New York and continued his studies in the district 
schools of LaGrange township. Through the summer months he aided 
in the work of the fields and remained at home until seventeen years of 
age, when, ni response to his coimtry"s need, he enlisted as a private 
of Company M, First Michigan Cavalry, in 1863. With that command 
he served until the close of the war and was then sent among the Indians 
on the frontier to aid in the suppression of the uprisings among the red 
race. He thus did duty in the far west until March, 1866, after serving 
for nearly three years. He was ever a faithful and loyal soldier, never 
faltering in the performance of any duty that devolved upon him whether 
it led him to the firing line, stationed him on the lonely picket line or 
called him to the frontier. 

When the war ended Mr. Wilber returned to his old h.ome in La- 
Grange township and resumed farming on his father's place. He gained 
intimate knowledge of the best methods of tilling the soil and caring for 
the crops and v/as thus well qualified to carry on farm work on his own 
account when he established a home for himself. He was married on the 
24th of December, 1868, to Miss Fannie Jennings, a daughter of Milton 
and Margaret (Burns) Jenning's. Her father was born in Connecticut. 
Her mother died when Mrs. Wilber was only two years old. There 
were three children in the family, the eldest being Charles, who en- 
listed for service as a soldier in the Civil war and was killed in battle. 
The elder daughter, Martha, is now deceased, leaving Mrs. Wilber, the 
youngest member of the family, as the only one now surviving with the 
exception of a half sister, for the father was married twice. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wilber have one son, Fred J., who is a civil engineer, who was 
graduated on the completion of the engineering course in the Michigan 
state university at Ann Arbor in igoo and is now located in Buffalo, 
New York. 

Mr. Wilber is executor for the father's estate, comprising two hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land, and in the management of this property' dis- 
plays good business ability and executive force. He belongs to H. C. 
Gilbert Post, G. A. R., of Dowagiac, and is now senior vice commander. 
He has always taken an active part in the work of the Grand Army of 
the Republic and is a stalwart advocate of the principles upon which 
this order is based. He enjoys recounting incidents of army life around 
its campfires amid the genial companionship of his old army comrades. 
He was hut seventeen years of age when he enlisted and twenty years 
of age when honnraljly discharged and was therefore not a voter until 
one year after he had completed his term of military service. His first 
presidential ballot was cast for General Grant .'uid he has always been 



678 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

an advocate of the Republican party. He has resided in this county for 
a half century and is now the only W'ilbcr here representing his father's 
descendants. He is well known and his strong and salient character- 
istics have been such as have won for him favorable regard from his 
iellownien. Great changes have occurred since he came to the county 
as the work of improvement has been carried forward and Mr. Wilber's 
mind reverts back to the time when much of the land was still unculti- 
vated, when there were considerable stretches of forest yet uncut and 
when several of the towns which are now the centers of business and com- 
mercial enterprise had not yet been founded. He has ever been deeply 
interested in the work of development and has borne his full share in 
this task, manifesting at all times the same loyalty which he displayed 
when ujion southern battlefields he followed the stars and stripes. 

H. A. CREGO. 

H. A. Crego, known throughout Cass county as Squire Crego, has 
for thirty-six years been justice of the peace, and no stronger evidence 
could be given of capable service and impartial decisions than the fact 
that he has so long been retained in the office. He has lived in Cass 
county from an early day and now makes his home on section 29, Vol- 
inia township. Moreover he is entitled to representation in this volume 
as a native son of Michigan, his birth having occurred on the 2nd of 
August, 1840, in Lenawee county, at the junction of the Chicago and 
Monroe turnpikes. His parents were Rulef D. and Eliza (Arms) 
Crego. The father was born in the Mohawk valley of New York and 
there remained until about thirty j^ears of age, when, believing that he 
might enjoy better business opportunities in the new but growing west, 
he made his way to Michigan, settling in Lenawee county. He had 
been married in New York. His first wife was Mary J- Strannahan 
and there were ten children born of that marriage. Following the 
death of the mother the father married again. His wife was a native 
of Conway, Franklin county, Massachusetts, and was there reared. She 
first married Ichabod Nelson, and it was subsequent to his death that 
she gave her hand in marriage to Rulef D. Crego. By this marriage 
there were Ijorn three children, of whom Squire Crego is the second. 
The other two, however, died in infancy, so that the subject of this 
review is die only surviving member of the entire family. 

When only two years old Squire Crego was brought to Cass coun- 
ty by his parents, the family locating in Newberg township, where he 
was reared in the usual manner of farm lads of that period and locality. 
He was educated in the district schools and shared with the family in 
the pioneer experiences incident to the establishment of a home on the 
frontier. The father died when the son was eighteen years of age and he 
and his mother remained in Newberg township for about four vears 
thereafter, when Mrs. Crego also passed away. Squire Crego, how- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 679 

ever, continued to reside in the same township for some time there- 
after and was married there on the 14th of February, 1863, to Miss Mary 
Lynch, a daughter of George and Rebecca Lynch, who lived in Adams- 
ville. New York, and came from the Empire state to Michigan. The 
birth of Mrs. Crego occurred in Adamsville, and at her deatli she left 
one son, Charles C. Crego, who is now a salesman in a department store 
in Washington. In 1869 Mr. Crego was married to Miss Phebe Hin- 
shaw, who died leaving one son, Frank R., now a resident of Volinia 
township. In 1897 occurred the marriage of Squire Crego and Mary 
Jane Newton, who was born upon the farm where she now resides Jan- 
uary I, 1853, her parents being George and Esther (Green) Newton, 
who came to this county in pioneer days, the father in 1831 and the 
mother in 1834. Tlie name of Newton has since been associated with 
the history of progress and development here and has always stood as 
a synonym of good citizenship. 

Squire Crego has been a life-long farmer and is iniw following 
agricultural pursuits on section 29, Volinia township. He has voted 
with the Republican party since age gave to him the right of franchise, 
and has been honored with a number of local positions of public trust, 
having served as constable and as township clerk in Newberg township, 
as highway commissioner of Volinia township and as justice of the 
peace for about thirty-six years. His positions were strictly fair and 
impartial and have "won golden opinions from all sorts of people." 
He belongs to the Methodist Protestant church and is a member of the 
Masonic lodge at Volinia and also the Knights of the Maccabees. He 
has been a resident of the county for sixty-four years and in 1905 was 
elected president of the Pioneers' Association. 

C. L. SHERWOOD. 

C. L. Sherwood is the pioneer druggist of Dowagiac and has been 
connected with this line of commercial enterprise in Michigan and else- 
where for fifty-two years. The consensus of public opinion is altogether 
favorable regarding his business qualifications, reliability and enterprise 
and no history of the commercial development of Dowagiac would be 
complete without the life record of Mr. Sherwood. He was born in 
Erie county, Pennsylvania, on the 4th of September, 1838, and is of 
English lineage, the family having been founded in America by three 
brothers of the name who came from England to the new world at an 
early period in its colonization. One of the brothers located in New 
York, one in the south and the other in New England. The grandfather 
of our subject was John Sherwood, a resident of the Empire state. His 
son, P. W. Sherwood, was bom in Tompkins countv, New York, and 
became a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was reared 
and educated in Pennsvlvania and, determining tn (Ie\-(ite iiis life to the 
work nf the gospel, he prepared for the ministry and for forty-five years 



680 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

labored carncslly in advancing the cause of the church in Pennsylvania, 
Xew \ovk and (Jliid, where he filled various pastorates. His influence 
was a potent element for good in every community in which he lived 
and his memory remains as a blessed benediction to many who knew 
him and came under his teaching. His last days were spent in Ohio, 
where he passed away at the age of eighty-three years. In early man- 
hood he wedded Miss Orilla Frye, a native of Vermont, who, however, 
was reared in Erie county, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of 
John I'rye, who was of English descent. Her death occurred in 1862 
when she was about forty-five years of age. Four children had been 
born of that marriage, two sons and two daughters, of whom C. L. Sher- 
wood of this review is the eldest. Tlie others are: Lucy, the wife of 
Gibson J. Strannahan, of Lima, Ohio, where he is engaged in business 
as an employee of the Standard Oil Company; Mary, the wife of P. T. 
Mowry, an insurance agent of Chicago, Illinois; and Oscar M., who 
died when al)out thirty-six years of age, was a resident of Dowagiac, 
and was a druggist. 

C. L. Sherwood spent the first thirteen years of his life in the state 
of his nativity and then moved to New York. In 1859 he returned to 
I'ennsylvania, settling at LTnion City, and in 1868 he came to Dowagiac, 
Michigan, where he has since made his home. He entered the drug 
business at Holley, New York, and continued in the drug trade at 
L'nion City, Pennsylvania. On coming to Dowagiac he purchased the 
drug store of Howard & Halleck and he also purchased the stores of 
M. B. Hollister and Asa Huntington. He has since continued in busi- 
ness and is today the oldest druggist of the city. He has a well equipped 
establishment, neat and attractive in its arrangement and he carries a 
large and well selected line of drugs and sundry goods. His trade has 
constantly grown with the development of the tow^n and surrounding 
country and almost from the beginning the business has proved a profit- 
able one, so that as the years have passed Mr. Sherwood has become 
one of the substantial citizens of his community. 

In 1862 Mr. Sherwood was united in marriage to Miss Mary W. 
Wood and unto them were born two children, but both died in child- 
hood. Mr. Sherwood is identified with the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks, the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and the Knights 
of Honor. He is also a very prominent Mason, having attained the 
thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite, while with the Nobles of the 
Mystic Shrine he has crossed the sands of the desert. His political 
allegiance has long been given to the Republican party and he serv^ed 
as postmaster in Pennsylvania under appointment of .Abraham Lincoln. 
He has also been postmaster of Dowagiac for eleven years under the 
adnu'm'strations of presidents Grant and Haves and he was mayor of 
Union City, Pennsyh'ania. No public trust reposed in him has ever 
been betrayed in the slightest degree, his official service being character- 
ized bv unfrdtering devotion tn dutv. He has been in business in Dow- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 681 

agiac for thirty-eight years, the firm i>eing tidw Sherwood & Burhnsijame 
and in addition to his store he owns vaiuahle property iiiterests\ere' 
includmg two luismess blocks, houses and lots. All that he possesses 
has been acquired through his own enterprising efforts and his life rec- 
ord shows what may be accomplished by unremitting diligence and 
energy that never flags. He has not made the accumulation of wealth 
however, his sole end and aim in life, for he has had due regard to the 
duties of citizenship, of home life and of social relations and is recog- 
nized as a man of genuine personal worth, 

GILBERT CONKLIN. 

Gilbert Conklin, a prominent farmer living in Silver Creek town- 
ship who-e capable management of his business interests is indicated by 
the success that f(_)llows his efforts, was Iiorn in Otsego- county, New 
York, March 17, 1839. He is the eldest child of Abram and Belinda 
(Gilbert) Conklin. Tlie family is descended from three brothers, who 
came from England to America in early colonial days. Tlie paternal 
grandfather, Simeon Conklin, was a native of New York, born in Otsego 
county. There he devoted his entire life to agricultural'pursuits, spend- 
ing his last days upon his farm. 

Abram Conklin, father of our subject, was born in Otsego county, 
and m 185 1 came to Michigan, locating first upon a farm known as the 
Hess property in LaGrange township. The following vear, however, 
lie removed to Silver Creek townsliip and took up his abode on the east 
shore of Indian lake, where he developed and improved a farm, giving 
his^ attention to its cultivation for many years thereafter. In fact he 
resided upon that property until his death, which occurred when he was 
in his seventy-sixth year. He married Miss Belinda Gilbert, a native 
of Herkimer county. New York, and a daughter of William B. Gilbert 
of the same county. He was of French descent. Mrs. Belinda Conk- 
lin died upon the home farm in Silver Creek township at the age of 
fifty-two years. There were eight children in the familv, one of whom 
died in infancy. The others are: Gilbert, of this review: Simeon; 
Abram; Jane: George, who died at the age of fourteen: Charles: and 
Lydia. 

Gilbert Conklin was reared in the county of his nativitv and ac- 
quired his education there in the district schools. He came to Cass 
county, Michigan, with his parents and remained ^^'ith them until his 
marriage, in the meantime assisting in the work of the fields and the 
development of a new farm. On the T3th of February, 1862, lie was 
joined in wedlock to Miss Maria Bedford, a daughter of George and 
Ann (Smith) Bedford, both of whom were born in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
land. They spent their childhood there in that country, were married 
there and in 1835 crossed the Atlantic to America, locating near Syra- 
cuse. New York, v/here they remained for about six vears. Tn 1841 



QS-> HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

tliey came to Michigan, settling in Silver Creek township, Cass county, 
where they spent their remaining days, both attaining an advanced age, 
the father passing away when he had reached the age of seventy-five 
vcars, while the mother's death occurred when she was seventy-four 
years of age. In their family were six daughters and two sons, of 
whom three died in infancy. Two of the number were born in New 
York, while the others were natives of Silver Creek township. There 
are four daughters and a son living. Mrs. Conklin, who was the third 
child and second daughter, was born in Silver Creek township, June 5, 
1842, and has been a life-long resident of this part of the county. At 
the usual age she began her education in the district schools and after- 
ward she engaged in teaching, which profession she followed success- 
fully up to the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Conklin began 
their domestic life upon the farm where they now reside, living first in 
a small frame house which was practically nothing more than a little 
shanty twelve by twenty feet. As the years passed by, three children 
were added to the family: William G., who was born in 1863 and died 
in 1893 at the age of thirty years; Linda, who is an artist now living 
in Chicago, Illinois: and Dr. Alice I. Conklin, a practicing physician 
residing in Chicago. 

Mr. Conklin has extensive and valuable landed interests in this 
countv, his farm comprising three hundred and forty-eight acres of rich 
land which responds readily to the care and cultivation he bestows upon 
the fields, bringing forth rich and abundant harvests. He has long 
been recognized as an enterprising agriculturist of his community and 
he has a well improved farm, using good machinery to facilitate the 
work of the fields. He has been almost a life-long resident of the 
county, coming here in his boyhood days and his residence here now 
covers more than a half century, during which time he has witnessed 
the greater part of the development and improvement of this portion 
nf the state. He has been a stanch champion of the cause of temper- 
ance and is an earnest prohibitionist, working eagerly for the success 
of his party. At one time he was supervisor of his township. He is 
a memljer of the Methodist Episcopal church and is district trustee. 
His life has been honorable, his actions manly and sincere, for at all 
times his conduct has been actuated by Christian principles and devo- 
tion to truth, justice and right. 

ALBON C. TAYLOR. 

Albon C. Taylor, supervisor of the first ward of Dowagiac, was 
born in Franklin county. New York, April 8, 1861. His father, Mar- 
shall W. Taylor, was also a native of that state and during the period 
of the Civil war espoused the Union cause, donned his country's uniform 
and went forth to defend the stars and stripes. He died while serving 
as a soldier. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Jane Abbott, was 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 68a 

a narive of Toronto, Canada, and was taken by her parents to the state 
of New York when only four years of age. By her marriage she be- 
came the mother of three sons: Arthur J., who is now residing in 
Malone, franklin county, New York; George E., who makes his home 
in Kalamazoo, Michigan; and A. C, of this review. 

Mr. Taylor, the youngest of the family, was reared in the place 
of his nativity until sixteen years of age and during that period acquired 
his education in the district schools. He then left home and made his 
way westward to Michigan, settling in Allegan county, where he was 
employed at farm labor until about the time he attained his majority. 
He then entered upon railroad work in the employ of the Michigan Cen- 
tral Railroad Company, securing a position in the freight department 
at Kalamazoo. He came to Dowagiac about 1892 as foreman of the 
freight house for the Michigan Central Company, spending six years 
in that capacity, after which he resigned his position and became con- 
nected with the Dowagiac Manufacturing Company in the molding 
department. He has since been with the Round Oak Stove Company, 
with which he occupies a good position. 

Mr. Taylor was married in February, 189 1, to Miss Irma Thomp- 
.son, a daughter of Dr. W. C. and Kate Thompson. She was born in 
St. Joseph county, Michigan, and has spent her entire life in this county. 
By her marriage she has become the mother of two sons, Curtis and 
Glenn. 

Mr. Taylor votes with the Republican party and has taken an active 
and helpful interest in its work and in promoting its success. He was 
also supervisor of the first ward in 1904 and again in 1905 and is now 
filling the position. In the spring of 1906 he was elected as city treas- 
urer of Dowagiac, Michigan, and is the present inamibent of this office. 
He is vice-president of the Round Oak Relief Association and was one 
of its charter members and organizers. He also belongs to the Modern 
Woodmen camp. Coming to Michigan when but a youth, he has re- 
sided here continuously since, and his life history is well know to the 
citizens of Cass county among whom he has now lived for many years. 

JOHN MATER. 

Among those to whom fate has vouchsafed an honorable retire- 
ment from lalx>r in recognition of former toil and activity, is John 
Mater, a retired farmer living in Dowagiac. He was born in Parke 
county, Indiana, June 7. 1838. His father. George Mater, was a native 
of Pennsylvania, where he spent the days of his youth. The paternal 
grandfather was George Mater. Sr., who for seven years was a soldier 
in the Revolutionarv war under General Washington and valiantly 
fought for the independence of the nation. On leaving the Keystone 
state George Mater, father of nur subject, removed to Ohio and after- 
ward to Indiana, whence, in 1844, he came to Michigan, settling in 



«<s+ HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Pokagon township, Cass county, about three miles south of Dowagiac. 
.\t a later day he returned to Indiana but again came to Michigan, and 
then once more went to Indiana, while his death occurred in Illinois 
in 1S75, when he was seventy-four years of age. His wife, who in 
her maidenhood was Elizabeth Crum, was a daughter of Zachariah 
Crum, who was also a Revolutionaiy soldier, being with the army under 
command of General Anthony Wayne. The Mater family is of Ger- 
man lineage, while the Crum family is of Holland descent. Mrs. Mater 
died when forty-five years of age. By her marriage she had become 
the mother of thirteen children. 

John Mater of this review was the seventh child and third son. He 
remained under the parental roof until fourteen years of age, when his 
mother died. It was not long after this that he started out in life on 
his own account, working at farm lalxjr or at anything he could find 
to do which would yield him an honest living. When about fifteen 
years of age he returned to Michigan, where he has since made his 
home. He was variously employed here until after the outbreak of the 
Ci\il war. when, on the 12th of August, 1861, he enlisted as a memljer 
of Coni])an\- B. Ninth Michigan Volunteer Infantry, joining the army 
as a private. He served until October 7, 1862, when he was honorably 
discharged on account of disability. On the 4th of January, however, 
he re-enlisted in the same company and regiment to which he had for- 
merlv l^elonged and served until the close of the war. He was appointed 
corporal six months after his first enlistment and was made sergeant in 
the fall of 1864. He was altogether for about three years in the serv- 
ice and proved a brave soldier, being a worthy representative of an 
ancestry that furnished several heroes to the Revolutionary war. His 
regiment was taken prisoner at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, on the 13th 
of July. 1862, and was sent to Camp Chase, there remaining until ex- 
changed in the following September. Mr. Mater became ill and for 
this reason was discharged. The regiment was under command of Gen- 
eral Thomas, acting as ^uard at headquarters, and remained as such 
from the battle of Stone River during the war. 'Mr. Mater received 
his second discharge at Jackson. Michigan, and was mustered out at 
Nashville. Tennessee, after which he returned to his home. 

On the 29th of October, 1865. occurred the marriage of Mr. Mater 
and Miss Albina Dewey, a daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Griffin) 
Dewey, Ijoth of whom were natives of Indiana and became pioneer set- 
tlers of Cass county, locating in Pokagon township April 21, 1839. She 
is a granddaughter of Henry Dewey, who was also one of the pioneer 
residents of this countv and took up land from the government in Pok- 
agon township, where he developed a new farm. At the time of their 
marriage Mr. and Mrs. Mater located on a farm in Pokagon township, 
and there resided until about 1890, when he put aside business cares. 
then removing to Dowagiac. For many years Mr. Mater successfully 
and ablv carried on the work of the fields, producing good crops and 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 685 

securing a gratifying financial income as he placed his grain on the 
market. He was practical and enterprising in all his farm work and 
the neat and thrifty appearance of his place indicated his careful super- 
vision. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Mater were born two children : Dr. Elmer 
Lincoln Mater, who is a graduate of the Chicago Medical College and 
is now a practicing physician in Dowagiac ; and Mary Grace, a teacher, 
who is living in South Haven, Michigan. 

Mr. Mater still owns a farm of eighty-nine acres of rich and pro- 
ductive land, and this returns him a good income. He is a member 
of H. C. Gilbert Post, No. 47, G. A. R., in which he has filled nearly 
all of the oftices, including that of commander. He is also a Mason, 
belonging to the Blue lodge and the chapter at Dowagiac. His religious 
faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, 
in which he has also held office, taking an active and helpful part in its 
work. He has been a life-long Republican, and has done much for the 
party in this community, serving as a delegate to all of the county con- 
ventions since his return from the army and doing everything in his 
power to promote the growth and insure the success of the political 
principles in which he lielieves. He represents an old pioneer family 
of the county, ha\ing for sixty-two years resided within its borders and 
at all times and under all circumstances he has been as loyal to his coun- 
try and her welfare as when he followed the stars and stripes on south- 
ern battlefields. Fidelity to duty has ever been one of his strong and 
salient characteristics and his integrity in business, his loyalty in citizen- 
ship and his honor in all life's relations have made him one of the repre- 
sentative men of the county. 

ALONZO J. HARDY. 

Alonzo J. Hardy, who after many years' connection with farming 
interests in Michigan is now living retired in Dowagiac, certainly de- 
serves the rest which is now vouchsafed to him and his life record brings 
to mind the lines of the poet : 

"How blest is he who crowns in shades like these 
A youth of labor with an age of ease." 

Mr. Hardy was born in Otsego county, New York, June 6, 1843. 
His paternal grandfather, \Mlliam Hardy, was of English lineage, but 
the family was established in America in colonial days and William 
Hardy was born in New York. His son, Peter Hardy, was a native 
of Otsego county, that state, was reared to the occupation of farming 
and made that pursuit his life work. He continued to reside in the 
east until 1862, when, tlu'nking that he might enjoy better business op- 
portunities in the middle west, he came to Michigan, settling in La- 
Grange township, Cass county, where he secured a tract of land and 
engaged in farming until 1S69. He then removed to Dowagiac and 



0S6 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

retired from active business, spending his remaining days in the enjoy- 
ment of a well-earned rest. He Hved to be seventy-two years of age. 
In the Methodist Episcopal church he held membership and in its work 
was deeply interested, doing all in his power to promote the various 
church activities. His life was ever upright and honorable and com- 
mended him to the good will and trust of his fellow men. Prior to the 
Civil war he was a stanch opponent of the system of slavery and advo- 
cated the cause of abolition, and when the Republican party was formed 
to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined its ranks. He was 
well known in the county as a man of the highest respectability and 
worth. He married Miss Lydia Huntington, also a native of Otsego 
county. New York, and a daughter of Benjamin Huntington, who came 
of New England ancestry, removing from Vermont to the Empire 
state. Mrs. Hardy died in Cass county when seventy-nine years of 
age. In the family were but two sons, A. J., and George Hardy, 
who live together in Dowagiac. 

Mr. Hardy of this review spent his Ix)ybood days in the place of 
his nativity. At the usual age he entered the common schools and 
therein mastered the elementary branches of English learning. He was 
nineteen years of age when in 1862 he responded to the countiy's call 
for aid, enlisting as a member of Company D, One Hundred and Fifty- 
second regiment of New York volunteers as a private. He served for 
three years and took part in a number of hotly contested engagements, 
including the battles of Cold Hartor, Reams Station and Petersburg. 
He was with the army as it followed Lee up to Appomattox, where the 
Confederate forces surrendered. Mr. Hardy then went with his com- 
mand to Washington and participated in the Grand Review in that city, 
which was the most celebrated military pageant ever seen on the western 
hemisphere, thousands of soldiers passing in review before the stand 
upon which stood the President watching the return of the victorious 
army, whose efforts and bravery had saved the Union. Mr. Hardy was 
mustered out at Albany, New York, having made an excellent military 
record. 

After receiving an lionorable discharge he came to Michigan in 
1865, making his way direct to Cass county, at which time be located 
upon the farm in La Grange township that he still owns. For many 
years thereafter he was engaged in general agricultural pursuits and as 
a companion and helpmate for life's journey he chose Miss Lina E. 
Elliott, to whom he was married in this county on the 2d of September, 
t868. She is a daughter of the Rev. G. C. and Calesta (Elliott) Elliott. 
Iwth of whom were natives of the Mohawk valley of New York, whence 
they came westward to Michigan in 1868, settling in LaGrange town- 
ship, Cass county. Mrs. Hardy was born in Otsego county. New York. 
May 15, 1845, ^"fl was the third in order of birth in a family of five 
children, two daughters and three sons. Her father was a minister of 
the Methodist Episcopal church and she was reared in a household char- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 6S7 

acterized by culture, refinement and high principles. She acquired her 
literary education at Cazemnia Seniinarv. Xew York, and, like the 
others of the family, enjoyed excellent educational privileges. 

At the time of his marriage Mr. Hardy took his bride to his farm 
and there lived continuously until 1885, when he removed to Dowagiac.' 
He continued to engage in the cultivation of his farm, however, until 
about 1899, when he retired from active business life. He has a valu- 
able tract of land of one hundred and ninety acres, well improved. The 
entire place is under the plow save but about fifteen acres, which is 
covered with timber. He brought his fields under a high state of culti- 
vation, built good fences and added modern improvements to his farm 
and as the years passed he har\-ested gcK)d crops. Thus he added an- 
nually to his income year by year until he has accumulated a gratifying 
competence that now makes it possible for him to rest from further 
labor. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hardy have been born two children, a daughter 
and son. The former, Grace, is now the wife of Dr. H. T. Cole, a 
practicing physician located in the Champlain Building, Chicago. The 
son. Dr. F. C. Hardy, is a practicing physician of Kendalville, Indiana. 
Mrs. Cole has a son, Gordon Hardv Cole, and Dr. Hardv has one child, 
Flint Weidla Hardy. 

In his political views A. J. Hardy has been a stanch Republican 
from the time age conferred upon him the right of franchise and he has 
done all in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of 
his party. He belongs to A. C. Gilbert Post, G. A. R., and thus main- 
tains pleasant relations with his old army comrades. He has also taken 
the third degree of the Blue lodge in Masonry, while his wife is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. For forty years Mr. Hardy 
has resided in this county and his wife for almost a similar period. 
They are a highly esteemed couple, having many warm friends, while 
the hospitality of their own home is greatly enjoyed by those who know 
them. Mr. Hardy has led a busy and useful life, has won success 
through earnest effort at farming and is now living at ease in a pleas- 
ant home m Dowagiac. 

DEXTER GUSHING. 

De.xter Gushing was numbered among the old settlers of Cass 
county who aided in making it what it is today. His strenuous labor 
and progressive spirit contributed to the result that has been accom- 
plished in the way of general improvement and progress. He resided 
on section 19, Silver Creek township. He was born in Oneida county. 
New York, near the town of Deerfield, April 17, 1828. His father, 
James H. Gushing, was a native of Massachusetts, in which state he 
spent his boyhood and youth. His father. Matliew Gushing, is sup- 
posed to have been a native nf England and at all events it is known 



688 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

that the family was estabhshed in America in early colonial days. The 
mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Amy Dewey. She was 
born in Massachusetts and was of Scotch-English lineage. In New 
York she gave her hand in marriage to James H. Citshing and they 
resided for some time in Oneida county or imtil 185 1, when they came 
to Michigan, making their way direct to Cass county. They then set- 
tled in Silver Creek township, where Mr. Cushing purchased a farm 
upon which few improvements had been made. He began the further 
dev'elopment of this place and continued to carry on agricultural pur- 
suits here with excellent success, transforming his property into a well 
developed farm, u]Jon which he lived vmtil called to his final rest in his 
seventy-fifth year. His wife was in her eighty-ninth year when she 
passed away. Their family numbered ten children, five sons and five 
daughters, all of whom reached manhood or womanhood with one ex- 
ception. Three of the sons are yet living at the time of this writing, 
namely : George, who makes his home in Dowagiac ; David, who is liv- 
ing in Silver Creek township ; and De.xter. 

In taking up the personal history of Dexter Cushing we present 
In inn readers the life record of one who was widely and favorably 
known in this community. He was the third son and sixth child in his 
father's family and was reared in Oneida county. New York, to the age 
of nine years, when his parents removed to Oswego county, that state, 
there residing until 1852, when they came to Cass county, Michigan, 
and Mr. ("ushing of this review took up his alx)de in Silver Creek town- 
ship. He was then about twenty-four years of age and he remained 
with his father, assisting him in the work of the home farm until he 
married and established a home of his own. 

It was on the 31st of January, 1856, that Mr. Cushing was united 
in marriage to Miss Jane Gilbert, a daughter of William B. and Cynthia 
fSammonds) Gilbert, who came to Cass county in 1838 and were there- 
fore among the early settlers. They located in Silver Creek township, 
establishing a home in the midst of the wilderness and sharing with 
other frontier settlers in the various hardships and trials which go ta 
make up tlie life of the pioneer. Mrs. Cushing was born in Otsego 
county, New York, at the family home in the town of Springfield on 
the 23d of September, 1835. and was therefore a little maiden nf three 
summers when she was brought to Michigan by her parents. She was 
reared under the parental roof with a family that numl:»ered three sons 
and three daughters and she was trained to the duties of the household, 
so that she was well qualified to take charge of a home of her own at 
the time of her marriage. Her education was obtained in the district 
schools, .'\fter their marriage the young couple located on a farm on 
section 20, Silver Creek .township, their first home being a little frame 
house eighteen by twenty-two feet. It soon won a wide reputation for 
it? generous, cordial and warm hearted hospitality and there were always 
visitors there. Thev lived in this house for about twelve vears and dur- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 689 

ing that time Mr. dishing cleared and developed one hundred and 
twenty acres of land which was all covered with heavy timber when he 
took possession of that place. In the forest, however, he developed the 
[ields and the sunlight soon shone down npon the j)lowed land and 
ripened the harvests. Later Mr. Cushing' renK)ved from his original 
place to the present home not far from the old homestead. He "lived 
in the county for about fifty-five years altogether and always gave 
his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits. He was also 
engaged in the .stock business, buying, selling and ship])ing stock for 
about thirty years and finding this a profitable source of income. At 
the time of his death he owned two hundrerl acres of land situated on 
sections 19 and 20, and the farm is a \aluable and productive one, in- 
dicating in its well improved appearance the careful supervision, practi- 
cal methods and unfaltering energy of the owner. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cushing were born two children: William G., 
who is a merchant at Cushing Corners in this county ; and Jennie, the 
wife of Wallace Trowbridge, a resident farmer of Silver Creek town- 
ship. Mr. Cushing always voted with the Democracy after the organi- 
zation of the party and believed that its principles contained the best 
elements of good government. He belonged to the Methodist Epis- 
copal church of Silver Creek township, contributed generously to its 
support, took an active part in its work and did all in his pow'er to 
advance the various church activities. He passed the seventy-eighth 
milestone on life's journey and his was a useful and active life that won 
for him the unqualified regard and confidence of his neighbors and 
friends. He could look back to the time when this county was largely 
unimproved. The uncut forests showed that the white man had scarcely 
])enetratcd into the interior, for only here and there was to be 
seen smoke rising from a little cabin to .show that a home bad been 
established in the midst of the wilderness. Many conditions of life 
were very crude as compared with those of the present day and much 
of the farm work was done by band. The people depended upon what 
they raised for the comforts of life and much of the clothing was not 
only made at home but was spun and woven by hand. There has been 
a great transformation in the methods of farming and as the years passed 
by Mr. Cushing kept abreast with the progress along agricultural lines. 
()n the occasion of his death the following lines appeared in one of the 
local papers : 

"Dexter Cushing, a pioneer of Cass county, died at bis home in 
Silver Creek last Saturday. September 8, and funeral services were held 
Mondav. conducted by Peninsular Lodge F. & A. ^l. of Dowagiac, of 
which he was one of the oldest members. 

"Mr. Cushing was the son of James Cushing, and was seventy- 
eight years of age. He was both a county and township pioneer, hav- 
ing spent almost his entire life as a tiller of the soil in Silver Creek. 

"He is survived bv a wife and two children. The latter are Will 



690 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Ciishinc:, storekeeper at Ciishine^ Corners, and Mrs. Wallace Trowbridge, 
of Indian Lake. One brother, George, of Dowagiac, also survives him. 
Another brother, Dave, died last spring. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Cushing early this year celebrated the fiftieth anni- 
versary of their wedding." 

PFIILO D. BECKWITH. 

At the time of his death in 1889 Philo D. Beckwith had given 
Dowagiac its two most important industries — the drill works and the 
stove works. He had given them to the city and the world in the sense 
that he had invented them. But it was even a greater accomplishment 
when he established the manufacture of the perfected machinery on a 
permanent business basis. It is the privilege of few small cities to 
possess institutions of national fame. To say that "Dowagiac is the 
home of the Round Oak stove" would establish an immediate relation- 
ship between many thousands of homes and this little city in the valley 
of Dowagiac .creek. To the millions who dwell beyond the range of 
Dowagiac's influence as a city, there comes an increasing association of 
the name of city with the name of Round Oak stoves and furnaces. In 
so far as Dowagiac's de\'elopment is the result of her largest industry 
- — and citizens never fail to ascribe first place to the stove works in the 
factors of upbuilding — the late Mr. Beckwith was a founder of the 
city. Thirty-five years of unremitting industry and business judgment 
and application of singular inventive genius built a business that is as 
inseparable from Dowagiac's prosperity as the railroad itself. 

The history of the origin and growth of the Round Oak works 
and Mr. Beckwith's early labors and struggles in establishing his manu- 
facturing enterprises here is recounted in the general histon,' of manu- 
facturing on other pages. It is hoped that in this article the biographer 
may weave together the details of a life which meant so much for 
Dowagiac and the world and satisfy the interest which is everywhere 
felt in the career of a successful man. 

When Mr. Beckwith came to Dowagiac in 1854, only half a dozen 
years after the foimding of the village and when the manufacturing 
along the banks of the creek and the few stores on Front street con- 
tained in themselves little promise of the future, he him.self had hardly 
made a fair start on his career, although he was nearly thirty years of 
age and doubtless had stored up in mind and body the possibilities of 
the future. His early life could hardly be described as years of oppor- 
tunity. Although a descendant of New England ancestors whose names 
were associated with events since the landing on Plymouth Rock, he 
was not born in affluence, and New England hardihood and rugged 
honesty and thrift were a full total of his inheritance. He was born 
in T825, in what is now the town of Eagle in Wyoming county, New 
York. .X few years later his father died, leaving to the widowed mother 




^ ^-^^.^./c 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 691 

the care and bringing up of the son and a younger sister. It was hard 
labor with the needle by which she endeavored to eke out her slender 
means and provide for herself and children till the}' should be self- 
supporting. Under such circumstances, and the opportunities of pub- 
lic school education not yet having been supplied in that part of New 
York, the son Philo lacked the training which we now consider so 
essential to the introduction of Ixjys into serious life. 

At the age of fourteen he beg-an work in a woolen mill at Eagle, 
owned by a maternal uncle. He learned a great deal about the busi- 
ness during the next two years, but received little pay. He then went 
to live with another uncle, near the city of Rochester, and here had the 
good fortune of attending a district school several months. Many suc- 
cessful men have made such a brief period of education worth as- much 
as an entire college course. Though his school days ended there, the 
development of his mental culture and appreciation of the world and the 
best in it continued all his years. As his keen business instinct led him 
step by step to material success, so he was noted for his thorough valua- 
tion of men and affairs, and his culture was of the practical kind that 
is entirely foreign to the superficial veneer laid on by academic training. 

Mr. Beckwith was eighteen years old when he married Miss Cath- 
erine Scott, a girl who was also born and brought up at Eagle, New 
York, and who was his companion and helper throughout the strug- 
gles of his early career and the success of later years. In 1844 Mr. 
Beckwith and wife became residents of Michigan. He became a jour- 
neyman in a woolen mill at Battle Creek and later became a workman 
in a machine shoji. Practical in his ideas, thrifty and always looking to 
future advancement, he managed, from wages of a dollar a day, to 
save six hundred dollars as the basis for subsequent enterprises. When 
he came to Dowagiac in 1854 he had this amount of capital and the 
accumulated skill and experience of the previous years. It is a well 
known story, and told in detail on other pages, how Mr. Beckwith built 
his first small foundry on Front street, and with one assistant began 
making plows and doing general repair work, at first relying on horse 
power to run his machinery : how he next developed the water power 
on the creek and with the first manufacture of a primitive form of the 
roller grain drill entered u.jwn the first series of the larger manufactur- 
ing with which his name and efforts were thereafter associated : Imw 
he invented and after many discouragements succeeded in making a 
market for a new type of stove, which, in all its later improvements 
for durability and general excellence has not been surpassed ; and finally 
how his factory was remo\-ed to its ])resent site and has g^rown and 
been enlarged to a mammoth business institution, which, under the title 
of "P. D. Beckwith Estate," is a worthy monument to the life and 
work of any man. But that the city might not lose Ihe memory of 
the man in tlie material and presen.t-business of which he was the founder, 



Q'J-2 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

his grateful family erected and dedicated to his memory, in January, 
1893, the heautiful Beckwith Memorial Theatre, where the expression 
of art and the uplifting influences oi life may always be encouraged, 
thus beautifully linking the aspirations for the artistic and noble with 
the results of material and practical accomplishment. The theatre, as 
one of the important institutions of Dowagiac, has been described on 
other pag-es. It is not inapt in this connection to quote some of the 
sentences with which Col. R. G. IngersoJl dedicated the building to its 
worthy uses, in memory of one "who lived and labored here and left 
to those who knew him best the memory of countless lo\'ing deeds — the 
richest leg'acy that man can leave to man. We are met to dedicate 
this monument to the memory of Philo D. Beckwith, one of the kings 
of men. This monument, this perfect theatre, this beautiful home of 
cheerfulness and joy, this home and child of all the arts, this theatre 
where the architect, the sculptor and the painter vuiited to build and 
decorate the stage whereon the drama, with a thousand tongues, will 
tell the frailties and the virtues of the human race and where music 
with its thrilling voice will teach the source of happiness — this is a 
fitting monument toi a man whose memory we honor and one who had 
outgrown the cruel creed.s and heartless dogmas of his time, one who 
had passed from superstition to science, from, religion to reason, from 
slavery to freedom, from the shadow of fear to the light of knowledge, 
and to one whose heart and hands were in partnership, constituting the 
firm of intelligence and industry, and whose heart divided the profits 
with his fellowmen ; to one who fought the battle of his life alone and 
whose heart grew nobler and gentler with success ; to one who tried to 
make a heaven here, who believed in the blessed gospel of cheerful- 
ness, of happy lives, of laughter and love." 

In the strong' light thrown by his business career and his personal 
character it is hardly necessary to mention, what will be found stated 
on other jxiges, that Mr. Beckwith was closely identified with many 
matters of citizenship and commimity interest — as mayor of his city 
in which he took deepest interest, as a school official, as head of the 
libraiy association and donor of the lot on which the public libraiy 
stands, and in all movements during his lifetime which affected the 
l)rogress of his city. Tie wrought not for the present years nor for his 
lifetime, liut his life work will remain the cornerstone of Dowagiac 
when nuich that now seems enduring has passed entirely away. 

JOHN CLF.NDENEN. 

John Clendeuen, who is engaged in farming in Silver Creek town- 
shi]). owns anrl o])erates one hundred and ninety-five acres of land, and 
in connection with the tilling of the soil carries on stock raising. He 
was horn in the t(^wnship where he yet resides, his natal day being De- 
cember 22, i860. His father, Oscar Clendcnen, was a native of Vir- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 693 

ginia, born December 20. 1829. and cnnie to Michigan as one of the early 
settlers of Cass county, arriving in 1848. He settled in Silver Creek 
township, vvhere he carried on general farming and there his death 
occurred March 7, 1870, when he was about forty years of age. He 
was well known in the community, held a number of local offices and 
took an active and helpful part in the work of general improvement and 
development. In early manhood he wedded Miss Harriet Swisher, who 
was born February 28, 1839, '" Ohio, in which state her girlhood days 
were passed. She came with her parents to Michigan and is still living 
m this state. By her marriage she became the mother of three children : 
John, of this review ; Frank ; and Florence, who was born October 7, 1870, 
and died November 3, 1900. 

John Clendenen was reared upon the old homestead farm and was 
educated in the district schools. He has lived all of his life in Silver 
Creek township and remained at home up to the time of his marriage, 
which important event in his life was celebrated in 1883, the lady of 
his choice being Miss Emma Oyler, a daughter of Daniel and Catherine 
(Robinson) Oyler. The father, who was born December 25, 1827, 
died September 22, 188S, and the mother, Ixtrn October 14, 1826, died 
March 3, 1886. Mrs. Clendenen was horn in Pokagon township, Cass 
county, and spent her girlhood days in her parents' home. Mr. Clen- 
denen took his bride to the old farm homestead, where his entire life 
has been passed. He has always given his attention to general agri- 
cultural pursuits and is now the owner of one hundred and ninety-five 
acres of rich and productive land, on which he carries on general farm- 
ing and also raises stock. Everything about his place is kept in good 
condition. The fields are well tilled, the buildings are in good repair 
and he uses the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of the 
fields. As a business man he is progressive and enterprising and his 
well directed labors are bringing him gratifying success. 

Mr. Clendenen has always been deeply interested in matters per- 
taining to the general welfare and his fellow townsmen recognizing 
his loyalty to American institutions and his interest in local welfare 
have called him to various public offices. He served as clerk of his 
township for two years, was treasurer for two years and highway com- 
missioner two years. He was also justice of the peace for many years 
and his decisions were strictly fair and impartial, so that he "won giild- 
en opinions from all sorts of people." In 1905 he was elected super- 
visor of his township, which position he is now filling and in this office 
as in all of the others he is found as a faithful and capable official. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clendenen have been born five children, of 
whom four are now living, Neil, the third child, being deceased. He 
was born November i, 1890, and died Se])tember 22. 1892. The others 
who still survive are Bessie. Lulu, Earl and Tbelma. In his political 
views Mr. Clendenen is a Democrat, deeply interested in the success 
and welfare of his party. Fraternally he is connectcfl with the Master 



ti!t4 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Workers and his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the 
Methodist Episcopal church in Silver Creek township. He takes an 
active and helpful part in church work and is one of the church trustees. 
His entire life has been passed in this county and that he has ever mer- 
ited the support and regard of his fellowmen is indicated by the fact 
that many of his stanchest friends are numbered among those who have 
known him from his boyhood days down to the present time. 

GEORGE D. JONES. 

Among the representative and energetic business men of Dowagiac 
George D. Jones is numbered, being engaged in the conduct of a grocery 
store. He was born in Preble county, Ohio, August 2, 1827. His 
father, George Jones, was a native of Georgia and was a son of another 
George Jones, who was of Welsh birth and in 1829 became a resident 
of Cass county, Michigan, locating on Young's Prairie in Penn town- 
ship, the family being the first settlers of that township. George Jones, 
Sr., grandfather of our subject, had eleven children, all of whom were 
married when they came to Cass county and took up their abode here. 
The family to which George D. Jones belonged was the smallest numeri- 
cally 01 the eleven families, there being but six children, two daughters 
and four sons. In early manhood George Jones, father of George D. 
Jones, had removed from his native state to Ohio, where he married 
Miss Mary Bogue, who was born in North Carolina. They located in 
Preble county, Ohio, where he engaged in milling and also in farming. 
In the year 1829 he removed to Cass county, Michigan, and entered 
land in Penn township, on what is now known as Young's Prairie. He 
was thus one of the first settlers in this part of the state. He began the 
improvement and development of the farm there but died after a four 
years' residence in this state, passing away in the thirty-second year of 
his age. His children were Annie, Stephen, Nathan, Sarah, George D. 
and Charles, but the last named died in youth. 

George D. Jones is the only one of his father's family now living 
and was but two years of age when brought by his parents to Michigan. 
He was reared upon the old homestead in the midst of the green woods 
and attended an old log school house of the early days. He assisted in 
the arduous task of developing and improving a new farm and remained 
with his mother until twenty-six years of age, wdien he was married, in 
1853, to Miss Sarah Pegg. She died a few years later leaving two 
children: Flora E., who is now the wife of William Boling, a conductor 
on the Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy Railroad now living in Galesburg, 
Illinois ; and George Elbert, deceased. For his second wife Mr. Jones 
chose Miss Ella O. Rice. 

Remaining a resident of Penn township, he carried on general 
farming until 1864. when he located in Dowagiac and the following 
year he engaged in the siiiijping of live stock, in which business he con- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY t;'.»5 

tiiiued successfully for a number of years. In 1880, however, he estab- 
hshed a grocery store and is the pioneer groceryman of this place. He 
was also the first stock shipper at this point. He has for seventy-seven 
years been a resident of the county and its history is to him a familiar 
story, not because he has heard related the events of the early days but 
because he has been an active participant in the work of improvement 
and in the conditions which have formed its pioneer annals. His early 
political support was given to the Whig party, and upon its dissolution 
he joined the ranks of the new Republican party, of which he has since 
been an earnest advocate, voting for each presidential candidate of the 
party from 1856 down to the present time. He has fdled the office of 
township clerk for several terms, was supervisor of Penn lownshi]) and 
justice of the peace. He has likewise been a member of the village 
board of Dowagiac and a member of the school board, and the cause 
of education finds in him a warm and stalwart friend, while each move- 
ment that has for its basic element the welfare of the community receives 
his endorsement. There is perhaps in Dowagiac and his section of the 
county no man more widel}' known than George D. Jones, and no his- 
tory of the community would be complete without the record of his life. 

ABNER M. MOON. 

Abner M. Moon, editor of the Dowagiac Herald, also filling the 
oiftce of justice of the peace, was born near Paw Paw, Michigan, in 
1849. His father, Ambrose F. Moon, was a native of Canandaigua 
county. New York, and came of Danish ancestiy. According to tra- 
dition it was at a time when there was a war in progress between the 
English and the Danes that three brothers of the name came to the 
United States and settled in New York. This was about the time of 
the war for independence in this country. In the '30s Ambrose F. Moon 
left the Empire state and removed to Van Buren county, Michigan. 
He owned a farm hut was particularly well known as a bee keeper 
and traveled all over the country in the interest of a patent bee hive. 
He was a Democrat in politics, was a man of modest unassuming man- 
ner, but of genuine worth, and died in Rome, Georgia, to which place 
he had removed, and there started a Beekeeper's Magazine, in 1872. 
His death occurred in 18S4, when he was seventy years of age. His 
wife, who bore the maiden name of Emily R. Mack, was born in Ohio 
and is now living in Redlands, California, at the age of seventy-six 
years. She is of Scotch descent and by her marriage she became the 
mother of two children, but the daughter, Eva. is now deceased. 

Abner M. Moon, the only son. \\as a student in the public .schools 
of Paw Paw, and was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar 
with the labors of the old homestead farm. When twenty-one years 
of age he purchased the Lawton Tribune, which he published for a 
year and tlien \\-ent to New York city, where he edited the National 



6!'6 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Bee Keepers' Journal. After a brief period he returned to Paw Paw 
and a year later went to Rome, Georgia, where he joined his father 
and began tlie publication of a beekeeper's journal, called the Moon's 
Bee World. There he remained for four 3'ears, after which he spent 
six months in Xew York city, and returning to Michigan, established 
the Mai-cellus Nezvs, which he published for four years. In 1881 he 
came to Dowagiac and began the pulilication of the Dowagiac Times, 
which he practically conducted until 1885, when he was appointed 
postmaster under Cleveland and sold the paper. He conducted the 
office for four years and during that time, in 1887, was appointed 
justice of the peace, and ere the expiration of his term in that office 
was appointed city clerk. In 1890 he was elected county clerk and 
retained the office for one term, after which he returned to Dowagiac 
and was re-elected justice of the peace, which position he has since 
filled, with the exception of two years. He has also held the office 
of city clerk two terms, and in all these different positions has been 
a capable official, carefully, systematically and efficiently performed the 
varied duties that have thus devolved upon him in connection with the 
business of the office. In April, 1903, he purchased the Dowagiac 
Herald, a weekly paper of large circulation, of which he has since been 
editor and proprietor. It is a Democratic organ, of wide influence, 
recognized as one of the leading journals of this part of the state, and 
Mr. Moon is classed with the leading representatives of journalism, with 
excellent business discernment, combined with editorial skill, as is mani- 
fest in the interesting columns of the Herald. 

In 1878 Mr. Moon was united in marriage to Miss Dora E. Ellis, 
who was born in Hillsdale county, Michigan, in i860, a daughter of 
Joseph and Emeline Ellis, natives of Ohio. Mr. Moon had been mar- 
ried pre\nously to Miss Marian E, Guild, and his second wife was 
Rachel Thompson, by whom he had three children: Kittie, now the 
widow of C. A. Caldwell and a resident of Chicago; Emmet, who is 
a fruit grower of Lawton, Michigan; and Hallie, deceased. The chil- 
dren of the present marriage are Ethel, Don and lima, the son being his 
father'^s assistant in business. By reason of his activity in Democratic 
circles and his championship, through the columns of his paper and 
as a private citizen, of many interests for the public good, Mr. Moon 
is regarded as one of the foremost and valuable residents of Dowagiac. 

ISAAC WELLS, Sr. 

Isaac Wells, Sr., is one of the old settlers and representative citi- 
zens of Dowagiac and for eighteen years has been connected with the 
Round Oak Stove Company as inspector and molder of clay, a business 
record which is certainly creditable, for his long retention in one posi- 
tion indicates his cavjabililv and fidelitv. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 697 

Mr. Wells is a native of Green county. Ohio. Ixirn July 13. 1S30. 
His paternal grandfather. Felix WeMs. was a nati\c vif W'ales. in which 
country he was married, and about 1778 or 1779 he cro6sed the Atlantic 
to the new world. There were three brothers who made the journey, 
one of whom located in Virginia, one in Kentucky and one in the east. 
It was the branch of the family from which Isaac Wells is descended 
that established its home in Kentucky and in that state Charles Wells, 
father of our subject, was born February 23. 1790. The family had 
been located there in early pioneer times when Kentucky was iKit far 
removed from that period \\hich, because of the always constantly waged 
Indian warfare, won for it the title of "the dark and bloodv ground." 
On leaving his native state Charles Wells became an earlv settler of 
Green county, Ohio, and from that place made his wav direct to Cass 
county. Michig-an, arriving at Edwardsburg on the 28th of October. 
183 1. He was a blacksmith by trade and was the first representative 
of that occupation in Cass county. He made all of the irons for the 
first sawmill in the county and the settlers cam€ for miles around to 
secure his service in the line of his chosen trade. In 1835 he removed 
to Berrien county, Michigan, settling on what is called the Indian re- 
serve. There he pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres of land, which 
he began to cultivate and improve, devoting his attention to his fann- 
ing interests until his death, which occurred in 1838. He was one of 
the early settlers of Cass county and also of Berrien county and he 
aided in reclaiming the region for the purposes of civilization. Hi? 
political allegiance was given to the Democracy. Fle had been married 
on the 24th of March, 1814, to Miss Susan Briggs, who was bom on 
the Potomac river in Virginia, January 7, 1795. She survived her hus- 
band until April 16, 1866. In their family were nine children: Livona, 
born in 1815: Eliza, born in 1816; Mary, in 1818: Joseph B., in 1820: 
Francis. October 15, 1823; Mary, in 1825; Lewis, in 1827: Isaac, in 
1830; and Ezra, January 5, 1834. Of this family only one is lix-ing. 
Isaac. Lewis, a resident of Iowa, died April 20, 1906. 

Isaac Wells, Sr.. was the eighth in order of birth and was a little 
more than a }ear old when brought to Cass county by his parents in 1835. 
He afterward was taken by them to Bertram township. Berrien county. 
Michigan, where he remained until 1859, when he returned to Cass county 
and here engaged in farming and blacksmithing. He located on McKin- 
ney's Prairie in LaGrange township, where he engaged in general agri- 
cultural pursuits from' 1859 until 1880, placing his fields under a high 
state of cultivation and harvesting therefrom good crops. In the latter 
year he removed to Dowagiac and was engaged in the dairy business 
for two years. He then farmed for three years at Silver Creek and 
Pokagon townships and for eighteen years has been connected with the 
Round Oak Stove Works as inspector and molder of clay. He is one 
of the oldest settlers of Cass county and this i)art of Michigan, having 



698 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

spent his entire life in this section of the state, with the exception of 
his first year. 

On the i6th of Dccemlier. 1857, Mr. \\'ells was united in marria.s^e 
to Miss Sarah J. Herkimer, a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Swobe) 
Herkimer and a native of Montgomery county, New York, born Oc- 
tober 22. 1837. Her parents removed to Berrien county, Michigan, in 
1851. B}^ her marriage she has become the mother of three children: 
Emma Z.. the wife of Glenn Mead, of Dowagiac; William R., who 
married Mary .Steiner and is living in Dowagiac; and Isaac H., who 
married Nellie Melcher and is living in the same city. 

Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Wells 
has been a stanch advocate of the Democracy, its principles and its pol- 
icy. He was township treasurer of LaGrange township for four years, 
was also highway commissioner for six years and has held other local 
offices. He has been officially connected with the schools and is a mem- 
ber of the Masonic fraternity and of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
Few men have such an intimate or accurate knowledge of the history of 
this section of the state as has Mr. Wells, who, as before stated, has 
spent almost his entire life in this part of Michigan. When the family 
located on the Indian reserve in Bertram township, Berrien county, 
there were five white families and four hundred and eighty Indians 
living in that neighborhood. When he was in his eighth year he acted 
as interpreter for Topen Bey and went down to Tippecanoe on the 
Kankakee river, being gone ten days on the expedition. He could speak 
the Indian tongue as readily as the English language. When he re- 
turned home he received as a present a fawn skin filled with honey, 
and also a pipe given him by Topen Bey. the war chief's son. ■ This pipe 
is now in the museum at Cassopolis. Mr. Wells is one of the charter 
members of the Pioneer Association of Cass county, was its president 
for one term, vice-president for one term and a member of the Report 
Committee for the last ten years. His life history if written in detail 
would present many interesting pictures of pioneer life. To the traveler 
of today, viewing the fine farms, attractive homes and enterprising 
towns and cities of southern Michigan, it is impossible to realize that 
it is within the memory of any living man when the red men were 
more numerous here than the representatives of the white race, but 
such is the case with Mr. Wells. He can remember when all this 
region was covered with a native growth of timber, when the streams 
were unbridged and the land uncultivated. It required much arduous 
toil to bring about the changes that have brought the county up to its 
present high state of cultivation, development and improvement and 
the pioneers bore many hardships, trials and privations while perform- 
ing this task. Mr. Wells has always borne his full share in the work 
of development and as an honored pioneer settler of southern Michigan 
well fleser\'es mention in this volume. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY fiOit 

OTIS HUFF. 

Otis- Huff, one of the youngest members of the bar of Cass county 
engaged in active practice in Marcelhis, was born in Volinia township 
on the 1st of August, 1875. His father, John Huff, was a native of 
Clark county, Ohio, being born in 1833 near the present city of Spring- 
field. Tlie following year he came with his parents, Amos and Marga- 
ret Huft'. to Volinia township, Michigan, who settled on a tract of land 
on the edge of Card's prairie, which the father (grandfather of the sub- 
ject of this sketch) had entered from the government the previous year, 
and then went back to Ohio after his family. The ancestry of the 
Huffs can be traced back to the early days of Pennsylvania. Originally 
they were of German lineage. The grandfather was a farmer and 
mechanic by occupation. 

The father, John Huff, is a self-made man. In his younger days 
he helped to clear the wilderness and hue the way for civilization as 
well as taking every advantage in those early days of securing an edu- 
cation from the meagre school system. As a reward he became a teacher 
in the district schools, an occupation which he pursued successfully for 
many years afterward. Later he became the owner of a farm adjoining 
the old homestead, which he still retains and by adding to the same he 
is the possessor of a hanflsome property whicli vields to him a gratify- 
ing income. 

Very few men follow the ups and downs of life and live for over 
seventy years continually in sight of the place where their childhood 
days were spent and yet such is the case with Mr. Huff. Becoming 
prominent in political life, for over twenty years he was supervisor of 
his township and was several times elected chairman of the board of 
supervisors. At one time be was also nominated by his party for state 
representative, and although running ahead of his ticket he was defeated 
by a small majority. On May 12, 1873, he married Eliza Wright, who 
was born in Volinia township and was the daughter of James and Sarah 
Wright, pioneers of Cass county. To this union were born three chil- 
dren : Amy, Otis, and Harley, but tlie last named is now deceased. 

Otis Huff, being born on the farm, early became familiar with the 
duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He attended the district 
schools and later the Valparaiso Normal School. At eighteen he became 
a teacher and after teaching a year, in the fall of 1895 he entered the 
law department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from 
which he graduated in the class of 1898. While in college he became 
quite prominent as an orator. On January 9, 1899, he began the practice 
of law in Marcellus, where he has since met w'ith good success, having 
been connected with much important law business, wherein he has dis- 
played his ability to successfully cope with the complex problems of 
jurisprudence. He lielongs to the Modern Woodmen Camp at Marcel- 



7(10 HISTORY OF CA'SS COUNTY 

liis, (if wliicli he is clerk and he is also a member of the Cass County 
Bar Ass(jciation. Politicall)- he is a Republican. 

He has never been an office seeker but has preferred to devote his 
lime to the practice of his profession. His law office is a model of neat- 
ness and one of the finest in the county and is hard to excel even in 
the large cities. He is a great reader and literary student, fond of 
books and is himself an able writer, as well as an athlete and fond o£ 
outdoor s])orts and contests. Being an expert with a rille, for a vaca- 
tion of three or four weeks nothing pleases him better than to take a 
trip during the beautiful autumn days of November into the north woods 
in quest of deer and bear and other big game. 

In one respect at least he is like President Roosevelt. He enjoys 
strenuous life, travel and adventure and more than one has remarked 
that if he goes any place something is sure to happen. On April last, 
going on a business trip to California, he had only nicely arrived there 
and was <nily a few miles out of San Francisco at the time of the great 
earthquake and fire on that memorable morning of April i8, and being 
in the city when the conflagration was at its height he lent his assist- 
ance in helping save life and property. 

On June 30, 1906, the anniversary of his graduation from the Uni- 
\ersity of Michigan, he was married to Miss Irene Cropsey, the only 
daughter of George and Elsie B. Cropsey of Volinia, who are among 
the most substantial residents of that township. Miss Cropsey acquired 
lier early education in the schools of that township and is a graduate of 
the Marcellus high school. Later she became one of the successful 
teachers of the county. She is a charming and accomplished lady and 
the subject of our sketch was fortunate in securing such an able and 
loving companion to assist in brightening his pathway through life. 

CHARLES STARRETT. 

On the roster of oflicials in Dowagiac appears the name of Charles 
Starrett, who is now serving as city treasurer. He was born in Ovid, 
New York, February i, 1834, and re])resents an old family of the east. 
In the paternal line he is of Scotch and Welsh descent. His grand- 
father, Charles Starrett, was a native of Pennsylvania, while his wife, 
Mrs. Rachel Starrett, was a native of Connecticut. Their son, James 
Starrett, father of cur subject, was born in New York and was a farmer 
1\v occupation. He spent his entire life in his native state, where he 
died at the age of sixty-five years. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Amy Stout, was reared by her grandmother, Mrs. Amy Blue, 
wlio was a native of New Jersey. Her grandfather Blue was a soldier 
of the Revolutionary war, serving in immediate command of General 
Washington, while by him he was mustered out at the close of hostili- 
ties. John Caywood. a great-grandfather of our subject, was also a sol- 
dier of the Revolutionary war, so that the military history of his ancestry 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 701 

is one of which he has every reason to be proud. There were seven chil- 
dren, four daughters and three sons, born unto Mr. and Mrs. James 
Starrett, of whom the youngest daughter died when thirteen years of 
age and the eldest son when but two years of age. Those still living are: 
Mrs. Jane Runyan, who is living in Clinton, Michigan; Charles, of this 
review; Mrs. J. S. Ford, of Chicago; Henry, who resides in Clinton, 
Michigan; and Mrs. Elizabeth Vandemark, of Clinton, Michigan. 

Charles Starrett was the third child and second son of the family 
and was reared in his native county until about eighteen years of age, 
the public schools affording him his educational privileges. He came 
to Michigan in October, 1852, settling first at Clinton, where he secured 
employment in a grist mill. He was also engaged at different times in 
farm work and in the railroad business, while for a time he was connected 
with railroading on the Jackson branch. He spent the following year 
in the service of the Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana Railroad, 
first as brakeman and later as conductor. For eleven years he continued 
in railroading and during the last two and a half years of that time he 
was train master and locomotive dispatcher at White Pigeon, A/Iichigan. 
He came to Dowagiac in February, 1865, and engaged in the hardware 
business for a short time. He then built a planing mill and sash and 
blind factory in company with Devendorf & Mason. .Vfter about five 
years he sold his interest in this business and about 1872 he engaged 
with the Oliver Chilled Plow Works as traveling salesman, representing 
the company for about ten years on the road. He was for about four 
years witli the Gale Manufacturing Company of Albion, Michigan, and 
one year with the South Bend Chilled Plow Company. On the expira- 
tion of that period he became a salesman for the Round Oak Stove Com- 
pany of Dowagiac, with which he continued for about nine years, when, 
on account of poor health, he retired from business in 1904. He had 
led a busy, useful and active life and his rest from labor is well merited. 

Mr. Starrett has filled a number of public offices, the duties of 
which he has discharged with promptness and fidelity. He was elected 
city treasurer of Dowagiac, has been alderman for two years and a 
member of the board of education for nine years. He has ever been 
found reliable and trustworthy in public office, discharging his duties 
with promptness as well as ability. 

In 1857 Mr. Starrett was married to Miss Elizabeth McCollester, a 
daughter of Thomas McCollester. She was born in White Pigeon, Mich- 
igan, and was reared in that city. Two children grace this marriage, 
Fannie and Lena. In his political views Mr. Starrett is a stalwart Re- 
publican, having given his support to the party throughout his entire life. 
He belongs to the Masonic fraternity of Dowagiac, his membership being 
in Peninsula lodge No. 214, F. & A. M., Keystone chapter No. 36, 
R. A. M., Niles commandery No. 12, K. T., and Saladin temple of the 
Mystic Shrine at Grand Rapids. He was master of his lodge for one 
year and for three years was high priest of the chapter. Fle is an 



702 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

exemplary member of the craft and is in hearty sympathy with its tenets 
and teacliinos. Well known in Dowagiac where he is now filling the 
office of city treasurer, he is respected by all with whom he has come 
in contact, for he has displayed in his life record many sterling charac- 
teristics. 

AMOS KNAPP. 

Retired farmers constitute a considerable portion of the population 
of Dowagiac. men who in active business life have capably directed 
their efforts along well defined lines of labor, managing their interests 
with ability, carefully husbanding their resources and thus securing a 
competence for later life. To this class belongs Mr. Knapp, who was 
born in Columbia county. New York, August 24, 183 1. In the paternal 
line he comes of English-Holland Dutch descent. His father, William 
B. Knapp, was a native of Dutchess county. New York, and after re- 
maining in (he east until 1843 sought a home in the middle west, taking 
up his abode in Volinia township, Cass county, Michigan. He there 
remained for about five years, giving his attention to the task of devel- 
oping and improving the farm, at the end of which time he removed 
to Silver Creek township, where his death occurred, when he was about 
seventy-seven years of age. His political allegiance was given to the 
Republican party for a number of vears but prior to this time he was a 
Jacksoninn Democrat. At the outbreak oif the Civil war, however, he 
espoused the cause of the Republican party, which proved the real de- 
fense of the Union in the Civil war. He married Miss Mary Finch, a 
native of Columliia countv. New York, and she, too, died upon the old 
home farm in Silver Creek township at the age of seventy-seven 3'ears. 
In the familv of this worthy oo-uple were five children, three daughters 
and two sons, all of whom reached adult age. 

Amos Knapp, the second child and eldest son in his father's fam- 
ily, spent the first eleven years of his life in the countv of bis nativity 
and then came with his parents to Cass countv, Michigan, The first 
five vcars of bis residence here were spent in Voilinia township and he 
afterward remo\-cd to .Silver Creek township, remaining at home and 
assisting in the development of his father's farm, which was reclaimed 
for the purposes of culti\-ation and improvement. He was married there 
in t8c;8 to Miss Abbie M. Farnam. a daughter of Joseph and Abigail 
Farnnni. She was born near Batavia. New York, and came with her 
parents to Michigan about T8,iq, so that the Farnam^ familv were also 
carlv settlers of this state. Tbcv took up their abode in Van Buren 
countv. 

At the time of his marriage Mr. Knapp settled in Silver Creek 
township, where he devoted his attention to general agricultural pur- 
sru"ts. He cleared up a farm in the midst of the wilderness, cutting out 
the bea^w timber, grubbing up the stumps, clearinp- away the brush and 
thus preparing his land for the plow. He bought his land at four dol- 




<^J4 




''^^^yy^ ^ 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 7(t3 

lars per acre. As the years passed liis ])lace was transformed into very 
rich and productive fields and he annually harvested good crops. For 
many years he carried on general agricultural pursuits, in which he 
met with gratifying success, but eventually he sold his farm and re- 
moved to Dowagiac in 1895. He also has property in the town. He 
is one of the old settlers of Cass county, having resided within its bor- 
ders for sixty-three years and he has been identified with the making of 
the county along lines of substantial improvement and progress. He 
was township clerk in Silver Creek township for many terms and no 
public or private duty reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the 
slightest degree. He has always taken an active part in public affairs, 
doing everything in his power to make the county on a par with the 
older counties of this great commonwealth. His worth is widely 
acknowledged and all who know him esteem him for his many sterling 
traits of character. 

GEORGE W. FIUNTER. 

Cass county with its rich lands offers splendid opportunities to the 
agriculturist and the stock-raiser and Mr. Hunter is numbered among 
those who are successfully devoting their energies to general agricult- 
ural pursuits. He makes his home on section 34, Wayne township, 
where he owns and cultivates a good tract of land. He was born in 
Cassopolis, Michigan, on the 30th of September, 1843, and is a son of 
M. V. Hunter. At that time the father purchased eighty acres of land 
from one of his brothers and afterward added an additional tract of 
eighty acres. He partially cleared the first eighty and G. W. Hunter 
of tliis review has cleared seventy acres of the second eighty, having 
led a life of intense and well directed energy. He was educated in what 
is known as the White school in Wayne township and therein mastered 
the common branches of English learning. During the periods of vaca- 
tion he worked in the fields and after permanently putting aside his 
text-books gave his undivided attention to the further cullivatinn and 
development of this property. 

On the 7th of No\-ember, :866. Mr. Hunter was united in 
marriage to Miss Eveline Van Hise. who was linrn in Decatur 
township. \^an Buren county. Michigan, and is a daughter of 
William O. and Eliza (Bell) A'an Hise. The mother came to 
Cass county about 183] and here lived up to the time of her marriage. 
They were among the pioneer settlers of the county and Mrs. Hunter 
was ten years of age when she accompanied her jiarcnts on their removal 
to Wayne township. Unto our subject and his wife have been born seven 
children : Tna, now the wife of Fred B. Wells, a resident farmer of Ta- 
Grange townshi]K Lizzie, the wife of Isaac Schurte: Ada. the wife of 
Darwin Garrett, f)f Dowagiac. Michigan: Minah V.; Phcbc, flie wife 
of Arthur Rudolph, of Dowagiac; Millard wedded Iva Swisher, a resi- 
dent of Dowagiac; Clara, at home. All were born and reared upon the 



704 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

farm where the parents still reside and Phebe engaged in teaching 
school in Dowagiac and Cass county for about six years. 

Mr. Hunter has been a life-long Democrat, and his fellow towns- 
men, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to office. . He 
served for two terms as township treasurer and was justice of the peace 
for one tern; and in both offices discharged his duties with promptness 
and fidelity. In his farm work he has been ecjually faithful and in his 
business life has never been known to take advantage of the necessities 
of his fellowmen in any trade transaction. Mr. Hunter's father was a 
man who was highly respected by all in his time. He was the first 
sheriff of old Cass county and was appointed b}- General Cass before 
Michigan Avas a state. 

DANIEL SMITH. 

There is nuich saitl at the present time about corruption in public 
office and about the infidelity of those in whom public trust has been 
reposed. This may be true to a great extent in the larger cities, but it is 
certainly not true in smaller cities and towns where the residents of any 
community have opportunity to investigate the records of a public official 
and where his life history is as an open book to which all have access. 
Daniel Smith is among the office holders of Dowagiac and his devotion 
to pulilic ser\ice has been of benefit to the community which has en- 
trusted him with the care of its interests. He is well known and enjoys 
in full measure the regard of his fellowmen. 

A native of Pennsylvania. Mr. Smith was born in Lancaster county 
on the 28th of March, 1840. His father. John Smith, was a native 
of Germany and remained in that country during the period .of his boy- 
hood and youth, being reared to the occupation of farming. He heard 
favorable reports, however, concerning America, its business opportuni- 
ties and advantages along other lines, and when twenty-one years of 
age he resolved to try his fortune in the new world and crossed the 
Atlantic. He located in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he re- 
sided for a number of years, coming thence to Michigan in 1857, ^t 
which, time he took up his abode in Berrien county, where he resided for 
six months. On the expiration of that period he removed to Pokagon 
township. Cass county, where he was engaged in farming. His remain- 
ing days were given to the work of tilling the soil and caring for the 
crops, and he was active in his farm work until sixty-nine years of age, 
when his life's labors were ended in death. In early manhood he had 
wedded Frances Fulton, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
who died in Cass comity in the sixty-fifth year of her age. Eleven chil- 
dren were added to the household as the years passed by, six sons and 
five daughters, and of this number seven reached years of maturity. 

Daniel Smith, who was the fourth child and second son. was seven- 
teen years of age when he came to Cass county. He had previously 
liegun his education in the schools of Pennsylvania and after coming to 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 705 

IMiciiigan he worked upon the liome farm with his father in its de- 
velopment and improvement until twenty-one years of age, when he 
felt that his first duty was to his country, which at this time was en- 
gaged in the Civil war. His patriotic spirit was aroused and he could 
no longer content himself at the plow, so putting aside business cares 
he offered his services to the government, enlisting on the 21st of Au- 
gust, 1861, as a private of Company M, First Michigan Cavalry. He 
remained with that command until February 8, 1862, when he was 
lionorably discharged on account of disability, after which he returned 
to his home. He remained in Michigan until September, 1863, when 
he once more went to Pennsylvania and there he enlisted in the Twenty- 
first Pennsylvania Cavalry on the 8th of February, 1S64. He partici- 
pated at the battle of Weldon Railroad and in the military movement 
in front of Petersburg he was wounded in the left leg, which necessi- 
tated the amputation of that member below the knee. When he liad 
recovered his health he was honorably discharged December 26, 1865, 
and again came to Michigan, settling upon a farm in Pokagon township, 
Cass county. 

On the 1st of December, 1867, Mr. Smith was united in marriage 
to Miss Sarah A. McCoy, a daughter of Richard and Maria McCoy, who 
were early settlers of Cass county, and their daughter. ^[r.>. Smith, was 
born in Pokagon township, where her'girlhood days were passed and her 
education was obtained. 

At the time of his marriage Mr. Smith hjcated in Di:)wagiac and 
was employed as a salesman in a store for al)out sixteen years — a fact 
which indicates his entire capability and trustworthiness. He has been 
supervisor of the third ward for ten years and this fact stands in incon- 
trovertible evidence of his loyalty in ofilce. At one time he was alder- 
man of the city from the third ward and his personal popularity is indi- 
cated by the fact that he was elected on the Democratic ticket in a ward 
which usually gives a strong Re])ublican majority. Mr. anrl Mrs Snn'th 
have no children of their own, but have reared an adopted daughter. 
Ruth, who is now the wife of Nathan J. White, .\lmost a half century 
has come and gone since I\Tr. Smith came to Cass county and he is 
therefore numbered among tlie old settlers. He is familiar with its 
history in many of its phases, having been a witness of or participant 
in the events which have shaped its policy and promoted its development. 
In all mattei's of citizenship he has been the embodiment of loyaltv and 
in pu!)!ic office as well as in military service has rendered valuable aid 
to the county. He has a deep and sincere attachment for tlie stars anci 
strijies and is indeed a patriotic American citizen. 

WILLIAM J.\RVIS. 

The farm which is the place of residence of A\'illiam Jarvis \\,i> ai-^o 
his birthplace. It is situated on Section 34. Wa\-ne townsliip. and there 
Mr. Jarvis first opened his eyes to the light of day on the 5th of De- 



706 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

cember, 1844. He is a son of Norman Jarvis, who was one of the early 
settlers of this county, following the occupation of farming for many 
years. He was born in North Carolina in 1819, and was a son of Ed- 
ward Jarvis, likewise a native of the old North state. The grandfather 
was a farmer and about 1823 settled in Cass county, Michigan, being 
one cf the first residents within its borders. The family home was es- 
tablished in LaGrange township, where the grandfather purchased some 
land, becoming owner of about two hundred acres, most of which was 
raw and unimproved. He cleared the tract, however, and reared hi.s 
family upon this place. 

Norman Jarvis was only four years of age when brought by his 
parents to Michigan and amid the wild scenes of frontier life he was 
reared upon the old homestead, the family living in a log cabin, while his; 
education was acquired in a log schoolhouse. He shared with the other 
members of the family in the hardsliips and privations incident to pioneer 
life and also assisted in the arduous task of developing new land. \Vhen 
about twenty-one years of age he bought land in LaGrange township, 
coming into possession of about two hundred acres that was partially 
improved. He had been married a short time previous to Miss Margaret 
Simpson, a native of Ohio, born in the year 1823. She was reared in 
her native state and with her parents came to Cass county, Michigan, at 
an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis became the parents of ten children, 
seven daughters and three sons, all of whom are living. In his polit- 
ical views the father was a Democrat and kept well informed on the 
questions and issues of the day. He prospered in his business under- 
takings and at the time of his death was the owner of two hundred and 
seventy acres of rich and productive land, the greater part of which 
bad been improved by him. He passed away in 1903 at the age o? 
eighty-three years, respected and esteemed by all who knew him. 

Upon the old homestead in LaGrange township William Jarvis 
spent the days of his boyhood and youth, there remaining until his 
marriage, which occurred on the 22d of Februan,', 1868. He then re- 
moved to the farm adjoining the old homestead — ^a tract of land of one 
hundred and forty acres, a part of which he improved during the two 
years which he spent there. In 1S72 he went to Dowagiac, where he 
turned his attention to the butchering business, remaining there for about 
seven months. On the expiration of that period he bought a farm of 
eighty acres east of Decatur, in Decatur township, and cleared ten acres 
of that place, living thereon for seven months. In the fall of 1873 he 
came to his present farm which then comprised eighty acres of land to 
which he has since added a tract of forty acres, so that his place now 
comprises one hundred and twenty acres, which is rich and productive. 
Here he has made his home for thirty-two years and has gained a good 
living by his careful management of his business and by his practical 
and progressive methods in cultivating the fields and caring for the crops. 

Mr. Tarvis was united in marriage to Miss Arbesta Park, a native 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 707 

of Medina county, Ohio, Lorn Uecember lo, 1849, ^ntl a daughter of 
John and Fannie I'ark, who removed to Dowagiac in 1865, there spend- 
ing their remaining days. Mr. Park was a stock buyer and a well known 
business man, carrying on active work in the cultivation and develop- 
ment of the fields. Mrs. Jarvis was reared in Ohio, being ab<jut seven- 
teen years of age when the parents came to Cass county. By her mar- 
riage she has become the mother of two sons and a daughter: John 
P., who was born at Dowagiac on the 21st of May, 1872; William, who 
was born upon the present home farm April 17, 1882; and Bessie, who 
was born June 22, 1888. All were educated in the schools of Wayne 
township. The wife and mother was called to her final rest February 17, 
1903, and her death was deeply regretted not only by her immediate 
family but also by many friends. Mr. Jarvis exercises his right of 
franchise in support of the Democratic party. Through sixty-one years 
he has lived in Cass county and has witnessed many changes here during 
that period. From his early youth he has followed farming save for a 
brief interval and for almost a third of a century has lived upon his 
present place which shows in its excellent improved condition the care- 
ful supervision of a careful and painstaking owner. 

SOLOMON CURTIS. 

Solomon Curtis, who has reached the age of four score years, is 
one of the pioneer settlers of Cass county. No writer has ever given 
adequate description of the conditions which are met on the frontier. 
When one faces the elements of nature in their rude and rough out- 
lines they are removed from the comforts of an older civilization. This 
Mr. Curtis has done and his labors have been a valued factor in reclaim- 
ing this district for cultivation and improvement. He was Ijorn in 
the town of Springfield, Otsego county, New York, January 26, 1826. 
His father, Stephen Curtis, was a native of the Empire state and died 
when his son Solomon was but thirteen years of age. Tlie mother, 
Mrs. Edna (Thorn) Curtis, was also a native of New York and died 
when the subject of this review was only two weeks old. Tlie father was 
three times married and had a family of twelve children. By the first 
union there were nine children, by the second two and by the third mar- 
riage one child, the mother of our subject being the second wife. The 
daughter of that marriage died in early childhood. 

Following the death of his father Solomon Curtis came to Mich- 
igan, making his way to Cass county in 1839 '" company with one of 
his half brothers. He located in Pokagon township, living with his 
brother until about eighteen years of age, when he continued his edu- 
cation in the schools of Niles and also attended the seminary at .Mbion, 
Michigan. He worked by the month in the summer seasons and care- 
fully saving his earnings he was at length enabled to purchase a tract 
of land in Rockford township, Eaton county. Michigan. He afterward 



708 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

traded tliat property for some land in Berrien township, Berrien connty, 
Michigan, wliich he eventually sold but bought another farm in the same 
township on the Cass county line, where he lived for twelve years. In 
his farm work he was determined and energetic, carrying forward to 
successful completion whatever he undertook. He was practical in 
his methods, yet progressive in all that he did and as the years passed 
by he converted his places into well developed and highly improved 
farms. 

Mr. Curtis was married in 185 1 to Miss Louisa W. Wilson, a 
daughter of Samuel Wilson, of Oronoke township, Berrien county. 
I\lrs. Curtis was horn in New York but was reared in INIassachusetts and 
her deatli occurred in this state, November 27, 1900. There were three 
children of that marriage, all of whom died in early life. 

After living for twelve years upon his second farm in Berrien 
county Mr. Curtis snld that property and l^ought a farm in Silver Creek 
townshi]), Cass count}-, whereon he lived for three years. He then 
again disposed of his farm and at that time liougbt land in Penn town- 
ship,' Cass county, where he lived for nineteen years. After disposing of 
that pro]iert_\- to a purchaser he removed to Dowagiac in 1885 and for 
twent}'-()ne years has resided in this city. He is one of the oldest set- 
tlers of Cass countv and has been identified closelv with its growth and 
devt-lopiuv-nl. He has seen the county emerge from the period of its in- 
fanc)' to tliat of latter day jjrogress and civilization. That he located 
here at an early day is indicated by the fact that he paid only five dollars 
per acre for n.inety acres of land, which is today worth at least fifty 
dollars per acre. He is well known throughout the county, having taken 
an acti\'e interest in pul.ilic affairs and in all that pertains to the welfare 
and progress of his community. He voted for General John C. Fremont 
and for Aliraham Lincoln both times, also for Garfield, and was a stal- 
Avart Republican from the organization of the party until i88.|. His first 
l)rcsidential ballot, however, was cast for Zacbary Taylor. In 1884 Mr. 
Curtis severed his allegiance with the Republican party, and joined the 
ranks of the Prohibition p)arty. He has since cast his ballot for its pres- 
idential candidates, while at local elections he votes independently. He 
\(-as a candidate for justice of the peace on the Prohibition ticket. He 
has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for si.\ty years 
and has been deeply interested in church work in its various departments. 
His life has ever been honorable and upright, characterized by fidelity to 
all that tends to elevate mankind and to promote his moral nature. He 
has lieen a champion of temperance and of Christianity and now in the 
evening of bis life be can look back over the past without regret and 
forward to the future without fear. He is respected by all who know 
him because cvf his fidelity to the right and by reason of his honorable 
character and long residence in this counts' we take pleasure in present- 
ing the record of his career to om- readers. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 709 

WILLIAM E. BOGUE. 

William E. Bogue, a prominent and representative farmer of Penn 
township, resides on Section 29, which is the farm upon which he was 
born on the i6th of March, 1841. His father, Stephen Bogue, was a 
native of I'erquimans county, North Carolina, born on the ijtli of 
October, 1790, and there he remained until twenty-one years of age. 
He was twice married, the mother of our subject being Mrs. Hannah 
(East) Bogue, a native of Grayson county, Virginia, born on the i6th 
cf December, 179S. it was in 181 1 that Stephen Bogue left the south 
and removed to Ohio, taking up his abode in Preble county, where he 
was married. The year 183 1 witnessed his arrival in Cass county. 
Michigan was still under territorial rule at that time and the work of 
improvement and progress was just being begun in various sections. In 
1829 he had entered land from the government, having made a trip 
across the country on horseback to this locality and when he brought his 
family to Michigan settled upon the land and began the improvement of 
the farm, which hitherto w-as entirely wild and uncultivated. For 
many years he successfully carried on general agricultural pursuits there 
and died at the advanced age of seventy-eight years. His wife lived 
to the very advanced age of ninety-three years and was identified with 
the interests of Cass county from 183 1 until her demise. Mr. Bogue 
built the first grist mill at Vandalia, laid out the town and gave to it 
its name. He was a very prominent and influential man, active in the 
work of public progress, and both he and his wife were numbered among 
the honored pioneer residents of this portion of the state. 

The ancestry of the family can be traced still farther back, it 
is definitely known that the first representatives of the name in America 
came from Scotland to the new world and that the family was found 
in North Carolina during an early epoch in the colonization of that state. 
The grandfather, Jose])h Bogue, was born in North Carolina. There 
were four children in the family of Stephen Bogue, who are still living, 
of whom \\'illiam E. is the third in (mler df Inrth. The others are: 
Elvira B., the wife of Silas H. TliMUias, a resident nf X'andalia, Michi- 
gan; Sue B., the widoAV (jf .\mos Smith, who was a prominent citizen of 
the count\' ; and Stephen .\., li\-ing in X'andalia. 

William E. Bogue is the eldest son and was reared upon the home 
farm, where he has spent his entire life with the exception of three years 
passed in Chicago, when he was in the employ of the International Har- 
vester Company. In his boyhood days he attended the public schools 
and also worked in the fields through the summer months, early becom- 
ing familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the 
agriculturist. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey he chose 
Miss Elenora Sigerfoos, whom he wedded in St. Joseph county, Michigan, 
in 1863. She died several years later, leaving three children: Myrta, 
now the wife of B. H. Fowler, of Chicago: William Carlton, in the 



710 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

employ of the International Harvester Company of Chicago; and Ralph 
F., a druggist of the same city, who married Bernice M. McKinney. 
The elder son, William C. Bogue, wedded Miss Bertha Arnold, of Porter 
township, Cass county. After losing his first wife Mr. Bogue was mar- 
ried to Lena Gladding, the widow of Joseph McKinney and a native 
of Ohio, where her girlhood days were passed. By her former marriage 
she had two children : J. Wayne McKinney, who is with the International 
Packing Company of Chicago; and Bernice M., tlie wife of Ralph F'. 
Bogue, son of our subject. Mr. Bogue has four grandchildren: Cecil 
M., Max A. and Gerald D. Bogue, who are children of William C. 
Bogue; and Kenneth Carlisle, the son of Ralph F. Bogoie. 

Throughout the greater part of his life William E. Bogue has car- 
ried on general agricultural pursuits and is the owner of a valuable and 
productive farm of one hundred and sixty acres located alxjut three 
miles east of the courthouse in Cassopolis. He now rents the land, but 
still gives supervision to the farm. For many years he was active in its 
cultivation and management and he added to it many modern equip- 
ments and accessories, while his labors were energetic and resourceful, 
so that he won thereby a good financial return for his work. He ex- 
ercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of 
the Republican party, and for one year he was clerk of the township, 
for two years township treasurer and for some years justice of the 
peace. He also belongs to the Masonic fraternity and to the Friends' 
church, in which he was reared. His life has ever been actuated by 
unfaltering fidelity to the principles which govern strict and unswerving 
integrity, and in public office his course was characterized by prompt- 
ness and capability in the discharge of his duties. Having lived all of 
his life in this county, he is familiar with many of the events which 
have shaped its history and formed its policy and he is classed today 
with the leading and representative pioneer settlers. 

JOHN P. FIERO. 

John P. b'iero, having chosen agricultural pursuits as a life work, 
is giving his time and energies to the task of tilling the soil, caring for 
the crops and raising stock on section 26, Wayne township. His birth 
occurred in Sandusky county, Ohio, on the ist of November, 1850, and 
he is the eldest in a family of three sons and three daughters whose 
parents were Abram and Fannie (Thorp) Fiero. The paternal grand- 
father, Peter Fiero, was a native of the state of New York, was of Hol- 
land Dutch descent, and spent his last days in Branch county, Michigan. 
The maternal grandfather, John Tborp, was also a native of the Empire 
state, and it was in the same state that Abram Fiero and Fannie Thorp 
were born. After residing for some time in Ohio they came to Cass 
ciiuntv, Michigan, in the spring of 1853, locating in LaGrange township, 
where llie father engaged in farming. His entire life was devoted to 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 711 

agricultural pursuits, and lie gave to the work of the fields his uudivided 
attention until his life's labors were ended in death, when he was sixty- 
six years of age. At the time of the Civil war he was a stanch advo- 
cate of the Republican party, which stood as the defender of the Union 
cause during that dark hour in our country's history, but later he be- 
came liberal in his political views. At one time he served as sujjcr- 
visor of his township and he was always acti\-e in public atYairs, giving 
hearty support and co-operation to any movement which tended to bene- 
fit his community. In his family were three sons and three daughters, 
namely: John P.; Byron: William: Samantha, who died at the age of 
five years : and Caroline and Lucy, both of whom are deceased. 

John P. Fiero was in his third year when he was brought by his par- 
ents to Michigan, and upon the home farm in LaGrange township he was 
reared. His early educational privileges afiforded by the district schools 
were supplemented by study in Dowagiac and in Kalamazoo Commer- 
cial College, which he attended for seven months. He afterward en- 
gaged in clerking for a time in Dowagiac in 1873, but later resumed 
farming in LaGrange township, where he remained for about a year. 
He then located on the farm where he now resides and he has resided 
here continuously since. The improvement of the property is due to his 
care and labor and to his progressive spirit. As his financial resources 
have increased he has extended the boundaries of his property and his 
landed possessions now aggregate one hundred and eighty acres in 
Wayne township. His home farm comprises one hundred and eighty 
acres, which is well improved. The fields have been brought under a 
high state of cultivation and are surrounded by \vell kept fences. He 
uses modern machinery in the care of his crops, and everything about his 
place is neat and thrifty in appearance, showing the owner to be a prac- 
tical man, \\ho in his care of his farm is painstaking and energetic. He 
is also one of the stockholders of the Dowagiac creamery. 

In 1875 Mr. Fiero was united in marriage to Miss Samantha Root, 
a daughter of Eber and Eliza (Wells) Root, who were early settlers 
of Cass county. The mother was the first landlady of Cassopolis. In 
pioneer times they took up their abode in this county and Mr. Root served 
as one of the early sheriffs, and his name was associated with other events 
relating to the county's history and its development. Mrs. Fiero was 
bom in Cassopolis on the 8th of October. 1847, ^"f' by her marriage has 
becoyie the mother of four children: Ray. who is living in Louisiana; 
Cecil, deceased ; Charles, who has also passed away : and Eliza, the wife 
of Frank McMichael, of" LaGrange township. 

Mr. Fiero votes with the Democratic party and he was elected to the 
office of supervisor of Wayne township in i8go. He was also chosen 
town clerk and filled that position for several terms in Wayne township. 
He was treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company for 
four years and is well known in the county, where in his varied relations 
lie has ever been found worthy the trust and confidence rejiosed in him. 



71 L' HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

His acli\it\- has ever been uf a practical nature crowned with results. 
He sees l^) the center uf things and lie sees from the center to the outer- 
most circumference of possihiUt}-. He looks upon the world from no 
false position ; has no untried standards and is a man of strong convic-. 
tinns which he earnestly maintains. 

BURGETTE L. DEWEY. 

Burgette L. Dewey, the senior representative of mercantile inter- 
ests in Dowagiac and the county in years oi continuous connection with 
commercial interests, was born in Oneida county, New York, October 
t3, 1845. His paternal grandfather, Harry Dewey, was a native of 
Vermont, in which state he spent his boyhood and acquired his educa- 
tion. He was of French and Irish lineage and on leaving New Eng- 
land liecame a resident of New Y'ork. His father, Laml>ert B. Dewey, 
was a native of Oneida county, born on the 7th of May, 1816. He was 
reared to the occupation of farming and followed that pursuit in New 
York until 1859, when he removed to Marcellus, Cass county, Michi- 
gan, where he engaged in general agricultural pursuits. Later he made 
his home for a time in Van Buren county, this state, and subsequently 
came to Dowagiac, where his last days were passed, his death occurring 
July 15, 1899, when he was in his eighty-fourth year. He was a men> 
ber of the Cln-istian church and lived an exemplaiy life in harmony 
with his professions. Lambert B. Dewey was married in the Empire 
state to Miss Delia A. St(iiy, a native of Oneida county, New York, 
who is now living in her eighty-third year. She is of Irish lineage. 
Her grandfather. Captain Enoch Story, was a Revolutionary soldier 
who won bis title by service in the colonial army during the war for 
independence. It is supposed that he was a native of Ireland. 

Burgette L. Dew'ey, an only child, came with his parents to Mich- 
igan in 1859 when a youth of fourteen years. He had begvm his educa- 
tion in the district schools of New Y'ork and later he attended a high 
school in Michig-an, while in 1863 he pursued his studies in Eastman's 
Business College at Poughkeepsie, New York. Being graduated on the 
completion of a business course, he returned to Michigan and in 1865 
came toi Dowagiac, since wdiich time he has been connected with the 
commercial interests of this place. He began here as a clerk and in 
1873 he embarked in business on his own account as a dealer in dry 
goods and carpets. He has since continued in this line and is now the 
oldest dry goods merchant in the town. He has a well appointed estab- 
lishment, carrying a good line of merchandise, and he is also inter- 
ested in other business enterprises outside of the city. He has been 
\-ery successful as the years have gone by. During his first year in 
Dowagiac he worked for nothing-, but gradually he advanced and his 
cai>a1>le service was recognized by a liberal wage. Saving his earnings, 
he was at length enabled to start in business on his own account and 




^^W-f.^^^ ^ Sb^^ 




\^0y^^Uli: ^ ^- 



\ / 



'SyT-n:^, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 713 

is today a prosperous merchant, enjoying- in lar,t;e measure the confi- 
dence and support of the public. 

On the 13th of October. 1867. \\r. Dewey was united in marriage 
to Miss Sarah E. Green, of Battle Creek, Michigan, a daughter of 
WilHani H. Green. She was bom in Poughkeepsie. New York, Feb- 
ruary 13, 1844, and has bea>me tlie mother of three children: Harry 
B., noAv deceased; Harriet, the wife of W. C. Porter, of Buchanan, 
Michigan; and Fred L., who is a i)artner with his father in the conduct- 
ing of the business. 

Mr. Dewey has been a life-long Rejiulilican, having firm faith in 
the principles and ultimate triumph of his party. He was the second 
mayor of Dowagiac, and whether in office or out. of it has been a co- 
operant factor in many measures for the general g-ood. He is a promi- 
nent Mas(in wlio has attained the thirty-second degree in the Scottish 
rite and he likewise belongs to the Benevolent and Protective Order of 
Elks. He has been engaged in business in Dowagiac for forty years, 
is proprietor of the largest store here and has a very wide acquaintance 
throug-hout the city and surrounding country. His good qualities are 
many and his g^enial disposition and unfailing courtesy to his patrons 
as well as his honorable dealing have been factors in his success. 

HAI\nLTON SHELDON McMASTER. ^I. D. 

Dr. Hamilton Sheldon McMaster, the oldest practicing pliysician of 
Dowagiac. who has also taken an active and helpful part in the advance- 
ment of the city's welfare and improvement, was Ixirn in West Sparta, 
Livingston county. New York, in 1842. His father. Rol.iert iMcMaster, 
also a native of West Sparta, was of Scotch-Irish lineage. The paternal 
grandfather, Ebenezer McMaster, was born in Morristown, New Jersey, 
and was the son of Edward McMaster, who was born in Dublin. Ire- 
land, and came to the United States with his father. Richard AIcMaster, 
a sea-faring man, before the Revolutionary war. Edward McMaster, 
then a boy, spent his youth in this country and at the outlireak of hostil- 
ities with the mother countr}- enlisted in the continental army, serving 
throughout the war which won independence for the nation. He was 
held as a prisoner on one of the British warships for a time. His father, 
Richard McMaster, sailed in a privateer during the conflict and died at 
sea. The three generations before our subject were farmers. The 
grandfather, Ebenezer McMaster, lived to the advanced age of ninety- 
five years, dying at West Sparta, New York. Robert McMaster. his 
son, and the father of Dr. McMaster, became a well-to-do agriculturist 
and prominent citizen in his home localit}-. His political allegiance was 
given to the old-line Whig party until its dissolution, when he advocated 
tiie Republican cause and supported Lincoln. His business affairs were 
carefully conducted and he became a well-to-do farmer. His death oc- 
curred T'lnuarv 13. 1866, when he was fifty-five )-ears of age. His wife, 



714 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

wild Ijiire tlie maiden name of Lucy L. Hamilton, was born near Rut- 
iantl, Vermont, and died in Missouri, November 22. 1882, at the age of 
sixty-six years. She was of Scotch hneage, the Hamihons coming to 
this country soon after the arrival of the Mayflower in Plymouth harbor. 
Representatives of the name settled in Vermont and the family furnished 
soldiers to the Revolutionary war, Mrs. McMaster's grandfather having 
been one of the heroes who fought for liberty. The parents of Mrs. 
McMaster were Stoddard and Mary (Sheldon) Hamilton, who lived for 
a time in Vermont, but afterward removed to New York. Mrs. Ham- 
ilton died at the advanced age of ninety years, while her mother passed 
away in Rochester, New York, at the very venerable age of one hun- 
dre(i and two years. Mrs. McMaster was a Baptist in religious faith, 
holding membership in the church at Dowagiac. By her marriage she 
became the mother of eight children, namely: Hamilton S. ; William 
Henry, a farmer residing in Shelbyville, Missouri; Marion E., who 
follows farming near Monroe, Missouri, and is an inventor of note; 
Mary E., the wife of Myron L. Ward, a fruit grower of Alvin, Texas; 
Emerson P., an agriculturist residing at Macliias, New York: Albert C. 
and Gilbert C, twins, who died when about five years of age; and Rob- 
ert P., also deceased. 

Dr. McMaster. the eldest of the family, was reared upon the old 
homestead farm and attended the district schools during their yearly 
sessions until ten years of age. Afterward he worked through the sum- 
mer months in the fields and continued his education only through the 
winter seasons. He remained in the district schools until eighteen years 
of age, after which he attended the Dansville and Lima seminaries, both 
in New York, and in the latter institution was a pupil under Frances 
E. Willard, the famous temperance reformer. He also attended Albion 
(Michigan) College for two years, having come to this state in 1867. 
His preparation for the practice of medicine was begun in the office and 
under the direction of Dr. H. L. Baker at Blissfield, Michigan, and he 
attended medical lectures at Eclectic Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio, 
previous to entering Bennett Medical College of Chicago, from which 
he was graduated in the spring of 1871. 

Dr. McMaster located for practice at Battle Creek, Michigan, but 
after a few months came to Dowagiac, where he entered into partner- 
ship with Dr. Cyrus J. Curtis in the office which he still occupies. This 
partnership continued for two years, after which he spent eighteen 
months at Grand Rapids, when he returned to Dowagiac, where he still 
remains. He is the oldest physician of the city and although a general 
practitioner, makes a specialty of chronic diseases, in which he has been 
very successful. Well qualified by thorough preliminary training for 
his chosen life work, he has continually promoted his efficiency through 
reading, investigation and experiment and has thus kept in touch with 
the march of the profession. 

At the time of the Civil war Dr. McMaster responded to the coun- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 715 

try's call for aid, enlisting on the 6th of August, 1862, when but twenty 
years of age. He enrolled his name at West Sparta, New York, in 
company with his brother, William H. JMcMaster, and they were assigned 
to duty with Company B, One Hundred and Thirtieth New York Vol- 
unteer Infantry, with which both served until the cessation of hostilities. 
After a year's service the regiment was changed to cavalry in 1863 and 
became known as the Nineteenth New York Cavalry and also as the 
First New York Dragoons. This regiment was included in Fox's "three 
hundred righting regiments." It was engaged in sixty-six battles, not 
including various skirmishes, and formed a part of General Wesley Mer- 
ritt's brigade of Devon's division and General Phil Sheridan's corps. 
He was mustered out at Clouds Mills, Virginia. His brother was 
wounded in a skirmish in the Shenandoah valley. Of rive farmer boys 
who enlisted together Dr. JMcMaster and his brother were the only ones 
to return to their homes. The doctor lay in a hospital at Washington 
with typhoid fever for some time and while still there he was made 
nurse and ward master. While thus engaged he conceived the idea of 
reading medicine, a determination which he carried out upon returning 
home. 

In 1872 Dr. McMaster was married to Miss Mary Florence Steb- 
bins, who was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1848 and is a 
daughter of Edward Sawyer and Harriet (Goddard) Stebbins, the for- 
mer a native of 'Vermont and the latter of Massachusetts. Her uncle, 
Delenor Goddard, was editor of the Boston Advertiser for a number of 
years and the Goddards were a very prominent family of Massachusetts, 
while the Stebbins were descended from Revolutionary stock. Unto Dr. 
and Mrs. McMaster have been born three children : Gertrude Louise, 
now the wife of William E. Sweet, a plumber of Dowagiac; Edward S., 
who is head bookkeeper for the Dowagiac Manufacturing Company ; and 
Robert P., who was a bookkeeper and died in April, 1904, at the age of 
twenty-seven years. 

Dr. and Mrs. McISIaster hold membership in the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and are people of the highest respectability, who have long 
occupied a prominent and enviable position in social circles in the city 
where they reside. The doctor belongs to the Ancient Order of United 
Workmen and to the Grand Army of the Republic, while in the line of 
his profession he is connected with the State Eclectic Medical Associa- 
tion, of which he was chosen the first secretary, being honored with the 
office for twenty years. He has also been a member antl vice-president 
of the National Eclectic Aledical Association. He was a Lincoln Repub- 
lican and afterward became a Prohibitionist. He also voted twice for 
William Jennings Bryan and is now a socialist. In community affairs he 
has taken considerable interest and his labors have not been without bene- 
ficial effect. Fie has been a member of the school board of Dowagiac 
and was the first health officer of the city. At one time he was the owner 
of a farm north of the city, one-half of which lay within the corporate 



"16 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

limits and tliis has been suhdix'ided and platted and is now known as Dr. 
j\lcMastcr"s first and second additions to the city of Dowagiac. In con- 
nection with his practice he and his sons cultivate ginseng and are devel- 
oping a business of considerable importance in this line. Dr. McMaster 
is very widely known in Cass county and has had a notable and honor- 
able life histnr)-. .\ man of push and progress, difficulties have van- 
ished Ijefore him as mist before the morning sun. He has no untried 
.standards and he is a man of strong convictions, quick to discern the 
right and unfaltering in his maintenance thereof. He is a lover of soci- 
ety and of his friends and association with him means pleasure, expan- 
sion and elevation. 

WILLIAM M. FROST. 

William M. Frost, who has jiassed the Psalmist's sjian of threa 
score years and ten, being now in his seventy-fourth year, makes his 
home in Dowagiac, but for many years was an active factor in agricult- 
ural circles. A native of New York, he was born in Otsego county on 
the 13th of October, 1832, and was the eldest in a family of five children, 
two daughters and three sons, all of whom reached adult age. Their 
parents were Elijah and Prudence Ann (Cory) Frost, both of whom 
were natives of New York. The paternal grandfather was David Frost, 
who became one of the early settlers of Otsego county. New York. He 
married Jane Gilbert and reared a family of twelve children. His death 
occurred upon the old homestead in the east. 

Elijah Frost, father of our subject, was born in Otsego county 
and early l>ecame familiar with farm labor as he worked in the fields 
for his father, following the plow and harvesting the crops. Believ- 
ing that the west furnished g^ood business opportunities he started for 
Michigan in 1844 and made his way direct to Cass county, locating on 
Pokagon prairie in Pokagon town.ship. He purchased a farm on which 
he lived for about t\\ eh'e years, when he sold that property and crossed 
the line into Berrien county, where he lived two years. He then re- 
turned to Cass county, settling in Silver Creek township, where he 
died at the age of .seventy-seven years. Throughout his entire life 
he followed agricultural pursuits in urder t') jinnqde for his family 
and the success which he enjoyed was due entirely to his enterprising 
efforts and capable management. In early life he was an old-line Whig, 
supporting the party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks 
of the new Republican party upon its organization. Coming tO' Cass 
county in pioneer days he found here what was practically a wilderness. 
The few homes of the early settlers were widely scattered, the forests 
largely stood in their ]3rimeval strength and the streams were un- 
bridged. In fact the work of development had been scarcely begim 
and he had ample opportunity to aid in the work of early improve- 
ment and progress. He married Prudence Ann Cory, also a native of 
New Y(irk and a daughter of Samuel and Rachel ]\Iallory) Cory, who 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 717 

located in the Empire state at an early day, coming- to New York ivom 
Connecticut. ^Irs. iM'ost was a granddaugiiter of a Revolutionarv 
soldier. She survi\ ed her husband for a number of years and died in 
the ninetieth year of lier age in Silver Creek township, being one of 
the oldest settlers of the county in age and also in years of residence 
here. Of her family of five children only two are now living, tlie other 
being Kenyon D. Frost, who resides in Cass county. 

Willianr M. Frost spent the first twelve years of his life in the 
state of his nati\-ity and tlien came witl: his parents to Michigan, ar- 
riving here on tlie first of October. 1844. He ac(juired his education 
in common and select schools of Niles and when not liusy with his 
textbooks remained at home, assisting in the work of tlie farm. The 
family experienced many of the usual hardships and trials of pioneer 
Hfe and with the others of the family Mr. Frost worked in the fields, 
converting the once wild and raw land into a productive tract. At 
the age of twenty years he began teaching school, holding his first 
school in a little log cabin in Silver Creek township. He followed the 
profession for about nine vears. having the ability to impart clearly 
and readily the knowledge to others that he had acquired, so that he 
was recognized as one of the capable educators of this part of the state. 
He was in the schoolroom during the winter months, while in the 
.summer seasons he followed the plow. 

He first was married in 1856 to Miss INTary Jane Dalton. a 
daughter of John and Catherine f Cooper) Dalton. She was born 
in the city of Rochester. New York, May 2. 1836, and came with her 
parents to Michigan, locating- at Three Rivers, whence they afterward 
removed to Cass county, Mrs. Frost being about fourteen years of age 
at that time. Upon his marriage Mr. Frost rented a farm which he 
cultivated for about three vears. this being located in Niles township. 
Berrien county. Fie lived frugally and economically during that period 
and as the result of his industry was enabled in the spring- of t86o 
to purchase a farm in Silver Creek township, whereon he took up his 
abode. The farm was all covered with timber at the tinie of the pur- 
chase, and in the midst of (he forest he beg'an developing the fields and 
clearing; away the trees, grubbing out the stumps and burning up the 
brush. In the course of time the simshine flooded the fields and ripened 
the grain. In all of his farm work he kept abreast with the progress 
incident to agricultural life, using good improved machinery and fol- 
lowing modern methods in all that he did. Owing to his careful 
direction of his business interests and bis unfaltering energ\' he ac- 
quired a gratifying competence and in 1889 removed to Dowagiac, 
where he has since remained. Fur soirc \ears he continued to give 
personal supervision to his farm and the plricc is now carried on through 
the work of a man whom he employs bv the year. Fie has one bun- 



718 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

dred and eighty acres of well improved land all under the plow save 
about fifteen acres and good crops are annually harvested. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Frost have been born three children : Emily 
C, the eldest, who died at age of ten years; Elizabeth, now the wife 
of E. E. Aliger, of Dowagiac; and Carrie Lucile, at home. Mr. Frost 
in early manhood proudly cast his first presidential ballot for John C. 
Fremont, the first candidate of the Republican party. He voted also 
for Abraham Lincoln and has supported each presidential nominee at 
the head of the ticket from that time. He has held a number of local 
ofiices, to which lie has been called by his fellow citizens, who' recognize 
his worth and his fidelity to public duty. He has been superintendent 
of Silver Creek township public school, which position he held for 
twelve years and was supervisor of Silver Creek township for seven 
years. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church for 
a half centuiy and has taken an active and helpful interest in its work 
and upbuilding, filling' various official positions in connection there- 
with. His house was always called the preacher's home, its hospitality 
being extended to all ministers visiting the neighborhood. Looking 
back into the past it will be found that Mr. Frost has for sixty years 
lived in this county and he is therefore largely authority on matters 
relating to its history. Great changes have occurred and a wonderful 
transformation has been wrought since those early days when the 
forests were uncut, land uncultivated and homes unbuilt. The work 
of progress has been made by slow but steady stages and those who 
have contributed to the upbuilding and development of the county de- 
serve much credit, esjiecially those who have shared in the trials and 
hardships of frontier life as Mr. Frost has done. 

CLYDE W. KETCHAM. 

Clyde W. Ketcham, one of the younger members of the Cass countv 
bar who is making rapid advancement, resides at Dowagiac and is a 
native son of the county, his birth having occurred in Volinia township 
in 1876. He is a son of Dr. W. T. Ketcham, well known in the count), 
and was a student in the public schools of Dowagiac, being graduated 
from the high school with the class of 1894. When it came to the time 
when he should decide upon a choice of work as a life occupation he de- 
termined upon the practice of law and entered the law department of the 
Michigan State University at Ann Arbor in 1899. Completing the regu- 
lar three years' course, he was graduated in the class of 1902 and entered 
upon the active work of the profession in Dowagiac in partnership with 
Charles E. Sweet. After a year he opened an independent office, pur- 
chasing the practice and the law library of F. J- Atwell, one of the pio- 
neer attorneys of Cass county. He has been eminently successful and 
bids fair to become a leading member of the bar, having alreadv attained 
success and prominence that man)- an older practitioner might well envy. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 719 

ImfKirtant litigated interests ha\e been entrusted to his care and his care- 
ful handling of these has led to the winning of decisions favorahle to his 
clients. 

On the 6th of September, 1899, ]\Ir. Ketcham was married to Miss 
Clarice Bushnell, a native of Grand Rapids and a daughter of Asa Bush- 
nell, a wood carver and worker in wood in that city. Mr. Ketcham be- 
longs to the Methodist Episcopal church antl his wife to the Congre- 
gational church. iM-aternally he is connected with the IMasons and the 
Maccabees, while in the line of his profession he holds membership rela- 
tions with the Cass County Bar Association. In his political views he 
is a Republican, and from 1897 iiritil 1899 served as justice of the peace. 
His energies are now concentrated upon his professional duties and he 
is well known as a sincere and earnest practitioner, having comprehen- 
sive knowledge of the principles of both civil and criminal law. 

SIMEON CONKLIN. 

Dowagiac has among its inhabitants many men who in success- 
ful business careers have won the competence that now enables them to 
live retired. To tliis class belongs Simeon Conklin, who at one time 
was actively and successfully engaged in general farming in Cass county 
but is now living in a pleasant home in Dowagiac, surrounded by 
many of the comforts which go to make life worth living, having put 
aside further business cares. He was born in Ot.sego county. New 
York, February 15, 1841. His father, Abram- Conklin, also a native of 
that county, was there reared and married and in an early day came 
westward to Michigan, where he invested in property, purchasing land 
in Lagrange township, where he lived for a short time. He afterward 
removed to Silver Creek township, where he died when seventy years 
of age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Malinda Gilbert, was 
also born in Otsego count\% New York, and lived to be about fifty 
years of age. In the family were eight children, three daughters and 
five sons, six of whom grew to manhood and womanhood. There 
are now living four sons and a daughter, namely : Gilbert, who is 
residing in Silver Creek township: Simeon, of this review; Abram, 
who makes his home in Dowagiac; Jane, also a resident of Silver Creek 
township: and Charles, living in Dowagiac. 

Simeon Conklin was the second of the eight children and was 
but a small boy when brought by his parents to Michigan, so that he 
was reared and educated in Silver Creek township, attending the Indian 
Lake school in his boyhood days. When not busy with his textbooks 
he remained at home, assisting in the work of the farm until he had 
passed his twenty-first birthday. He was married in 1869 to ^yfiss 
Charlotte Swisher, a daughter of John and Melissa Swisher. l^Trs. 
Conklin was bom in Preble county, Ohio, and was but a small girl 
when brought to this county by her parents. Upon coming to this 



720 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

county they located in t'okagon township. During that time Mr. Con- 
khn gave his attention and energies to the further cultivation of the 
fields which he brought under a high state of cultivation, so that he 
annually har\'ested good crops. He used the latest improved machinery 
and conducted his work along modern lines of agriculture until 1895, 
when he put aside business cares and took up his abode in Dowagiac. 
He still owns, however, his farm, comprising two hundred acres of 
good land, which he rents. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Conklin have been born four children but 
Myrtle and Cora are now deceased, while the other daughters, Lillie 
and Nora, are at home. Mr. Conklin has spent nearly his entire life 
in Cass county and has always voted the Republican ticket since age 
gave to him the right of franchise. He has a wide and favorable ac- 
(juaintance and has been successful in a financial way. His friends 
are many and the number is constantly increasing as the circle of his 
acquaintance widens. 

HENRY G. ROSEWARNE. 

Henry G. Rosewarnc, acting as township clerk, his home being 
in section 7, Milton township, was born upon this farm February 17, 
iS()j. Tlic familv is of English lineage, and the grandfather was 
Dr. fnlm V. Roscwarne, who became one of the pioneers of Cass 
coimtv, reaching Milton txjwnship in 1834, and was identified with 
many events which shaped the early annals of this part of the state. 
lie was bom in die parish of Gwincar, county of Cornwall, England, 
in the year 1780. He was a pupil of the celebrated Sir Astley Cooper, 
and from him received the early teaching which made him so success- 
ful in after life as a physician and surgeon. Tn the county of Corn- 
wall he enjoyed for many years an extensive and lucrative practice, 
li\ing in the township of Wadebridge until he removed to this country. 
Jn the vear i8j(> he emigrated to America with his family and settled 
uiion the slmrc of Canandaigua Lake. New York, where he lived in 
c|niet retirement tmtil 1832. In that year, cholera having made its finst 
ajipearance in this county, he was requested by the citizens of Canan- 
daigua to go to the city of New York while it was raging there to in- 
vestigate tlie causes of that new plague and determine the proper treat- 
ment of it in nil its phases. Among the eminent physicians of Ncav 
York lie achiexed a high reputation, not only for the skillful treatment 
of that disease, but also for eminence in his profession generally. Aft- 
er coming to tliis country. Dr. Roscwarne did not practice his profes- 
sion in the ordinary acce]>tance of that term, hut for more than thirty 
\-ears he cheerfully and gratuitously gave his services whenever re- 
(|ucsted with like assiduity to the rich and the poor, and there were 
few families in the comnumity that were not at some time benefited 
liy his professional skill. A lover of nature, he enjoyed the seclusion of 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 721 

the lake sliore where he so long- dwelt, and although not seeking gen- 
eral society, he was eminently sociahle and hospitahle. His coming 
was always welcome, whether to assuage the pains of sickness or re- 
ceive the hospitality of his friends. He had passed so much of his life 
in that locality, devoting his talents and acquirements to the relief of 
others, and had proved himself so kind and true and so generous in his 
friendship that his loss was so keenly felt by the conmnmity as to se- 
cure among them an enduring and affectionate remembrance. He died 
at Canandaigua, New York, August 19, 1863, aged seventy-six years. 

Charles F. Rosewarne, father of our subject, was a native of Corn- 
wall, England, and was only nine years of ag'e when he accompanied 
his father. Dr. John V. Rosewarne, to America. He was reared in 
New York, and with the family came to Michigan in 1834. He re- 
mained for about ten years, after which he returned to New York. 
\\here he engaged in business as railroad contractor through the suc- 
ceeding decade. He built many railroads in the east, and was thus 
closely associated with the substantial improvement and development 
of that section of the country-, for it has been said that railroad build- 
ing is the most important agency in the settlement of a community, 
furnishing the means whereby the natural resources of the county that 
have been transformed into marketable commodities can be placed in 
trade circles. In 1849 Mr. Rosewarne returned to Cass county and 
settled upon the farm where his son. Henry G.. now resides. His fath- 
er owned a sawmill and Charles F. Rosewarne was also engaged in the 
manufacture of himber. He continued an active representative of in- 
dustrial interests in this county for a number of years, and died at the 
advanced age of eighty-one. His political allegiance was given to the 
Democracy, and he held various local offices in the township, including 
that of township treasurer. He was well known in the community, 
and was a recognized leader in public affairs, leaving the impress of 
his individuality and activity upon m,;my measures for the pul:)lic good. 
He was united in marriage to Miss Sarah A. Smith, a native of Con- 
necticut and a daughter of Hezekiah Smith, who was descended from 
Mayflower ancestiy, the family having been established in Massachu- 
setts during the period of early colonization in New England. Mrs. 
Rosewarne still .survives her husband and is now seventy-seven years 
of age. In the family were eight children, fi\-e sons and three daugh- 
ters, and with the exception of one son all are yet living. 

Henry G. Rosewarne is the youngest of the family and the only 
one who now resides in Cass county. He was reared uixm the old fam- 
ily homestead and accpiired his education in the common scIkjoIs. devo- 
ting his time to the labors of the field when not occu])ied with his text 
books. In 1 888 he went to Chicago, and for four years was engaged in 
the hardware business in that city. In 1892 he returned to the old home- 
stead in Cass countv. where he has since been engaged in general farm- 



722 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ing. Everything about his place is in keeping with the ideas of modern 
farming, there being fair buildings, the latest improved machinery, 
well kept fences and highly cultivated fields. Mr. Rosewarne realizes 
that diligence is the basis of all success, and by his unremitting effort 
has won a creditable place among the substantial agriculturists of the 
county. The farm comprises one hundred and sixty-five acres, and 
Mr. Rosewarne is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and dairy- 
ing, having a good business in both departments. 

On the /th of September, 1898, was celebrated the marriage of 
Henry G. Rosewarne and Miss Eva I. Dinan, a daughter of John M. 
and Ellen (Smith) Dinan, who became pioneer settlers of Cass county, 
Michigan. They are still living, and yet remain residents of this coun- 
ty. Their daughter, Mrs. Rosewarne, was born in Jefferson township, 
Cass county, was educated in the home school and in the Ferris Indus- 
trial School. Prior to her marriage she successfully engaged in teach- 
ing for three years. Mr. Rosewarne has taken an active part in poli- 
tics and has held various offices, to which he has been called by his 
fellow townsmen, who recognize his worth and ability. He was treas- 
urer of Milton township in 1896-7, has been justice of the peace, and in 
1900 was appointed to fill the vacancy in the office of township clerk. 
He was then elected in 1901, and has been elected each succeeding year, 
so that he is still the incumbent in this position. His entire life has 
been passed in Cass county, and his record is as an open took which 
all may read. He has never attempted to take advantage of the neces- 
sities of his fellowmen, but has lived so as win their respect and con- 
fidence, and has made a creditable record in business and political cir- 
cles. Mr. and Mrs. Rosewarne have a copy of the parchment deed 
which was executed June 25, 1834, and bears the signature of Presi- 
dent Jackson, this being one of the valued documents of the county. 

:MALC0M a. CAMPBELL. 

Malcom A. Campbell is serving as alderman from the third ward 
in Dowagiac and is closely associated with industrial interests here 
through his conduct of a blacksmith and wagon shop. He is also en- 
gaged in the sale of buggies and wagons and has a business which is 
proving profitable. Moreover he deserves the success which comes to 
him because his life has been characterized by close application and un- 
faltering diligence. "Through struggles to success" is the usual rule 
of the business world and this axiom finds verification in the life of Mr. 
Campbell, who has worked his way upward, winning a fair measure 
of prosperity and at the same time making a record for business in- 
*egrity tliat any man might be proud to possess. 

A nati\e nf Canada, Mr. Campbell was born in Lampton county, 
Ont;u-ii), on the i6th of September, 1S61, His father, Duncan Camp- 
bell, is supposed to ha\e been a nati\'e of .Scotland and settled in 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 723 

Canada in early life. There he cleared a tract of land and followed 
farming until his death, which occurred when he was about fifty-seven 
years of age. He had married Sarah McCalpine, also a native of 
Scotland, who still resides upon the old homestead in Canada. By 
her marriage she became the mother of eight children, five daughters 
and three sons, all of wlrom reached adult age. 

Malcom A. Campbell, who name introduces this record, was 
the fourth child and second son in that family, and was reared upon 
the old homestead farnn in his native county. At the usual age he en- 
tered the country schools and therein acquired a fair English educa- 
tion, and when not busy with his text lx)oks he aided in the work of 
the fields, but. thinking that he would prefer a trade rather than to 
follow the plow, he began learning blacksmithing when sixteen years 
of age at a small town called Aughrim. He served an apprenticeship of 
three years, and after completing his term of indenture started out to 
work as a journeyman, following blacksmithing at different places in 
Canada and the United States. His first work in the states was in i8S6 
at Saginaw. Michigan. He was afterward employed in other points, 
■and subsequently he returned to Canada, where he remained for about 
three years, on the expiration of which period he went to Nebraska, 
locating at Plum Creek, where he resided for a short time. He then 
again went to Canada, and the period of his residence at this time cov- 
ered about six years. Again crossing' the border into the United 
States, he settled at Detroit, Michigan, and after^vard removed to Ply- 
mouth, this state, whence in 1894 he came to Dowagiac, where he has 
since made his home. He was employed at journeyman work by the 
man that owned the shop which is now Mr. Campbell's property, being 
thus engaged for two years, at the end of which time he embarked in 
business on his own account on Pennsylvania avenue, where he re- 
mained for one year. Pie was also^ in business on Front street for four 
years, at the end of which time he removed to his present location, 
having purchased the property here about two years before. This is 
the shop in which he first worked on coming to Dowagiac. and here he 
carries on blacksmithing and the manufacture of wagons, doing all 
kinds of repair work as well, and at the same time he engages in the 
.sale of wagons and buggies. He likewise has the agency for the .Ma- 
mo gas and gasoline engines. His business has reached considerable 
extent at the present time, and his energy and watchfulness of all de- 
tails pointing to success have contributed to a veiy gratifying pros- 
perity. 

Mr. Campbell was married in 1S86 to Miss Julia Brown, a daugh- 
ter of Dugald and Mary (McCullum) Brown. Mrs. Campbell was 
also born in Canada, and by this marriage there arc three children : 
Gordon Lloyd, John Harvey and Grace. 

Mr. Campbell has been interested in public affairs to the extent 



724 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

of becoming- a co-(i])erant factor in many plans formulated for public 
progress and practical improvement. He is a stanch and earnest Re- 
publican, and is now serving as a member of the city council, repre- 
senting the third ward, in which connection he exercises his official 
prerogatives to promote measures of reform and impro\ement. He 
belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Order of For- 
esters and the National Protective Legion. There have been no excit- 
ing chapters in his life record, but he possesses those sterling traits 
which work for good citizenship, for activity and honor in business 
and fi.ir fidelity in private life. 

\\TLLIS M. FARR. 

Willis M. Farr, a well known representative of industrial inter- 
ests in Cass county now living in Dowagiac, was born at New Haven 
in Macomb county, Michigan, August i, 1844. His father, Henry F. 
F^arr, was a native of New York and in his boyhood days came to 
Michigan with his father, Samuel Farr, who was a pioneer of this 
state. The grandfather traveled westward with an ox team and located 
first in Macomb county, where in the midst of the forest he built a log 
cabin and improved a farm, giving his attention to the cultivation and 
development of his land up to the time of his death. Henry F. Farr 
was but a small lad when the family took up their abode upon the old 
homestead pro]jerty in Macomb county and the occupation to which 
he was reared he made his life work, caiTying on farming in that 
county until he, too. was called to his final rest. He married Julia Ann 
Clemens, a nati\'e nf Xew ^'ork, in which state she remained until 
about twenty years of age, when she came to Michigan with her par- 
ents, who settled in Macomb county. There her remaining days were 
passed. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Farr had a family of four sons, of whom 
two died in infancy. The brother of our subject, M. S. Farr, is a 
stock raiser and ranchman of Venang'o, Nebraska. He there owns eleven 
square nnles under fence in Perkins county and is one of the leading 
stockmen of his part of the country. 

Willis M. Farr, the eldest of the four children, was reared in the 
]ilace of his nativity imtil eighteen years of age, when he went to New 
York, wliere he spent the succeeding year in teaching school. He then 
returned to Michigan and attended school in Mount Clemens, after 
which he resumed teaching. In the spring of 1864 he went to Chicago 
and after tramping the streets of the city for two weeks in search of 
employment he secured the position of bundle boy in a wholesale and 
retail store. Fie was thus engaged for about six months, at the end of 
which time he responded to the coimtry's call for aid, enlisting as a 
member of Company C, Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantiy as a 
private. He ser\'ed for thirteen months and particijiated in the cam- 
jxaign under General Thomas from December, 7864. until June. i86v 





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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 725 

He was never excused from duly durini^- the scr\-ice on account of ill- 
ness or from any other cause, Init alwavs faitlifullv remained at his post 
and at the close of the war received an honorable discharge at San 
Antonio, Texas. 

When the countr\' no lun^-er needed his aid ?ilr. l\arr returned to 
Chicago and soon afterward went upim the njad as a commercial trav- 
eler, spending tAvo and a half years in that way in Illinois, Indiana and 
Michigan. His next venture was as a wholesale merchant, dealing in 
notions, and at one time he utilized three wagons in the trade. He 
continued in that business for ahout ten years, meeting with very grat- 
ifying success. After disposing of his stock of notions he purchased 
a fourth interest in the br.siness of the firm of Warner, Tuttle, Farr & 
Company, the original manufacturers of the shoe grain drill at Dowagiac. 
He remained with the house for about a year and then sold out his in- 
terest, after which he formed a partnership with Mr. Stark for the 
manufacture of the common sense sand band. Later he bought out Mr, 
Stark's interest and is now sole proprietor of the business, which is rec- 
ognized as one of the producti\"e industries of ihis part of the state. 

Mr. Farr was married June 26, 1873, to ;\Iiss Sarah Doolittle, a 
daughter of Lorin and Phoebe (Worth) Doolittle. She was Ixorn at 
Huron. Wayne county. New York, and was there reared. Mr, Farr 
is a member of H. C. Gilbert Post, No. 47, G. A. R., and he has taken 
an active and helpful part in its work. In 1880 he served as a member 
of the city council of Dowagiac. He is well known in the coimty and 
his co-operation has been g"iven to many movements which have had 
direct and important bearing upon the welfare and progress of the county. 
He has been greatly interested in the promotion of the movement for 
the erection of a soldier's monument and but for him this movement 
would never have succeeded. In all matters of citizenship he manifests 
the same loval and patriotic spirit that characterized his sen'ice as a 
soldier upon the battlefields of the south. 

ARR:\M CONKLIN, 

Abram Conklin, who after long and close connection with farming 
interests in Cass coimtv is now living retired in F>owag-iac, is one of the 
worthy citizens that the Empire state has funu'shed to southern I\Iichi- 
gan. He was born in Otsego county. New York, August 18, 1845, 
and is the third son of Abram and Tieiinda (Gilbert) Conklin, of whom 
mention is made on another page of this wirk in connection with the 
sketch of Simeon Conklin. The 'Jubject of this review was but a small 
boy when he came to Cass county with his parents, and on the old 
homestead farm in Silver Creek township he was reared. He attended 
the Indian Lake school, thus acquiring a fair education, as he mastered 
the branches of learning there taught. He also spent one season as 
a student in Dowagiac. Through the summer months he assisted in 



726 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

the labors of the field and meadow and became familiar with the best 
methods of tillinji- the soil and caring for stock. He continued to give 
his father the benfit of his sei-vices until the time of his marriage. 
which important event in his life occurred in 1878, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Nellie Flickinger, a daughter of Peter and Mary 
(Smith) Flickinger. Mrs. Conklin was bom in Medina county, Ohio, 
and became a resident of this county when a young lady of about nine- 
teen yeiu-s, her parents locating- on a farm in Silver Creek township. 
At the time of her marriage Mr. Conklin took her as a bride to a farm 
in the same township, and he was there afterward engaged in farming 
until 1900, when he put aside tlie work of the fields and took up his 
abode in Dowagiac, but still owns a good farm property, comprising 
one hundred and forty-eight acres of land, which is well improved, 
lieing supplied with good buildings and modern equipments. It is all 
under the plow with the exception of eight acres. He has improved 
this place and made it what it is today — a vahiable farm property — 
]Mr. Conklin personally clearing all of it with the excq>tion of twenty 
acres. 

Unto our subject and his wife has been born a son, Lee A., who 
is attending business college at Battle Creek, Michigan, and who for 
two years was a student in the Conservatory of Music at Oberlin, 
Ohio. He also spent two years in the Musical Conservatory of Chica- 
go, and has thus been provided with excellent privileges for the culti- 
vation of his talent in the line of his art. Mr. Conklin has been a resi- 
dent of Cass county for a half century, and his mind bears the impress 
of many oi the historic events which have occurred here. He has al- 
ways voted the Republican ticket, and is known as a man fearless in de- 
fense of his honest convictions, politically or othen\dse. The family 
is .a representative pioneer one of the county,' and Mr. Conklin wears 
worthily the honored family name. 

JOHN A. LINDSLEY. 

The lumber interests of Michigan have always been an important 
source of the state's revenue and have formed one of the leading ele- 
ments in its business development and commercial progress. The vast 
forests have furnished excellent o]>portunities for the lumberman, and 
in every community in the state men of enterprise have been connected 
with the trade in its various branches and its kindred industries. Mr. 
Lindslcy is a well known lumberman of Dowagiac, where he is also 
operating a planing mill. He was born in Allegany county. New 
York, Tanuaiy 15, 1858. His father, Leman Lindsley, was also a na- 
tive of the Empire state and was a farmer by occupation. He came to 
Michigan in 1863. locating in Hartford, Van Buren county, where he 
carried on general agricultural pursuits up to the time of his death, 
which occurred when he was forty-five years of age. He was of Scotch- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY T'JT 

Irish descent and displayed in his life many of the sterling characteris- 
tics of his ancestry. He wedded Miss Mary Engle, also a native of 
New York, who died in Michigan when sixty-five years of age. In 
the family were three children, of whom John A. is the eldest. Tiie 
second son, Edwin M., is a partner of our subject in the manufacture 
and sale of lumber in Dowagiac, while Washington, the youngest son, 
is a resident of Decatur, Indiana. 

John A. Lindsley spent the first five years of his life in die slate 
of his nativity and then c-ame to Michigan witli his parents, the family 
settling in Van Buren county, where he was reared and obtained his 
education. He pin^sued his education in the schools of Hartford and 
later juu'sued a business course in the Northern Indiana Normal School 
at Valparaiso. Returning to Michigan, he entered upon his business 
career in 1880 as a lumber merchant at Hartford, where he continued 
until 1885, when he sold out there and removed to Dowagiac. Here 
he established a lumber yard and has continued in business for more 
than twenty years. He also owns and operates a planing mill, and his 
trade has long since reached extensive proportions, making his business 
one of the profitable enterprises of the city. This is due to individ- 
ual energy^ and careful management, Mr. Lindsley possessing in large 
measure the qualities of success, which are earnestness, diligence and 
perseverance. 

In 1880 was celebrated the marriage of John A. Lindsley and 
Miss Mary Spalding, a daughter of A. N. Spalding of Hartford. They 
have a family of five children : Mrs. Lula Estell ; John Victor, who is 
manager of the mill work department for the e.xtensi\'e house of Sears, 
Roebuck & Company of Chicago; Augustus R., who is clerk in The 
Fair at Chicago; Leman O., who is attending a business college at 
South Bend, Indiana ; and William. 

Mr. Lindsley exercises his right of franchise in support of the 
men and measures of the Republican party and is deeply interested in 
its success and growth, doing all in his power to promote its influence 
and secure the adoption of its principles. He ser\-ed as supervisor of 
rhe first ward and lias been alderman several times. He is recognized 
as one of the leading men of his town and county. Fie has garnered 
in the fullness of time the generous harvest which is the just recom- 
]5ense of indomitable energy, spotlejs integrity and unflagging enter- 
prise. 

PETFR HANNAN. 

Peter Hannan, now living retired in Dmvagiac, dates his residence 
in Cass county from 1854. He was in former years closely associated 
with industrial and agricultural pursuits, and i.s still the owner of ^a 
valuable farming property in Silver Creek township. He was bom in 
Geneseo. Livingston county. New York, on the 12th of May, 1829, 
and was one of a familv of f<iur sons and two d.aughters. whose parents 



~-^f^ HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

were Peter and Mary Hannaii. the former of Irish lineage and the lat- 
ter tif l'"rench descent. I'etcr Hannan, Sr.. was a native of Ireland, 
and came to America at tlie time of the rebeUion in his own country 
in compaii}- with three brothers. They located in Livingston county, 
Xew \'ork. and Peter Hannan, .Sr., tliere followed the occupation of 
farming for a number of years. While living in the east his wife died 
during the early boyhood of their son Peter. The father afterward 
disposed of his interests in the Empire state and removed to Wiscon- 
sin, where he spent his remaining days, reaching, however, the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-nine years. All of the children grew to man- 
hood or womanhood, but only two of the familv are now living, Will- 
iam Hannan being a resident of Wisconsin. 

Peter Hannan, whose name introduces this record, was the fomlh 
member of his father's family and the second son. He was reared in 
the state of his nativity, spending the first eighteen years of his life 
luidcr the parental roof, when he left home and has since been depend- 
ent u]>(in his own resources for a livelihood and for the success that 
he has achieved. He had acquired a fair knowledge of the common 
branches of English learning in the public schools, and through the 
summer months had worked in the fields upon his father's farm. When 
he started out for himself he was employed as a farm hand by the 
month, and in this way made his start in life. As a companion and 
hel]>niate for life's journey he chose Miss Mary McStravich, whom he 
wedded in 1852. They located on a farm in Livingston county, New 
York, where they resided for about two j'ears, when, in 1854, they 
came direct to Cass county, Michigan, settling in Dowagiac. Here 
Mr. Hannan turned his attention tO' the manufacture of baskets, which 
he followed successfully for about seventeen years, developing a large 
and important industn-. On the expiration of that period he turned 
his attention to farming in' Silver Creek township, Ca,ss county, and 
continued in active agricultural work for a number of years. He still 
owns this property, which is a well developed farm. Although his at- 
tention was gi\en to the work of tilling the soil and caring for the 
crops, he cor.tinued to reside in Dowagiac, and has lived in the same 
house for over forty years. It is situated in what is known as Ham- 
ilton's addition to the city, and the deed which he holds was signed by 
Patrick HamiUnu and hi? wife. Unto Mr, and Mrs. Hannan have 
been liorn three sons, who are yet living: ^^^ W., of Detroit, who is a 
prominent real estate dealer of tliat city: Charles R., of Boston, Massa- 
chusetts, \\hr> is represenlati\'e for .Swift and y\rmour at a salary of 
twent\--fivc thousand dollars per year; and Frank E., who is engaged 
in the real estate business with his brother, A\'. W. Hannan. There 
were two children, John and Mary, who passed away. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hannan celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversaiy in igo2. The 
occasion was a mo?t delightful one and will long lie reniemlierecl bv 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 72!) 

their many friends wliu participated therein. 'I'u their chiUh-en 'they 
ha\-e given excellent educational advantages, and their sons are college 
graduates, W. W. Hannan having completed a course <jf study in the 
Michigan Unix'ersity at Ann Arbor, Charles in Yale College, 'at New 
Haven, Connecticut, while Frank completed his education at Orchard 
Lake, Michigan. The two older sons are millionaires and their present 
enviable positions in business circles are attrilnitable to their own efforts 
and capability. 

Mr. Hannan has been a resident of Uowagiac and Cass county 
for more than a half century and has been closely identified with its 
growth and development. He has supported both the Democratic and 
Republican parties. In early manhood he was a Douglas Democrat, 
but in 1864, when the country was involved in the Civil war, he be- 
lieved in sustaining the policy of the president and cast his ballot for 
Abraham Lincoln, since which time he has supported each nominee at 
the head of the Republican ticket, while his sons have followed in his 
footsteps in this respect. He is a member of Dowagiac lodge. No. 214, 
A. F. & A. M., and is well known in the county as a man of genuine 
personal worth, whose life has been guided by high and manly princi- 
ples, characterized by consideration for the rights and privileges of 
others. He has likewise upheld his honest convictions unswervingly, 
and now at the age of seventy-seven years he receives the respect, ven- 
eration and regard of all with whom he has been brought in contact. 

FRANK ATWOOD. 

Frank Atwood, a retired farmer who has held various offices and 
in the faithful performance of his duty has manifested his devotion to 
the general welfare, was born in Wayne township, Cass county, .Vug- 
ust 12, 1852, and now lives in Dowagiac. His paternal grandfather 
was Wells H. Atwood, a pioneer of this county, who came to Michigan 
in the summer of 1836. Few were the settlements that had been made 
in this portion of the state. The forests were largel\- uncut and the land 
uncultivated, and it remained to such sturdy and brave pioneer residents 
as Mr, Atwood to reclaim the region from the domain of the red man 
for the uses of civilization. He established a farm, u])on which he 
reared his family, including Lafayette Atwood, the father of our sub- 
ject. He was born in Cattaraugus county. New York, and was brought 
to Cass county by his parents in 1836, being reared upon the home 
farm in Wayne township. He was only about twelve years of age at 
the time of the arrival here, and his youth was passed upon his father's 
farm, where he assisted in the arduous task of developing new land and 
cultivating the fields as his age and strength permitted. In Wayne 
township he was married to Miss Adaline Allen, a native of New York, 
who came to Cass county with her ]>arents in an early day, the family 
home being established in Wayne township. Following their marriage, 



730 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Mr. and ]\'rr.s. I_^fayette .VtwDod located upon a farm in Wayne town- 
sliip, wlicre tliey lived for many years. He was a reliable, energetic 
and enterprising agriculturist of the community and was well known 
as a leading representative of farming interests. He continued to give 
his supervision to his farm until 1902, when he removed to Dowagiac 
and made his home with his son Frank until his death March 18. 1906. 
He was one of the honored and veneralile pioneer settlers of the com- 
munity and his residence in the cmmty covered the allotted psalmist's 
span of three score years and ten. His memory formed a connecting 
link between the primitive past and the progressive present, for few 
men had m<ire intimate knowledge of the history of the county from 
the days of its early development to the period of later day progress 
and prosperity than had Lafayette Atwood. His wife died in 1862, 
and of their children two died in infancy. 

Frank Atwood is now the only member of the family living. He 
was reared and educated in ^Vayne township, and in Dowagiac also 
attended school. When not busy with his text books he worked in the 
fields upon the old homestead and as.sisted his father in the develop- 
ment and improvement of the farm for many j^ears. In 1874 he was 
married to Miss Belle Ingling, a daughter of Samuel and Jane Ingling 
and a native of Penn township, Cass county, where her parents had 
located in pioneer times. At their marriage the young couple took up 
their abode on the old homestead farm and Mr. Atwood was actively 
and successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits until 1902, 
when he removed to Dowagiac, where he is now living retired. His 
business affairs were capably and successfully conducted for many 
years, and thus annually he v\'as able to add to his capital, which is 
now sufficient to. supply him with all of the necessities and comforts 
of life without recourse to further business. 

I'nto Mr. and Mrs. Atwood have been born three children : Fred, 
who is now living in Wa3'ne township : Fay, who resides upon the old 
homestead ; and Cora, the wife of Glenn Cbamberlain, of Dowagiac. 
The old homestead property comprises two hundred and sixty acres 
of valuable land, and is now being operated by Mr. Atwood's second 
son. In affairs relating to the progress and improvement of the com- 
munity Mr. Atwood has always taken a deep interest and helpful part. 
He was township clerk for six years, school inspector for two years, 
and supervisor for nine yeans. In his political affiliation he is a Dem- 
ocrat. He has been treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company of Dowagiac since 1902, and is now secretary, and has been 
administrator of several estates. He is well known in the county as 
one who is ever true to a trust reposed in him, and in all the fifty-three 
vears of his residence in Cass county he has maintained a high stand- 
ard of condu.ct. both for pulilic and private life. He is connected with 



HISTORY OV CASS COUNTY 731 

the Modern Woodmen camp at Douas-iac, and at all times and under 
all circumstances has been found worthy of the regard and esteem of 
his fellow men. 

NORRIS RICHARDSON. 

Norris Richardson, an honored veteran of the Civil war. resides in 
Cassopolis. He has figfured prominentlj' in events relating to the wel- 
fare and substantial improvement of the count}-, was at one time county 
treasurer, and is numbered among the old settlers. There are few na- 
tive sons of the county who have resided longer within its borders, for 
his birth occurred in Calvin township on the 25th of December, 1S35. 
His father. Hiram Richardson, was liorn in Hardin county, Ohio, was 
there reared and came to Michigan, a single man, in 1827. Much of 
the land was still in possession of the giovernment at that time, and he 
entered a claim in Calvin township, upon which not a furrow had been 
turned or an improvement made. In fact, there were few settlers in 
the township and only here and there was seen a clearing, in the midst 
of which Avould be found a log cabin, to indicate that the seeds of civili- 
zation had been sown which were in due time to bear rich fruit. He 
was married in Calvin township to Miss Catharine Reed, whose birth 
occurred in either Hardin or Logan county, Ohio. Her father was 
John Reed, who came to Cass county about 1826 or 1827 and took up 
liis abode in Penn township adjoining Diamond lake. He, too. secured 
a claim, but he did not improve it, selling it soon afterward tO' Mr. 
Macintosh. Mrs. Richardson was quite young when brought to this 
county by her parents, and at the time of her marriage she located 
with her husband in Calvin township upon the farm wdiich he had en- 
tered from the government and on which they resided until about 1853. 
They then removed to Allegan county. Michigan, where Mr. Richard- 
son departed this life at the age of sixty-four years, while his wife 
lived to be about fifty-four 3'ears of age, she dying on the homestead in 
Calvin township. Following her death. Hiram Richardson was mar- 
ried to Mrs. Nancy Eastman. By his first marriage there were nine 
children, five of whom reached adult age, while of the second marriage 
there were three children, of whom two gained years of maturity. 

Norris Richardson is the third child of the first marriage. He was 
reared in Calvin township and pursued his education in one of the old- 
time log school houses such as were common in pioneer districts. The 
furnishings of such an institution were very primitive and the methods 
of instruction were almost equally crude. His mother died when he 
was only thirteen vears of age and he then started out in life for him- 
self, working by the month as a farm hand. In this way he gained a 
livelihood until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when bis patriotic 
.spirit was aroused bv the attempt of the south to overthrow the Union, 
and he joined a Michigan regiment, but was not accepted. The com- 



7?.--' HISTORY OI' CASS COUNTY 

paiiy, hi)\\e\-er, (li-^ljanded and he went tO' Joliet, Illinois, where he en- 
listed as a nienilier nf Cimipany \\ Twentieth Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
try, and witli iliat cnrnjiaiiy served as a private for two years, after 
which he \\:is Imndrably discharged on account of physical disability,', 
receiving Iiis discharge from General Grant. When he had somewhat 
recovered his health, ho\\e\er, he re-en!isted in 1863 as a member of 
Company L, Ninth Iowa Cavalry, with which he served until the 3rd 
of February. tS66. when he Avas once more honorably discharged. He 
was comniissinned as an officer, holding the rank of first lieutenant of 
Com])an_\- L, and was also adjutant of the regiment. His military serv- 
ice covered more than four years and was fraught with much danger, 
while his course was characterized liy unfaltering fidelity to duty. He 
was at Frederickstown, Missoiu'i, in 1861, and the same year the regi- 
ment went down the Mississippi river, landing at Cape (iirardeau. He 
aftenvard participated in the siege of Columbus, Kentucky, and under 
Genera] (irant returned up the Ohio river, participating in the battle 
of Fort Henry in iS6j, also in the engag'ement at Fort Donaldson and 
tlie battles of Shiloh and Curinth. His first siege was at the last named 
])lace, and after the cajiitulatidn of that city he went with his regiment 
to Jackson, Tennessee, where he made a raifl. Soon afterward he was 
iTOnorably discharged, and during the second term of his enlistment 
he participated in but few battles, operating with the movements of the 
army in Arkansas. He was never in the hospital, but was on active 
duty all of the time with which he was connected with the army. Dur- 
ing both terms of enlistment he had charge of the records of the com- 
panies and at the close of the war he was sent on an official mission 
to St. Louis t-o do special duty by order of the general commander of 
the department. He received his second discharge at Little Rock and 
returned home with a most creditable military record. No man could 
ever say aught against his bravery or his loyalty, and he deserves the 
gratitude which the nation will never cease to feel fur all the brave 
boys in blue who fought for the defense of the LJnion. 

When the war was over Mr. Richardson returned to Cass county. 
Micliigan, aiid \\as married in 1866 to Miss Susan Adamson, a daugh- 
ter of John and Sarah (Erwin) Adamson, who removed from Colum- 
biana county, Ohio', to Cass count\- in T853. Her father purchased a 
farm from Hiram Richardson and the wife of mu" subject, who was 
born in Columbiana countv. Ohiri, was reared upim the old family 
hrmiestead in this ciiunt\'. I'lillnwing his marriag"e Niirris Richard- 
son removed t^ Warren county, biwa, where he remained for three 
years and then returned to Cass county, locating on the old homestead. 
He bought land in Porter townshi]) and afterward sold that property 
and liougbt ;innt!ier farm. He continued actively in farming until 
i8f)q. when he ]int aside the more arduous duties of the fields, having 
l;een elected to the i)osition of countv treasurer. He then located at 



HISIOKY (.)i~ CASS COUNTY T;i3 

Cassopolis and lilled the office lur four years, having been re-cltH;tcd in 
1897. He was also caUed Xo various township positions, and at aU 
times discliarged his duties with promptness and hdeHty. At the same 
time he has continued the ownership of his farms in Porter and New- 
berg townships. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Richardson liave been horn a son and daugh- 
ter: Carmi Claud, who is now a resident farmer of i'orler township; 
and Ethel Frances, who died in October, 1899. 

j\lr. Richardson has been a lifelong Ixepublican, as was his father 
before Iiim. He is now the commander of Albert Anderson I'ost, No. 
157, G. A. R., having been honored with this position for about ten 
years. He has taken a very active and helpful interest in the work of 
the post and has done an able and valuable service in looking after the 
interests of the soldiers in this county. He has likewise attained the 
chapter degree in Masonry, and in his life exemplifies the benehcent 
.spirit of the craft. His activity has touched upon many lines of general 
interest, and he has never been found remiss in any duty of citizen- 
ship. Moreover, his business career has been commendable, for at the 
early age of thirteen years he started -out in life on his own account, 
and he may therefore be truly called a self-made man. Through the 
exercise of his native talents and energies and the careful utilization 
of his opportunities he has become the owner of valuable property in- 
terests which now enable him to live retired. His life record is in 
many respects woi-thy of emulation, for he has displayed splendid qual- 
ifications in military and political service and in the business interests 
which ha\e brought him in contact with his fellow citizens. 

LAURENCE B. I-'ATTISON. 

Laurence B. Pattison, a farmer and representative citizen of Poka- 
gon township living on section 25, was born in Ann Arbor. Michigan. 
March 5, 1838. a .son of Daniel H. and Alrina (Davis) Pattison, both 
of whom were natives of the state of New York, the mother having 
been born in Allegany county. The father was a shoemaker by trade, 
and after learning and following that business for some time became a 
shoe merchant. Unto him and his wife were born four daughters and 
four sons, of whom Laurence was the second son and second child. 
The family record is as follows: Edwin, deceased; Laurence; Rosella, 
who has also passed away: ITarriet; Daniel; Mary; Eunice: and Will- 
iam, deceased. All reached adult age. although three have now passed 
away. The death of the father occurred in 1868. 

Laurence B. Pattison was reared to manhood in Manchester, 
Michio'an. acquired a public -school education and there became famil- 
iar with farm work in all its departments, "fhinking that he might 
have l)etter business opportunities in the west, lie came to Cass county 
on the lotli of b^bruary. t86o, and entered the cniiiloy of Ileniy 



T34 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Stretch, for whom he worked as a farm hand for about two years. 
In tile latter part of 1861 he left that employ and went to Dowagiac, 
Michigan, where he spent a part of the winter, and in the spring- of 
1862 he located on Little Prairie, being employed by Jasper Vancuren 
until January, 1864. 

On the 19th of that month JNIr. Pattison was married to Miss 
Hannah Van Vlear, a native of Pokagon township, Cass county, born 
September 16, 1844. Her parents were George and Kate (Ferris) 
Van Vlear, pioneer settlers of Cass county, who took up their abode 
here in 1833. coming to Michigan from Ohio. They were married in 
Ohio', and on leaving that state settled upon a farm which is now the 
home of Mr. Pattison. In their family were five children, three of 
whom were born in the Buckeye state, while two were bom in Cass 
county. John and Phebe, twins, are deceased, and Lewis, the fourth 
child, has also passed away. The others are Katherine and Hannah. 
Mrs. Pattison was educated in Pokagon township, pursuing her studies 
in an old log school house. At the time of his marriage Mr. Pattison 
rented one hundred and ten acres of land, upon whicl: he lived for 
twenty-two years. He then, in 1886, removed to the farm which he 
recently owned, having purchased the place some years before from 
Mrs. Pattison's father. It comprised one hundred and twenty acres 
of land, which is rich and arable, and the well tilled fields annually re- 
turned to him excellent harvests, while his crops foimd a ready sale 
on the market. ITe recently sold this place, however, and bought a 
farm in Wayne township consisting of one hundred and forty acres, 
formerly known as the Coply farm. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Pattison have been born two sons and a daugh- 
ter: Estelle, born December 4. 1864: Wilbur, who was born January 
16, 1866, and died January 10, 1883; and Adelbert. born December 
27, 1871. All are natives of Cass county. In his political views Mr. 
Pattison is a Democrat where national issues are involved, but at local 
elections votes independently and has taken an active part in political 
interests in his home locality. He belongs to Pokagon lodge. No. 36. 
A. F. & .A. i\I., and is also connected with the United Workmen of 
Dowagiac. His residence in Cass county covers a period of forty-five 
years, during wliich time he has worked persistently and energetically 
and all the success that he has achieved is attributable entirely to his 
own efforts, his present farm being the visible evidence of his life of 
thrift and industry. 

L. L. LAWRENCE. 

L. L. Lawrence, well known as a representati\e of agricultural 
circles in Volinia township, resides on section 11. He was born in this 
township May 13, 1853, and was the eldest of the three sons whose par- 
ents were Levi B. ami Esther (Copley) Lawrence. The father arrived 



HISTORY OF CASS COUN'J V ::!5 

ill Cass cuunty uhoul 1S3J, when the work of iiiiproveincnt and prog- 
ress had hcarcel_\- heen begun here. He took up huid from the govern- 
ment, and for a long period carried on general agricultural pursuits, his 
life's lal;ors being ended in dead: when he was about seventv-six years 
of age. 

When a A'outh of about six years L. L. Lawrence entered the pub- 
lic schools and attended as opportunity offered until he had mastered 
the branches of learning taught tlierein. He also early actpiainted him- 
self with farm labor, taking his place in the fields almost as soon as old 
enough to handle the plow. He continued to assist in the work of cul- 
tivating crops upon the old homestead up to the time of his marriage, 
which occurred in 1879. He wedded Miss Rosa Emmons, and thev have 
three children, Eula, Esther anil a little infant son, John K. 

The home farm comprises two hundred and thirty-five acres of 
good land devoted to general agricultural pursuits, and in addition to 
the tilling of the soil and the care of his crops Mr. Lawrence followed 
carpentering for a number of years. He possesses good mechanical 
skill and ingenuity, and is thus enabled to keep everything about his 
place in excellent condition, his buildings, fences and farm imi)lements 
all being in good repair. He is somewhat independent in his political 
views, but perhaps favors more largely the principles of the Republican 
party. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at Marcellus and is a support- 
er of all measures that have for their object the genera! welfare. In 
manner he is genial and the circle of his friends embraces m;in\- wlm 
have known him from his boyhood days down to the present time, which 
is an indication that his life has ever been worthy of the regard of those 
with whom he has been associated. 

JOHN J. RITTER. 

John J. Ritter, treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance 
Company, of Dowagiac, was bom in LaGrange, Cass county, on the 
6th of July 1848. His father, David M. Ritter, was born in Indiana 
in 1828, and was only fi"\'e years of age when brought to Michigan by 
his father, John S. Ritter, who made his way to Berrien countv and 
afterward settled in Cass county when David M. Ritter was only six 
years of age. He v/as therefore reared here amid the wild scenes and 
environments of pioneer life, and was educated in the old-time schools. 
He spent his youth and also the years of his manhood upon the same 
farm, thus living for many years in LaGrange township. His entire 
life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, and he passed away in .•\ugust, 
186:;, respected h\ all who knew him. His wife, who bore the maiflcn 
narne of Malinda A. Reneston, was a native of Indiana and came to 
Cass county in earlv girlhood with her father. William Reneston, who 
operated the first carding mill in the county. Mrs. David Ritter rlied 
when sixtv-two vears of age. In the family were three sons: John J.. 



"30 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

of tins rc\ic\v; \\"illi;;ni R., wliu was a resident of Berrien county, 
Michig'an, and died Jime iS. Kjof); and Joseph A., wlio died at the 
ajje of nine _\'ears. 

Jolm J. l-kitter is now tlie only representative of the family in Cass 
count\-. He was reared in LaGrange township upon the farm which 
he now (jwns and whicli was the property of his father at an early day. 
His preliminary education was acquired in the district schools and he 
also attended school in Dowao'iac. He was but sixteen years of age 
at the Inne nf his father's death, when he took charge of the home 
farm and assumed the care of his mother. , The management of the 
property w;is a great responsibility fnr a youth of his years, but he ably 
performed the task devolving upon him and displayed excellent ability 
and keen (hscrimination in the management of his affairs. He was 
first married in 1870 to Miss Cynthia A. Bucklin. a daughter of Will- 
iam P. and Mary A. Bucklin. She died May 5, 1897, leaving one son. 
Dr. Jesse ^\^ Ritter, who is engageil in the practice of dentistn' in 
Charleston, Illinois. For his second wife Mr. Ritter chose Christiana 
Norton, the widow of Abraham Ackerman. They were married in 
i8g8. By her first marriage Mrs. Ritter had two children: Estella. 
the wife of Charles Schmitt, a hardware merchant of Dowagiac, car- 
rying on business as a member of the firm of Schmitt Brothers ; and 
Abe. who died when twenty-one years of age. 

Leaving the farm, Mr. Ritter located in Dowagiac about 1887 and 
engaged in the grocery business, which he carried on for about nine 
years. About igoo. however, he disposed of his store. He has held 
various official positions, including that <~if road commissioner, in which 
position he did very capable service in the improvement of the roads 
in the county. He has been one of the trustees of the cemetery about 
f\\el\-e years, and president of the association about three years. He 
was elected treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company 
in Dowai^iac January 9, 1906. and is now filling the position in a most 
capable and able manner. He still owns a valuable farm comprising 
two hundred and forty acres of well improved land in LaGrange town- 
ship, which he rents. His i»litica1 allegiance is given to the Democ- 
racy where national issues are involved, but ;it local elections he casts 
an infle]5enflent ballot. He is ;i member of the Modern \Voodmen 
cam]!, and he contributes to the sup])iirt of die Methodist Episcopal 
church, although not a member of the organization. He has been a 
lifelong resident of Cass county, living liere for fifty-seven years, and 
lias taken an active interest in its progress and development. He is in- 
deed a representative of one of its oldest families, the name of Ritter 
having Imig fisnred hxmorably in connection with agricultural interests, 
business lii'c and ]iul)lic affairs. Wherever known, Mr. Ritter commands 
the esteem and confidence of many friends, and Dowagiac numbers 
him anmng her rcpresentati\e citizens. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 7;!7 

ELIAS PARDEE. 

Elias Pardee, now living retired in Dowagiac after a life of business 
activity and usefulness that has lirought hiin well merited success, was 
bom in Knox county, Ohio, October 7, 1826. His father, Isaac Pardee, 
was a native of New York, born in 1781. The paternal grandfather 
of our subject was a native of France and in early life became a resident 
of the Empire state, being accompanied by two brothers on his emigra- 
tion to the new world. All of the Pardees in this countrv are rejire- 
sentatives of families founded li}- these three brothers. It was about 
the closing period of the Revolutionary war that Isaac P;u-dee was born 
and in the place of his nativity he was reared and educated. Tn early 
life he learned and followed the shoemaker's trade and in 1816 he re- 
moved to Knox countv, Ohio, locating about twelve miles west of Mount 
Vernon in Bloomfield township. There he engaged in general farming 
until his removal to Michigan in 1850, at which time he located in T5er- 
rien county, where he died on the 31st of August, 1850. His wife. 
Lucy Dickerman, was a native of New Haven, Connecticut, and died 
in Berrien county-, Michigan, September 5, 1850. In the family were 
two sons and two daughters, who reached adult age. Of this number 
Smith Pardee lived to be eighty-five years of age and passed away in 
Clayton county. Iowa. Mary is the widow of Andrew Foster and is 
now living in Brooking, Iowa, at the age of eighty-six vears. Susan 
died in Middlebury, Elkhart county, Indiana, at the age -of seventv- 
nine years. 

Elias Pardee, the youngest of the family, spent the davs of his 
boyhood and youth in his native place, remaining on the home farm 
until eighteen years of age and acquiring his education in one of the 
old-time log school houses of that day. In 1844 he started out in life 
on his own account, making his way to Berrien count\-, Michigan. 
There he worked as a lumberman, chopping cord wood and grubliing 
white oak grubs. He was emplo\-ed by the day and his life was a strenu- 
ous one fraught with unremitting and arduous toil. In 1850 be came 
I0 Dowagiac, where he entered the employ of the Michigan Central 
Railroad Company as a laborer at the freight house. He was thus en- 
gaged until 1858. when he was promoted to the position of freight and 
express agent, in which capacity he served for four vears. Saving his 
money, he at length, through his diligence and frugality, had acquired 
sufficient capital to enable him to invest in farm lands and he bought 
a jilace in Pokagon township, Cass cotmty, near Dowagiac. He then 
rented the farm but retained the ownership thereof until 1865, when 
he disposed of all of his farming interests. In 1876 he purchased the 
Sister Lakes summer resort, paying one hundred dollars per acre for the 
property. He at once began its improvement ,ind converted the place 
into a resort for the entertainment of summer visitors, building cottages, 
a hotel, a dance hall and skating rink. In fact, he made all of the im- 



738 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

provements at the resort, which he conducted successfully until January, 
1886, when he disposed of this interest. Since that time he has lived 
retired from the active management of husiness affairs save for the 
supervision of his investments. 

Mr. Pardee was married in 1853 to Miss Lydia Rice, a daughter 
of Moses and Annis Rice, and a native of New York, in which state 
her girlhood days were passed. Her death occurred April 4, 1901. In 
his political views Mr. Pardee was a Republiiian until the Cleveland 
administration. He has served as assessor of the city and was alderman 
in 1870. He has a wide acquaintance in the county, where he has now 
resided for fifty-four years and has taken an active and helpful interest 
in its growth and the promotion of its welfare. He occupies a fine resi- 
dence, which was built in 1861 and is one of the best homes in Dowagiac. 
During the forty years of his connection with Cass county he has trav- 
eled in all of the western states, making fourteen trips to the Dakotas, 
Montana and the northwest. He has traveled altogether more than one 
hundred thousand miles on hunting trips, which was the occasion of his 
many visits to the northwest. He has seen the Rocky mountains and 
the bad lands of Dakota, has crossed the plains about six times and 
hunted buffaloes on the western prairies until they were extinct. He 
began making these western trips in 1872 and continued to do so each 
year until 1883. His experiences have been of a varied and interesting 
nature and have to some extent been fraught with the hardships, dangers 
and privations incident to western frontier life. He has carefully man- 
aged his business affairs, however, as the years have gone by and his 
labors are now crowned with success, which makes it possible for him 
to enjoy well-earned ease amidst the fruits of his former toil. 

EUGENE B. GILBERT. 

Eugene B. Gilbert is numbered among the early settlers of Cass 
county. The story of pioneer life has never been adequately written 
and only those who have gone through such experiences can really know 
of the conditions that exist upon the frontier, which has little or no 
railroad communication with older points and must therefore be deprived 
of many of the advantages and comforts that are found in districts 
which have long been settled. Mr. Gilbert's memory forms a connecting 
link between the progressive present and the primitive past when the 
settlers were denied many of the comforts and conveniences which are 
now enjoyed by the citizens of Cass county. He lives on section 29, 
Silver Creek township, where he owns a good farm. His birth, how- 
ever, occurred in the town of Springfield in Otsego county, New^ York, 
September 2r, 1833, and he is a son of W. B. Gilbert, better known as 
"Uncle Tommy" Gilbert. His paternal grandfather was a sea captain 
and the owner of the ship on which he sailed. The vessel, however, 
was confiscated and he was thrown into an English prison at the time 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 739 

of the Revolutionary Avar. He lost all his wealth and died while being 
held as a prisoner of war. His wife afterward returned to England, 
where her last days were spent. Mr. Gilbert, however, was of French 
birth but had become a citizen under the English government. 

W. B. Gilbert was born in New York state and was reared by an 
uncle, Jimmie BeGau, in Otsego county. New York. When a young 
man he engaged in teaming to Michigan from Albany and Buffalo, 
New York, prior to the era of the building of the canal. He also en- 
gaged in burning lime, furnishing all of the lime for George Clark on 
Lake Otsego and for many buildings of that period. Flis children were 
all born in Otsego county. He served in the war of 1812, enlisting as 
a private, but became an officer, and later he was granted a pension and 
given eighty-six acres of land in Michigan in recognition of the aid 
which he rendered the government during the second military struggle 
with England. On leaving the east he came to Michigan in 1838 and 
in 1839 removed his family to Cass county, settling in Silver Creek 
township when there was not twelve acres of land cleared in the entire 
township. He bought five eighty-acre tracts, all wild and unimproved, 
and at once began converting the raw land into productive fields. He 
had to clear away the timber and upon his farm he built a log house. 
Nearly all of the homes in the county were thus constructed in that 
early day. The task of developing and improving a farm was a very 
arduous and strenuous one. but he carried on his labors unfalteringly and 
in the course of time his land became rich and productive. The trading 
was done at Niles and at St. Joseph, Michigan, which were then the 
nearest commercial centers. ]\fr. Gilbert continued a resident of this 
county up to the time of his death, which occurred when he was in his 
seventy-fourth year. He was justice of the peace for many years and 
his decisions were characterized by the utmost fairness and impartiality 
— a fact which is indicated by his long continuance in office. He was 
one of the prominent and influential men of his day. and his efforts) 
for the community and its development were far-reaching, effective and 
beneficial. He engaged in speculating in land to a considerable extent, 
buying and selling property and making bis money in that way. He 
becanie very familiar with land values and was seldom at error in mat- 
ters of business judgment. In politics he was a Whig in early man- 
hood and upon the dissolution of the party he joined the ranks of the 
new Republican party, of which be became a stanch advocate. He 
was, moreover, a well-read man and had a library of fifteen hundred 
volumes in New York. He was interested in everything pertaining to 
his country and ber welfare and bis reading not onlv embraced social, 
economic and political problems but also took in much of the literature 
of the past and present. He married Miss Cynthia Sammons, a native 
of New York, who was born on the banks of Sharon Springs, her father 
clearing a place there. He was Casey Sammons. and was of German 
birth, while ber mother belonged to an old Prussian family. Mrs. Gil- 



740 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

bert was in her seventy-third year at the time of her death. She was a 
worthy pioneer woman who bravely shared with her husband in the 
hardships and trials incident to frontier life and did her best to care 
for her family and provide a comfortable home for them. She became 
the mother of six children, three sons and three daughters, all of whom 
reached years of maturity, but only two of the number are now living, 
namely: Mrs. Jane Cushing, who is mentioned on another page of this 
work ; and Eugene B. 

In taking up the personal history of Eugene B. Gilbert we present 
t(i our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known 
in tins county. He was the fifth child in his father's family and the 
thirtl son, and was in his sixth year at the time of the removal from 
New York to Cass county. He began work when a very young lad, for 
his ser\-icts were needed upon the home farm and he was fourteen 
years of age before a school was built in this township. To a limited 
extent he pursued his studies in a log schoolhouse, but his educational 
privileges were meager and it has been through his own efforts, his 
reading, observation and experience that he has broadened his knowl- 
edge, becoming a well informed man. He assisted in clearing the land 
which his father secured on coming to the county and has resided con- 
tinuously upon the old homestead from the age of five years. 

On the 20th of February, 1864, Mr. Gilbert was united in marriage 
to Miss Susan Tice. a daughter of Isaac and Sallie Ann (Lockwood) 
Tice, both of whom were natives of the state of New York, her mother 
having been born in Newberg. They came to Michigan about 1850, 
settling in Niles, and afterward removed to Silver Creek township. Mrs. 
(iilbert was born in Albany, New York, August 9, 1843, ^1^4 came with 
licr parents to Cass county when about seven years of age. She was 
here reared in a pioneer home in the midst of the forest and thus became 
accpiainted with the conditions of frontier life. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Gilbert liave been born a daughter and son: Mary L., who is now the 
wife of Eouis Rudolph, of Dowagiac ; and William I., who resides upon 
the home farm. He married Miss Lizzie Bissett, a daughter of Alex- 
ander and Isabelle (Barker) Bissett. Unto Mr. and "^Mrs. W^illiam 
Gilbert has been born a little daughter. lone. 

.\s stated, Eugene B. Gilbert has followed farming throughout his 
entire life and is today the owner of about five hundred acres of valu- 
al)le land, of which one hundred and sixty acres is located in Berrien 
county and tiie remainder in Cass county. His hou.se is on the east l)ank 
oi Indian Lake and is known as Gilbert Castle. It is one of the land- 
marks of the county, being the second house built on the banks of the 
lake. Few men have more intimate knowledge of the history of the 
county and events which have formed its annals. He can remember 
when the Indians weve yevx numerous in this part of the state and 
remembers seeing the chief "Lo Pole" Pokagon. His father assisted in 
removing the Indians to Kansas under government contract. Mr. Gil- 



HISTORY Ol-^ CASS COUNTY 741 

bert lias lived in this part of the state for sixty-seven years, has been 
closely identified with its interests and has done much for its substantial 
development and improvement. In politics he is a Republican, but he 
would never accept otlice, although he could undoubtedly have filled 
public positions very creditably had he consented to become a candidate. 
He is a man of independent spirit, not bound by any creed, belief or 
fraternal ties. He forms his own opinions and is honest in upholding 
them and his life has been characterized by principles of integrity and 
honor, while his business career has displayed unfaltering diligence and 
perseverance. 

MYRON STARK. 

Myron Stark, living retired in Dowagiac, although for many years 
he was a leading and enterprising merchant here, was born in New 
York, May 30, 1836. He represented an old family of the Empire 
state, as it is definitely known that his great-grandparents lived in New 
York, for it was there that his grandfather, John Stark, was born, reared 
and made his home. Erastus Stark, his father, also a native of New 
York, came to Cass county, Michigan, in 1838, locating at Stunmer- 
ville, and in 1840 he purchased a farm in Silver Creek township, where 
he cultivated and impro\-ed his land. He was one of the first settlers 
of that township and aided in subduing the wilderness and extending 
the frontier. As the years passed he developed a good property, his 
fields being very productive, and he remained upon that place until his 
death, which occurred when he was fifty-four years of age. He also 
built a sawmill and engaged in the manufacture of lumber in connection 
with farming interests. He filled the office of justice of the peace for 
many years and his decisions were strictly fair and impartial. He held 
membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active part 
in its work, and he was also an exemplary Mason. He married Matilda 
Cook, a native of New Y'ork, who died in 1839, when about twenty- 
seven years of age. There were three sons by that marriage. Philander 
died in 1850. John K., who was born in central New York in Octoljer, 
1833, came to Michigan with his parents in 1848 and assisted in clear- 
ing and developing the home farm, now known as the Robert Bielby 
property. In the winter seasons he cut and hauled logs and in the 
summer months engaged in the active work of tilling the fields and 
caring for his crops. He married Eliza J. Cushing, a daughter of Otis 
and Clarissa Cushing, in the year 1835, ''"'1 '" ^^S7 removed to Mis- 
souri, but in 1859 returned to Michigan. In June, i8f)i. he enlisted 
for service in the Civil war as a member of the Second Michigan Cav- 
alry and a year later received an honorable discharge on account of 
disability. In 1869 he joined the Michigan Conference of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and has become one of the most prominent church 
builders of that denomination. His first charge was the Paw Paw 
church, and since that time he has ser\ed \arinus churches, b.oth on the 



742 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

counlrv circuit and in large cities, l)ecnniing one of the strong divines 
representing Metliodisni in this state. His wife died in 1884. Six chil- 
dren were born unto them, three sons and three daughters, all of whom 
are now living with the exception of the youngest, who died in 1902. 
Rev. Stark was again married in 1895. He is now chaplain in the 
Soldiers" Home at Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

Myron Stark, whose name introduces this record, was the youngest 
of the three sons of his father's family and was only two years old 
when brought to Cass county by his parents. He remained at home 
until nineteen years of a,ge, assisting in the sawmill and in the fann 
work. He tb.en went to London. Canada, in 1855, remaining for a 
year in that locality, after which he rettn-ned to Cass county and en- 
gaged in fanning in Silver Creek township. In 1862 he established a 
wagon and blacksmithing shop at Cushing Corners, where he remained 
until 1877. In 1876 he patented what is known as Stark's Common 
Sense Sand Band, and removed to Dowagiac the following year, after 
which he devoted five years to handling this patent, which he sold in 
e\erv state in the Union, and also in Canada, France and Germany. 
He started without capital, but lie built up a fine business and in 1883 
sold his interest and retired with a handsome competence. The business, 
however, is still being carried on. In that year Mr. Stark purchased 
the grocery store of Mart Green in Dowagiac and was identified with 
commercial interests in the city until 1888, when on account of ill health 
he sold his store, since which time he has been retired from active busi- 
ness cares. His inventive mind is continually reaching out along new 
lines of thought and progress, and in 1900 he patented a tire machine, 
which is being manufactured on a royalty basis at Lansing, Michigan. 
The machine is for taking off and replacing tires on heavy wheels. 

On Christmas day of 1857 was celebrated the marriage of Myron 
Stark and Miss Sarah Harris, a daughter of Alvin and Peggy (Shull) 
Harris. She was born in New York and by her marriage has become 
the mother of six children : Henry, now deceased : Matilda, the wife of 
Chester Southwork, of Dowagiac : Ida, Almira and Amanda, all de- 
ceased ; and Jessie, the wife of Wiley IMessenger, of Dowagiac, who is a 
traveling man. 

Mr. Stark has been a life-long Republican and has taken an active 
interest in the party, holding various official positions through many 
years. At the present time he is county agent for the state board of 
corrections and charities, is game warden for Cass county and the ad- 
joining counties and is superintendent of the poor for the city of Dowag- 
iac. He is also superintendent of the humane society of the county and 
his official labors have been of a far reaching and beneficial nature. 
He has been a Mason since i860 and for several years served as master 
of the Dowagiac lodge. His residence in Cass county covers a period 
of sixty-eight ^•ears and no man has been more closelv or honorably 
identified witli its interests and dcveliqinicnt. He has made a creditable 



HISTORY 0¥ CASS COUNTY 743 

name in business circles, has manifested his loyalty and patriotic spirit 
m ottice and in private life has displayed those sterling traits of char- 
acter which everywhere win regard and command confidence. 

JAiMES H. ICINxNANE. 

James H. Kinnane, successfully practicing law in Dowagiac, was 
born in Kalamazoo county, JMichigan, in 1859. His father, Patrick 
Kinnane, is a native of Ireland, and in 1856 came to the United States, 
locating upon the farm in Kalamazoo township, Kalamazoo county, 
Michigan, on which he yet resides at the venerable age of eighty-three 
years. He has always devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits, 
has prospered in his undertakings and now in the evening of life is en- 
joying the fruits of his former toil in well earned ease. His political 
view^s accord with the principles of the Democracy, and his religious 
faith is that of the Catholic church. He wedded Miss Mary Sullivan, 
a native of Ireland, who is now seventy-two years of age. She crossed 
the Atlantic in 1855, becoming a resident of Kalamazoo county, Michi- 
gan, where in 1858 she gave her hand in marriage to Patrick Kinnane. 
She, too, is a communicant of the Catholic church. 

James H. Kinnane, the eldest in their family of nine children, was 
reared upon the home farm and attended the district schools, subse- 
quent 10 which time he entered the high school in the city of Kala- 
mazoo, from which he was graduated with the class of 1881. He after- 
ward spent a year at the Baptist college in Kalamazoo and then entered 
the law department of the Michigan university at Ann Arbor in the 
fall of 1883. He w'as graduated with the class of 1885, after which he 
opened an oiiice in Kalamazoo, practicing there for ten years. In 1896 
he was appointed by President Cleveland as special agent for the allot- 
ment of land in severalty to the Indians under a general act of congress. 
He continued in the position for two years. In 1898 he came to Do- 
wagiac, where he has been in practice continuously since, with more 
than ordinary success. In 1892 he w-as appointed by Governor Winans 
as one of the three commissioners to revise the highway laws of the 
state and did effective service on the committee. 

In 1887 James Kinnane was married to Harriet E. Blaney, whose 
birth occurred in Kalamazoo county in 1864, her parents being John 
H. and Mary (Robinson) Blaney, the former a native of the United 
States and in business a w-ell known real estate dealer of Kalamazoo. 
He was also active in public life there and filled the oftices of city mar- 
shal and city treasurer. Unto ]\Ir. and Mrs. Kinnane have been 
born tw'o sons and a daughter : Charles, Catherine and Robert. The 
parents are members of the Catholic church, and Mr. Kinnane belongs 
to the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks and the Knights of 
Columbus. He has been a Republican since 1896, previous to which 
time he was a stalwart advocate of Democratic principles, and for 



744 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

six \cars li;ul acted as chairman of the Democratic county central com- 
mittee of Kalamazoo count}-. He is a man fearless in defense of his 
honest convictions, however, and when he became convinced in his own 
mind that Repulilican principles were more conducive to good govern- 
ment lie fearlessly renounced his allegiance to the Democracy. While 
living in Kalamazoo he served as justice of the peace in 1886-7 and was 
city attorney from 1889 until 1891. In Dowagiac he has served as 
city attorney for the past three years and the various duties of a public 
nature which ha\'e devolved upon him have been faithfully, promptly 
and efficiently performed. He is president of the Cass County Bar 
Association and also a member of the Michigan Bar Association and 
one of its board of directors, and his official connection with the former 
is an indication of his standing with the profession in the county in 
which he makes his home. Popular in social circles, he has many 
friends and in his grasp and greeting there is always welcome. He 
is genial^ companionable and entertaining and is recognized as a p(jpular 
citizen as well as a prominent lawyer of Dowagiac. 

FRANK L. HARTSELL. 

b'rank L. Hartsell, a contractor of Dowagiac, who for many }'ears 
has ])een connected with building operations, so that many of the fine 
residences and leading structures of the city stand as monuments to 
his ability, skill and labor, is a native son of Cass county, his birth 
having occurred in Sil\er Creek township on the lOth of July, 1858. 
His father, John Hartsell, who was born in Ohio, came to Cass county 
about 1835 and was one of its first settlers. The days of chivalry and 
knighthood in Europe cannot furnish more interesting tales than our 
own western history, and yet the establishment of homes ui^on the frontier 
meant sacrifices, hardships and sometimes death ; but there were some 
men, ]iowe\er, brave enough to meet the conditions that must be faced 
and undertake the task of reclaiming the wild west for the purposes 
of civilization. Among this number was John Hartsell, who, coming to 
Cass county, entered upon the work of clearing and developing a farm 
in the midst of the wilderness. As the years passed he placed his land 
linder cultivation and his fields became rich and productive. In politics 
he was a Democrat, but \\ithout aspiration for office. He married Miss 
Mary .Ann Bach, a native of Ohio, and they became the parents of 
five children, all of wliom readied adult age. The father passed away at 
the age of seventy-se\('n years, but the mother is still living in her 
seventy-fifth year. 

Frank L. Hartseil was the fourth child and eldest son in the father's 
family. He was reared in his nati\-e township to the piu'suits of farm 
life until seventeen years of age. When a young lad of six he entered 
the ]iublic scliools and therein mastered the common branches of learn- 
iup-. He .also early took bis ])lace behind the plow and continued to aid 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 745 

in the work of the fields until lie had attained the age of seventeen, 
when, thinking that he would find other pursuits more congenial, he left 
home and took up his abode in Dowagiac to learn the carpenter's trade. 
He has since followed the business, and when twenty-four years of age 
he began contracting on his own account, so that he is today one of the 
oldest contractors in years of connection with building operations in 
Dowagiac. He has erected many buildings in Cass county and at De- 
catur, Niles and Buchanan, and other places in adjoining counties. In 
fact, he is one of the best known contractors and builders in this part 
of tlie state, and the important work that he has done is indicated in 
many fine and substantial structures. His worl< has always been char- 
acterized b)- thoroughness and he has kept resolutely to the terms of 
a contract, being thoroughly reliable in all his business undertakings. 

Mr. Hartsell was married in 1893 to Miss Lettie Schook. and unto 
this union have been born three children : Lelia M., Helen P. and 
Harold H. In addition to his home Mr. Hartsell has other property in 
Dowagiac, including three houses and lots. His own residence is a fine 
dwelling on Main and Pokagon streets, and is the center of a gracious, 
charming and cordial hospitality. In his political aftiliation Mr. Hart- 
sell is a stalwart Democrat, earnestly working for his party and its 
interests, and he is now serving as a member of the board of aldermen. 
His labors in behalf of public progress have been far reaching and 
beneficial and he has intense sympathy with every movement calculated 
for the general welfare and substantial development of the county. 
Fraternally he is connected with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows and the Knights of the Maccabees. His entire life has been passed 
in Cass county, and he has therefore witnessed much of its growth and 
development, his memory going back to a time when this district was 
sparsely settled. That many of his stanchest friends are numbered 
among those who have known him from his boyhood down to the present 
time is an indication that his life has been straightforward and up- 
right. 

J. O. BECR.AFT. 

J. O. Becraft, postmaster of Dowagiac and secretary of the Round 
Oak Stove Company, was born April 27, 1850, in the citv in which he 
yet makes his home. His father, Isaiah S. Becraft, was a native of 
New York and came to Cass county, Michigan, in 1848, as one 
of the first settlers of Dowagiac. He was connected with mer- 
cantile interests here for many years and contributed in substantial 
measure to the material progress and to the upbuilding and ad- 
vancement of the city. He held many offices and was one of the 
prominent and influential residents of Dowagiac. At the time of his 
death, which occurred in 1864, he was serving as deputy provost mar- 
shal and special agent for United States secret service. In politics he 
was a stalwart Republican from the organization of the party and fra- 



746 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ternally was a prominent Mason, who exemplified in his hfe the benefi- 
cent spirit of the craft. His death occurred when he was fifty-two 
years of age. His wife, who in her maidenliood was CaroHne VVaUace, 
was a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of James and Betsy 
(Belknapj Wallace. Mrs. Becraft lived to the advanced age of seventy- 
two years. In their family were seven children, six of whom readied 
adult age. 

J. O. Becraft is the third child and second son of the family. He 
was reared in Dowagiac and pursued his education in the schools of this 
city. He started out upon his business career as a clerk in a grocery 
store and spent about two and a half years as station agent at Cassop- 
olis and a similar period at Dowagiac. He afterward accepted a clerical 
position in the postoffice here and later became assistant postmaster, 
which position he capably filled for many years. He was first appointed 
postmaster by Benjamin Harrison, w-as re-appointed by President Mc- 
Kinley and is now serving for the third term in that office by appoint- 
ment of l^resident Roosevelt. The consensus of public opinion is alto- 
gether favorable concerning the service which he has rendered in this 
connection, for he has given a businesslike administration, has system- 
tized tlie affairs of the office and care and promptness are exercised in 
the performance of all the duties connected with the care of the mails. 

Aside from his official service Mr. Becraft has been identified with 
business interests in Dowagiac. For about fifteen years he has been con- 
nected with the P. D. Beckwith Stove Company and is now acting as 
secretary of the company, the business being carried on under the style 
of the Round Oak Stove Company. He is also a stockholder in the 
F"armers & Merchants Bank at Benton Harbor and the Lee Paper Com- 
pany at Vicksburg, Michigan. His business investments have been well 
placed and are the source of a gratifying and desirable income. 

Mr. Becraft was married in 1870 to Miss Harriet H. Britton, and 
they have one son, Fred E., who is now assistant postmaster. Mr. Be- 
craft belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp, to the Elks lodge, and is 
a Mason, a Ivnight Templar and a Shriner. In his political views he 
has always been a stalwart Republican, and in addition to the office of 
postmaster he has served as city recorder for fifteen years, was secretary 
of the school board for sixteen years and has filled other offices, to which 
he has been called by a constituency who recognize that according to 
the merit system he is entitled to the offices and well deserves the honor 
and trust thus reposed in him. He is today the oldest native citizen of 
Dowagiac and one of its most prominent residents. 

GEORGE E. BISHOP. 

The commercial interests of Dowagiac find a worthy representa- 
tive in George E. Bishop, who is now engaged in dealing in hardware 
with a well appointed store and a good trade. He was born in Genesee 



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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY Tit 

county, New York, March 12, 1849: His father, Horace L. Bishop, 
was also a native of that count}" and a son of Isaac Bishop, whose birth 
occurred in Massachusetts in 1758, a fact which indicates that the family 
was estabhshed in New England in early colonial days. IsaaC Bishop 
Was a soldier of the Revolutionai-y war and was but seventeen years 
of age when he enlisted in the American army, serving for six years in 
defense of the cause of liberty. The Bishop family is of English lineage. 
Horace L. Bishop was a farmer by occupation and remained a resi- 
dent of the Empire state until 1855, when he came westward to Michi- 
gan, settling in Hillsdal.e county. He married Emeline Allison, a native 
bf ■ New York and a daughter of Joseph Allison, who was born in 
WasUington county, Pennsylvania, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. The 
death of .Mr. Bishpp occurred in 1893 when he was in his seventy-third 
year, but hi? wife is riow living at the age of seventy-seven years, hav- 
ing been born in 1828. Her father was a soldier of the war of 1812, 
enlisting from Washington county, Pennsylvania. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Horace L. Bishop were born six children, two. daughters and io^ur sons, 
all. of.wnom reached years of maturity and are living at this writing.. 

. George E.. Bishop, ti)e eldest son and seCond child of the family, is 
(he only one ..now residing, in Cass County.. He was six years of age 
when he remov.ed withjiis parents to Hillsdale county, .Michigan, and 
fhere his. youth' was passed,, while his education was acquired in .the coni- 
mpp schools of that, county. He remained at home until moi-e tha.n 
twei\ty yeai;s of age, when he started out iipon an independent business 
career^ securing a clerkship in. a country store, while later he was em- 
jSloyed in the_to.wn of Allen in Hillsdale county. He was for ten years 
a salesman. in the employ of C. H. Winchester in Allen, the time, how- 
ever, being divided by a peri.od of two and a half years spent in Cold- 
water, Michigan. He came to Dowagiac in January. 1881, and bought 
an interest in a. hardware business,. becoming a member of the firm of 
Bishop & Dickinson. This relation was .maintained until January, 1883, 
when the j;Lmior partner sold gut to W. M. Vrooman and the firm of 
Bishop &.Vcooman was then, formed, having. a continuous existence 
until, 1890. In, that year AL". ..Bishop purchased Mr.,Vrooman"s interest 
and conducted fhe business alone until January, 1904, when he admitted. 
Isaac Armstrong to a partnership and the Bishop Hardware Company 
was thus organized. Since becoming, connected with this enterprise 
Mr. Bishop has labored earnestly and effectively to enlarge the scope 
of- its undertakings and has developed an excellent business, whicli has 
constantly grown in extent and' importance. He was also secietarv of 
the Dowagiac Manufacturing' Company during the early period of its 
exristence and has done all in hi^ power to further commerciar and in- 
dustrial activity in the city and thus promote its pfosjierity" and growth, 
for the welfare of every community depends upon its busiiie'ss interests. 
Aside from his commercial pursuits Mr. Bishop has also labored 



748 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

for the welfare of his adopted city, giving active co-operation to many 
plans and measures that have had direct bearing upon general progress. 
In politics he is an earnest and unfaltering Republican with firm belief 
in the ultimate triumph of the principles of the Republican part}'. Upon 
that ticket he was elected mayor in 1888 and again in 1897, succeeding 
P. D. Beckwith as chief executive in the former year. On both occa- 
sions he gave a public-spirited and businesslike administration, exercis- 
ing his official prerogatives to advance reform and improvement, using 
practical methods in working toward ideals in citizenship. He has also 
been a member of the school board for about six years and the cause 
of education has found in him a stalwart friend, whose labor has been 
effective in its behalf. 

In 1877 Mr. Bishop was luiited in marriage to ]\Iiss Jennie D. 
Dickinson, of Coldwater, Michigan, a daughter of Higby and Mary W. 
(Swaine) Dickinson. The Swaines were one of the old Massachu- 
setts families, her mother's father was a native of Nantucket Island, 
and was a whaler on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, having frequented 
many of the South American ports, especially Santiago and Valparaiso, 
which were devastated only recently by the terrible earthquake, similar 
to the famous San Francisco disaster. Mrs. Bishop was born on a farm 
in Branch county and obtained her education in the schools of this 
city. Four children grace this marriage: Edith, who is now the wife 
of John Crawford, of Pokagon township ; Dickinson H., who is assist- 
ing his father in the store; Mary and George E., who are at home. Tlie 
family is one well known in the community and the members of the 
household occupy an enviable position in social circles. Mr. Bishop 
is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and pos- 
sesses a social, genial nature which renders him popular with a large 
circle of friends. As the years have passed he has demonstrated that sue-, 
cess comes as the legitimate result of perseverance, energy and diligence. 
Without special advantages to aid him he has worked his way upward, 
winning for himself a creditable place in business circles. He is to- 
day the tildest hardware merchant in Dowagiac and has long main- 
tained a prominent position in commercial circles, not only by reason 
of his success, but also owing to the straightforward and honorable busi- 
ness methods he has ever followed. 

^^TLEARD WELLS. 

^^'il]ard Wells, who has been closely connected with building opera- 
liors in Dowagiac as a contractor, but is now living retired, was born 
in ]\Ti)ntgomery county. Ncav York, on the i6th of September, 1829, 
and is therefore in his sevents'-seventh year. He was the second in 
order of birth in a family of ten children born unto Ira and Maria 
(Woodworth) ^^xdls. who were also natives of Montgomery county. 
The father followed the occupatinn of farming in later life but engaged 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY T4l> 

in business as a hoot and shue merchant in his early years. He re- 
moved from :Montgomery county to Onondaga cnunt>-, New York, and 
became a resident of Orleans county in the same state in 1855. There 
he was engaged in merchandising one year, but later he resumed farm- 
ing which he carried on until about twenty years prior to his dfeath, 
when he retired from active business life and took up his abode in 
Medina, New Y^ork. He was a leading, active and helpful member of 
the Methodist Episcopal chiuxh and served as class leader for forty 
years. His Christian faith permeated his entire life, established his 
conduct toward his fellowmen and made him a man whom to know 
was to respect and honor. While living in Montgomery county he 
was married to Maria Woodworth, and he reached the advanced age 
of eighty-five years, while his wife passed away at the ripe old age of 
seventv-eight years. Of their ten children six reached years of maturity, 
while four are now living, namely: Charles H., who is living in San 
Diego, California; Willard, of this review; Mary, the wife of John 
Wells, who is living in Orleans county. New Y'ork; and Frances, the 
wife of Judson Hill, of Ouincy, Branch county, Michigan. 

Willard Wells was a youth of six years when his parents removed 
from his native county to Onondaga county. New \'<irk-, and there the 
days of his youth were passed, while his education was accpiired in the 
public .schools. Thinking that he might enjoy better opportunities in 
the middle west he came to Michigan in 1855, spending the winter in 
Wayne township, Cass county. In the spring of 1856 he took up his 
abode in Dowagiac, and for a long period was identified with business 
affairs here. He had lieen married in Onondaga county. New York, in 
1852 to Miss Harriet Henderson, a native of that county. On locating 
in Dowagiac Mr. Wells began working at the carpenter's trade, his first 
work being on the construction of the home of Thomas Gilbert on the 
east bank of Indian lake. He was employed as a carpenter until 1861, 
when, with the money that he had saved from his earnings he bought 
a farm in Wa^ie township, locating thereon and devoting his time and 
energies to general agricultural pursuits through the succeeding four 
\ears. In 1865 he again took up his abode in Dowagiac, where he 
began contracting and building on his own account, continuing in that 
line of business until about 1890. He was one of its first builders and 
many of the substantial structures of the city stand as monuments to his 
skill and enterprise. He enjoyed a liberal patronage for a long period 
and then, with a comfortable competence, retired to private life. 

In 1904 Mr. Wells was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, 
who died in Dowagiac on the 30'th of October of that year. She was 
the mother of four children, but only one is now living, Dora, the wife 
of R. W. Van Antwert, who is living in. Dowagiac. 

Mr. Wells has made his home in Cass county for a half century, 
and therefore the principal events of its history are known to him. 
while upon memory's wall hang many pictures of pioneer experiences 



750 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

and incidents. He has been a lifelnns^ Republican, active in the interest 
of tlie ])art3'. for he believes that its principles contain the best elements 
of good government. He was elected for supervisor for six years of 
the second ward of Dowagiac, was elected a trustee of the village and 
was chosen to the position of alderman for three terms, after Dowagiac 
became a city. His official duties were very promptly and faithfully 
performed and he has stood strong in the advance of progress, reform 
and improvement for the city and county. He is a member of the 
Masonic fraternity and in his life has exemplified the beneficent prin- 
ciples of the craft, which is based upon mutual kindliness and brotherly 
helpfulness. There have been no exciting chapters in his life record 
and yet it contains many elements worthy of emulation, showing what 
can be accomplished by determined purpose and faithful effort, for 
whatever success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his own labors 
and perseverance. 

HUGH R. AGNEW. 

Perhaps no one agency in all the world has done so much for 
public progress as the press, and an enterprising, well edited journal is 
a most important factor in promoting the welfare and prosperity of any 
communitv. It adds to the intelligence of the people through its trans- 
mission of foreign and domestic news and through its discussion of the 
leading issues and questions of the day, and, more than that, it makes 
the town or city which it represents known outside of the immediate 
locality, as it is sent each day or week into other districts, carrying with 
it an account of the events transpiring in its home locality, the advance- 
ment and progress there being made, and the advantages which it ofifers 
to its residents along moral, educational, social and commercial lines. 
During much of his life Mr. Agnew has been connected with journalistic 
work, helping to pay his way in school by that means, and his power as 
a writer and editor is acknowledged among contemporaneous jour- 
nalists. 

One of Michigan's native sons, Hugh E. Agnew was born in Hills- 
dale Januarv 31, 1875, the second in a family of four children, two sons 
and two daughters, born to Allen and Rhoda (Mason) Agnew, namely: 
Ruey, wife of Gilbert Keller, a general merchant of Topeka, Indiana; 
Hugh E.. whose name introduces this review: Claudia, wife of Professor 
C. D. Albert, one of the faculty of Cornell University, of which insti- 
tution he is also a graduate, and he is now a resident of Ithaca : and 
Paul G., a resident of Washington, D. C and a member of the Bureau 
of Standards for the Government. Mr. Allen Agnew is a native of 
Livingston county, New York, born in 1844, and is now a resident of 
Hillsdale, Michigan, living retired from the active duties of a business 
'ifc. In the early part of bis industrial career he was an agriculturist, 
but later became a merchant. Dtu^ing the Civil war he offered his 
services to the government, becoming a member of Batterv T, First Mich- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 751 

igan Light Artillery, his first service being with the Army of the Po- 
tomac, while later he was with the Army of Tennessee. He is a Repub- 
lican in his political affiliations, and his first presidential vote was cast 
for Grant. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian 
church. Mrs. Agnew, who was born in Fulton county, Ohio, in 1849, 
is also living. 

Mr. Hugh E. Agnew was reared in Hillsdale county, Michigan, 
except five years that his parents lived in Kunkle, Ohio, receiving his 
education in its common schools, and is a graduate of the Hillsdale High 
School of the class of 1895. also of the Hillsdale Commercial College 
of the class of 1892, and in 1898 graduated from the Ypsilanti Normal, 
from which he holds a life certificate. After completing his education 
he assumed the superintendency of the Portland City Schools, there re- 
maining for three years, and in 1901 he entered the literary department 
of Michigan University, graduating therefrom in the class of 1902. 
Immediately following that event Mr. Agnew went to Howell, Michi- 
gan, as superintendent of schools, there remaining for one year, and in 
1903 came to Dowagiac and entered upon his journalistic career by 
purchasing the Dowagiac Republican, a semi-weekly eight page quarto. 
He is the owner of the finest press in the county, a two-revolution Cot- 
trell. and he also has two job presses. His paper is the leading organ of 
the Republican party in the county, with a circulation of about fifteen 
hundred. Its editor is candid in the expression of his opinions, and 
strives to give the true status of the news generally. He does a general 
printing business and has arranged to add a book-binding department, 
which will make it the most complete printery in Cass county. 

On the 26th of August, 1902, Mr. Agnew married Miss Marie 
Le Gault, and one little son has been born to them, Clifton Allen. Mrs. 
Agnew is a tiative of Cheboygan, Michigan, born June 21, 1878. and is 
of French descent. She received her education in the Cheboygan High 
.School, also graduated at the Ypsilanti Normal in 1898. and then en- 
tered the Michigan University at Ann Arbor. After completing her edu- 
cation she w^as engaged in teaching at Newberry, Michigan. Her par- 
ents are both deceased. In his political affiliations Mr. Agnew is a Re- 
publican, and he cast his first presidential vote for McKinley. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of the B. P. O. E. No. 889, of Dowagiac. 

M. O. HADDEN. 

Few residents 'of Cass county have longer resided within its borders 
than M. O. Hadden. of Dowagiac, who has lived in this part of the state 
through six decades. He is of Scotch descent and manifests in liis life 
many of the sterling characteristics of his ancestry. He was born in 
Cayuga county, New York. October 22, 1845. His paternal grand- 
father, Charles Fladden, was a nati\e of Scotland and after leaving the 
land of hills and heather crossed the Atlantic to the new world. He 



752 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

settled in New York, where he cUed of yellow fever. His son, Louis W. 
Hadden, a native of Westchester county, New York, was born in 1805, 
and was rearetl in the place of his nativit}'. In his youth he learned the 
blacksmith's trade and in early manhood he came westward to Michigan, 
settling here before the country became involved in the financial panic, 
owing t(5 the issuance of bank notes by private banks, the currency be- 
coming known as wildcat money. Mr. Hadden located in Pontiac, Mich- 
igan, but afterward returned to New York. Again in 1846, however, 
he came tn Michigan, settling in Volinia township, Cass county, estab- 
lishing the first blacksmith shop in the township. He afterward removed 
to \'Va_\-ne township, settling on Section 25, where he also opened a 
blacksmith shop, following the business for a long period. In later years 
he also engaged in farming in the same locality and his life was one of 
untiring industry and enterprise, his succeiis being the result of his per- 
severance and labor. His last days were spent in Dowagiac, where he 
(lied in his eighty-fourth year. He was a life-long Democrat, never 
faltering in bis allegiance to the party and he held membership in the 
Baptist church, living an upright, honorable Christian life. He mar- 
ried Joanna Gould, who was born in Cayuga county. New York, where 
her girlhood days were passed. Her mother was a distant relative of 
President Monroe. Mr. and Mrs. Hadden were married in Cayuga 
county. New York, and both spent their last days in Dowagiac, Mrs. 
PTadden passing away when eighty years of age. In their family were 
seven children, of whom two died in infancy, while five reached man- 
liood or womanhood. These are: Charles, now deceased; Mary, the 
wife of George McCormack, of Jackson. Michigan; Armantha, the wife 
of Hiram A<lams, of Volinia township; and Cyrena Jennetta, the wife 
of Samuel F.dwards, of Jackson, Michigan. 

M. O. Hadden is the sixth child in a family of seven children and 
tiie only sf.n now living. He was less than a year old when brought by 
his i);u"euts to Cass county and was reared upon the homestead farm in 
Wayne township. When a boy he attended the common schools and at 
Uic age i)f about fourteen years began learning the blacksmith's trade 
with his lather, with whom he worked until about seventeen years of 
age. He continued upon the home farm, assisting in the task of devel- 
oping and cultivating the fields and during that time he also bought land 
for himself, and eventually became the owner of the old homestead. 
He added to bis iiroperty from time to time until h,\^"- landed posses- 
sions were quite extensive. He has since sold soine -^K.thfe property but 
still has one hundred and seventv acres of good land in Wavne and 
Volinia town.sbips. He placed his land tinder a high state of cultivation 
and gathered good crops each year, while his grain found a ready sale 
upon tin- market. He kept everything about his place in good condi- 
tion -inil in all of his farm work was progressive and enterprising. At 
length, however, he retired from general agricultural pursuits, and in 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY T53 

1903 removed to Dowagiac, where he is now residing in the enjoyment 
of the fruits of liis former toil. 

Mr. Hadden was married tirst in 1868 to Miss Adaline Ferguson, 
who was born and reared in Indiana and was a daughter of Richara 
Ferguson. She died in 1902, leaving two children: Iva, now the 
wife of Jacob Spade, of Kalamazoo; and Herbert M., a farmer living 
in Wayne township. Mr. Hadden married his present wife in No- 
vember, 1903. She bore the maiden name of Sarah Swisher, was the 
widow of Jerrj' Foltz and was born in Preble county, Ohio, April 13, 
1845. li<^r "parents being John and Millecent (Elliott) Swisher, who 
came to Michigan about 185 1, settling in Silver Creek township. Her 
father died when eighty-two years of age and her mother when sev- 
enty-two years of age. In the family were ten children, all of whom 
reached years of maturity with one exception, Mrs. Hadden being 
the fourth in order of birth. She was first married to George Strackan- 
gart and they had one daughter, Ida, who is now the wife of Dr. 
Elmer Mater, of Dowagiac. The mother afterward married Jerr\^ 
Foltz. 

Mr. Hadden has been a lifelong Republican, but has never sought 
or desired office, although he is interested in the growth of his party 
and its success. He is a prominent and valued member of the Masonic 
fraternity, belonging to the blue lodge of Dowagiac. Sixty years have 
been added to the cycle of the centuries since he came to Cass county 
and in this time he has taken an active interest in public measures, co- 
operating in many movements for the general good. He has a wide 
acquaintance with the people of the county, has been found to be a 
reliable and enterprising business man and at all times has stood for 
iriiprovement along material, intellectual, social, political and moral lines. 
In his business afifairs he has prospered as the result of his keen dis- 
crimination, close application and unfaltering diligence. He is today 
the owner of a large farm, to which he makes frequent tinps in his auto- 
mobile, thus giving personal super\ision to the development of the prop- 
erty. 

CHARLES ELLIOTT SWEET. 

Charles Elliott Sweet, who has exerted a strong and beneficial in- 
fluence in behalf of the Republican party in Cass county, Michigan, and 
is a representative member of the bar at Dowagiac, was bom in Van 
Buren county, Michigan, on the nth of March, i860. Tlie paternal 
grandfather was Ezra Sweet, who removed from Vermont to New York 
during the boyhood of his son, Joseph Elliott Sweet, who was born in 
the former state. Ezra Sweet was commissioned a corporal in the New 
Y^ork militia in 1823. He wedded Miss ]\Iary Smith, a daughter of 
David Smith, the great-grandfather of Charles Elliott Sweet, and a 
native of Vermont, who served in the Revolutionarv^ war as a private 
in both the infantry and artiller}^ ranks, and Charles Elliott Sweet now 



754 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

has in his possession his pension papers which entitles him to eighty-one 
dollars and ninety-three cents pension for each year of his natural life. 
He had served with the Rhode Island regiment. 

Joseph Elliott Sweet, the father of our subject, was born in W'indom 
county, Vermont, and after a residence of a number of years in the Em- 
pire state removed to Michigan in 1840. He engaged in teaching school 
in Bellevue, Battle Creek and Paw Paw for a number of years, and 
then entered upon the study of medicine in the state university at Ann 
Arbor. He was licensed to practice about 1850 and entered upon the 
active work of the profession in Mattawan, Van Buren county, whence 
he removed to Keeler about 1859. He continued in the active practice 
of medicine and surgery until 1874, when he retired from the profession 
and removed to Hartford, Van Buren county, where his last days were 
spent, his death there occurring in 1903, when he had reached the ven- 
erable age of eighty-three years. He enjoyed more than a local reputa- 
tion for his skill in the practice of medicine and surgery and was consid- 
ered an exceptionally well informed man in liis profession, so that he 
was frequently called in for consultation on important cases. He held 
membership in the Congregational church, was one of its active workers 
and se.ved as a deacon. Fraternally he was connected with the Masons 
and the Odd Fellows, while his political support was given to the Re- 
publican party. He held township and village offices and for many years 
ser\ed on the school board and at all times in the discharge of his duties 
be was prompt and faithful, looking to the general good rather than to 
personal gain or aggrandizement. A stanch champion of the Union 
cause, he was eager to enlist in the Union army but was rejected by 
the medical examiner. He stood as the defender of all that- he believed 
to be right and just between man and his fellowmen and supported every 
movement that he believed w'ould contribute to the upbuilding of the 
race or of his community. He wedded Mar}' Adalyn Adsett. who was 
born in the state of New York and died in i860, at the age of thirty 
years. Her ])arents came to Michigan at an early day, locating near 
Paw Paw. Mrs. Sweet was an only child and her mother died when she 
was very young. Mrs. Sweet became a music teacher and was a lady 
(if more than ordinary ability, of superior culture and of fine character. 
She. too, held membership in the Congregational church. By her mar- 
riage she became the mother of three children : Elliott, who died in 
childhood; Mary A., the wife of Perley E. Wilson, a veteran of the 
Civil war at Mobile. Alabama ; and Charles Elliott, of this review. After 
losing his first wife the father married Rachel E. Pletcher, a native of 
New "N^ork and unto them were born four children; Clara B.. who is now 
the widow of Mr. Wellett and is engaged in teaching school in Van 
Buren county; Edward, who died in childhood: William E., a salesman 
for the Marshal Furnace Company, and a resident of Dowagiac; and 
Fred F.., who is living in Dowagiac. 

Charles Elliott Sweet attended school in bis native town and in 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 755 

1884 entered the law office of Spafford Tryon of Cassopolis, under whose 
direction he pursued his reading for two years. In the meantime he 
taught school and followed that profession for sixteen years altogether 
in Van Buren and Cass counties. On the 4th of October, 1886, at 
Cassopolis, he was admitted to the bar and in the same year was elected 
justice of the peace, filling the office until 1889 and practicing his pro- 
fession in the meantime. In the fall of 1886 he was also elected circuit 
court commissioner for Cass county and filled the position for two terms. 
In the fall of 1890 he entered the law department of the University of 
Michigan at Ann Arbor and, completing a two years' course in one 
year, wns graduated in 1891. He had been practicing at Dowagiac since 
his admission to the bar and returned from the university to this city, 
where lie again took up the active duties of the profession. He de- 
clined a renomination for office of justice, as his practice had increased 
to generous proportion? and left him little leisure time for official serv- 
ice. He now has a distinctively representative clientage and has been 
connected with much of the important litigation tried in the courts of 
this district. Possessing an analytical mind, he is also strong in his 
reasoning and logical in his deductions and he presents his cause with 
a clearness and conciseness that never fails to impress his hearers and 
seldom fails to win the verdict desired. He has been attorney for the 
receivers of the Citizens National Bank and the First National Bank of 
Niles, is attornev for Lee Brothers & Company's bank of Dowagiac, is 
local attorney for the Dowagiac Manufacturing Company and is a 
member of the Cass County Bar Association. In his library he has about 
one thousand volumes which is probably the best and largest law lilirary 
in the county. 

In 1887 Mr. Sweet was married to Miss Grace L. Rouse, a daughter 
of Lyman V. and Mary E. Rouse, the former a physician, who has 
long l3een a practitioner of Dowagiac. Mrs. Sweet was liorn in this city in 
1867 and became the mother of three children : Elizabeth Adalyn ; Don- 
ald E., deceased: and Lucian Fred. I\Tr. Sweet was married to Miss 
Gertrude M. Toll for his second wife. She is a daughter of David H. 
and Martha L. Toll, the fonner a retired miller living in Niles. 

Prominent in Masonic circles, Mr. Sweet is a Knight Templar and 
also a thirty-second degree Mason. Fie is a past master of Peninsular 
Lodge, F. & A. M., past high priest of Keystone Chapter, R. 
A. M., a member of Niles council, R. & S. M.. past eminent 
commander of Niles commandery, K. T., and past second lieutenant 
commander of Dewitt Clinton Consistory, S. P. R. S., and past illustrious 
potentate of Saladin Temple, A. A. O. N. 'M. S. He likewise belongs 
to the Grand Lodge in Michigan, in which he is deputy grand master. 
He is the oldest past commander of the Knights of the Maccabees in 
Dowagiac and is a past chancellor of the Knights of Pythias. He also 
belongs to the lodges of the Odd Fellows. Elks. Owls, Royal .\rcanum 
and Foresters and is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star of 



756 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Dowagiac. In his political views Mr. Sweet is a stalwart Republican. He 
was elected justice of the peace in the spring of 1886 and in the fa;ll 
of the same year was chosen circuit court commissioner and served for 
two terms. In 1892 he was elected prosecuting attorney and by re-elec- 
tion was continued in office for four years, while for five terms he has 
been city attorney of Dowagiac. His long continuance in one position 
indicates the confidence reposed in him by his fellow townsmen as well 
as his personal popularity. In 1904 he was a delegate to the Repub- 
lican National Convention at Chicago from the fourth congressional dis- 
trict of Michigan and was made the Michigan member of the com- 
mittee to notify President Roosevelt of his nomination and went upon 
that mission to Oyster Bay on the 27th of July, 1904. He has several 
times been a member of the Republican County Central Committee, ha? 
always taken an active part in party politics and is recognized as one 
of the Republican leaders of this part of the state. He is a speaker of 
ability and has addressed many audiences about the issues of the cam- 
paigns. Mr. Sweet is widely recognized as a man of influence and prom- 
inence not alone by reason of his activity in political circles but also owing 
to the high position which he has attained as a member of the Cass 
countv bar and likewise by reason of his personal worth. 

JAMES ATWOOD. 

James Atwood, a retired farmer residing in Dowagiac, is the owner 
of six hundred acres of rich and productive land and derives therefrom 
an excellent income, which now enables him to rest from further toil 
and enjoy the fruits of his former labor. During the greater part of 
his life he carried on agricultural pursuits but in the days of the early 
discoveries of gold in California he went to the Pacific coast. He has 
now passed the seventy-seventh milestone on life's journey, having been 
born in Cattaraugus county. New York, January 28, 1829. He was 
the third child in a family of three sons and two daughters born unto 
Wells H. and Sarah (Kelley) Atwood. The father was a native of 
Vermont and in early life removed trom New England to New York, 
where he followed the occupation of farming. In 1836 he came to 
Michigan, settling in Wayne township, Cass county, where he took up 
land from the government, securing three tracts of eighty acres each. 
Here he improved a farm and was closely identified with the early de- 
velopment and pioneer history of the county. His was the seventh 
family to locate in Wayne township. For many years he successfully 
carried on general agricultural pursuits but in his later years removed to 
Dowagiac, where he died at the age of sixty-four years. He was a 
pioneer merchant of the city, dealing in dry goods and also conducting 
a general store. He had a wide and favorable acquaintance throughout 
the county by reason of his close connection with the development and 
improvement of this part of the state. His wife, who was commonly 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 757 

known as Aunt Sallie, was a native of Massachusetts and died in 1849. 
One of their sons, Lafayette Atwood, was a resident of Dowagiac, and 
is now deceased. 

James Atwood of this review was only about eight years of age 
when brought by his parents to Michigan. He was reared upon the 
old home farm in Wayne township, Cass county, and began his educa- 
tion in a log cooper shop, where a session of school was held. He like- 
wise pursued his studies in log school buildings, attending for only a 
few months during the winter seasons, while throughout the remainder 
of the year his time and attention was given to the active work of 
developing and cultivating new land. He remained at home until he 
was of age, assisting in the active work of the farm. He clerked for 
a time in Dowagiac and at different times has been identified with agri- 
cultural and mercantile interests. In 1852 he went to California by way 
of New Orleans and the Isthmus of Panama, spending two years on 
the Pacific coast in search of the precious metal. He returned home by 
way of New York and brought back with him as the result of his mining 
ventures sufticient money to enable him to purchase a farm. Thus he 
gained his first real start in life. 

Mr. Atwood was married in 1856 to Ann Eliza Allen, a daughter 
of Gideon Allen. She was born in Yates county, New York, January 
31, 1837, and was brought to Cass county by her parents about 1842, 
the family locating in Wayne township. Her mother bore the maiden 
name of Sarah Ann Larrowe and in the family there were six children, 
four daughters and two sons, Mrs, Atwood being the third in order of 
birth. She has one brother, Henry Allen, who is living in Wayne town- 
ship, and a sister, Clementine, who is the wife of H. R. Taylor. 

At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Atwood located on a 
farm in Wayne township, Cass county, where he carried on general ag- 
ricultural pursuits for ten years, when in 1866 he removed to Dowagiac 
but still continued to conduct his farms for some time thereafter. He 
also engaged in the stock business, buying and shipping for about fifteen 
years, finding this a source of gratifying profit. He was also engaged in 
the grocery business for about a year. He now owns three farms, all in 
Wayne township, comprising over six hundred acres of land, which he 
rents and which brings to him a good income. He also loans money 
and with the exception of the supervision of his farms and his loans he 
is living retired, enjoying a rest which he has truly earned and richly 
deserves. He has been practical in his methods, thoroughly reliable at 
all times and his business integrity and enterprise have been the source 
of his success. 

Mr. Atwood has voted for the candidates of both Democratic and 
Republican parties, casting his ballot for those whom he thinks best 
qualified for office. He is one of the pioneers of Cass county, having 
spent seventy years here. Pie and his wife have traveled life's journey 
together for a half century, celebrating their golden wedding on the 



758 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

26tli of January, 1906, and sharing with each other in the joys and sor- 
rows, tbiC adversity and prosperity which checker the careers of all. Mr. 
Atwood has intimate knowledge of the history of this county as it has 
emerged from pioneer conditions to take on all the evidences of an ad- 
vanced civilization. He has an intimate knowledge of the history of the 
countv in its various phases, and at all times has stood as an advocate of 
improvement and upbuilding, giving his co-operation to many progressive 
public measures. 

GENERAL A. M. FISH. 

General A. M. Fish, who won the rank of brigadier-general by 
active lield service in the Civil war and who was connected with the 
military interests of the country continuously from 1854 until 1870, is 
now living retired in Dovvagiac. He made a splendid record while fol- 
lowing the stars and stripes and he deserves the gratitude which the 
country feels for the "boys in blue" who stood unfalteringly in defense 
of the Union during the dark days of civil strife. He is one of Mich- 
igan's native sons, his birth having occurred in White Pigeon town- 
ship, St. Joseph county, on the 5th of September, 1835. His father 
was E. T. Fish, a native of Hartford, Connecticut. Tracing the ancestry 
of the family back through several generations it will be noted that they 
have always been distinguished for valor and loyalty and that the fam- 
ily has been worthily re]:)resented in the various wars in which the coun- 
try has participated. There were several soldiers in the Revolutionary 
war and also in the war of 1812, while others fought for American in- 
terests in the Mexican war and fifty members of the family served in the 
war of the rebelHon. The family comes of Prussian ancestry; The pa- 
ternal grandfather of General Fish was a major with the colonial troops 
in the war for independence, serving throughout the period of hostili- 
ties under the immediate command of General Washington, acting for 
a part of the time as one of Washington's body guards. 

E. T. Fish, father of General Fish, was a drum major of the First 
Connecticut Volunteer Infantry in the war of 1S12. He removed to St. 
Joseph county, Michigan, in 1834, locating on White Pigeon prairie in 
White Pigeon township, where he lived for about eight years, when in 
1842 be came to Cass county, settling in Mason township, where he de- 
voted his remaining days to general agricultural pursuits, his death occur- 
ring when he had reached the age of sixty-eight years. His early, po- 
litical allegiance was given to the Democracy, which he supported until 
about 1850, when he Ijecame a know^-nothing. When the Republican 
party was formed to prevent the further extension of slavery he joined 
its ranks and remained one of its stalwart advocates until his demise. 
His wife bore the maiden name of Ruljy Leumien and was a native of 
Pjristol, Rhode Island. She was descended from French ancestry, her 
jiarcnts having been horn i;i France. Fight children, four sons and four 
daugblcrs. were born unto 1^. T. .tuiI Rubv Fisli, name]\': lolin L., who 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 759 

was a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war ; Horace, who also be- 
came a soldier; George, who died before the war; Laura, who reached 
her eighty-second year, dying May 7, 1905, was the widow of Collins 
Fraser; Harriet, deceasecl; Maria, who died in Kansas in 1905; and 
Cynthia, the wife of Thomas J. Mealoy, of Vandalia, Cass county, 
Michigan, who was a soldier. 

General A. M. Fish, who was the sixth child and third son in his 
father's family, was brought to Cass county by his parents when but 
seven years of age and through the succeeding decade remained upon the 
home farm assisting in the labors of the fields when not busy with the 
duties of the schoolroom or the pleasures of the playground. He re- 
ceived an appointment as a cadet at West Point and was graduated from 
the Government Military Academy in the class of 1853. He first joined 
the United States dragoons and was sent to Fort Kearney in Nebraska. 
Soon afterward he was made brevet second lieutenant and was commis- 
sioned a full second lieutenant in 1854, thus serving until 1857, when he 
was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and in 1859. following the 
resignation of various southern officers, he was promoted to tlie rank 
of captain and placed in command of Company C of the Third United 
States Dragoons. In i860 he was still further promoted to the rank of 
major and at the outbreak of hostilities between the north and the south 
he was made a colonel of the volunteers, while subsequently he was 
promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and assigned to command of a 
regiment of infantry, wdiich he commanded at the battle of Shiloh. He 
afterward was in command of several different regiments, being shifted 
from one to another and during some of the time he was serving on 
special detached duty on the staff of difYerent generals. He was for a 
time on the staf¥ of General Sherman and he formed the acquaintance of 
many of the distinguished and gallant leaders of the war. At times he 
commanded infantry troops and again was in charge of cavalry troops. 
He participated in many of the hotly contested engagements which led 
to the final victory, including the battles of Shiloh, luka, Corinth and 
Moscow, Tennessee, the siege of Vicksburg and the raid after General 
Price through Missouri. He was also in the engagement at Nashville, 
Tennessee, and the sieges of Mobile and Spanish Fort. He was wounded 
five times, at Corinth, afterward at Texas, New Mexico, Mississippi and 
later at Spanish Fort. He sustained a light bayonet wound at Nashville 
and a sword wound at Spanish Fort. This one, however, did not cause 
him to retire from active duty. He was in the United States service 
as a soldier continuously from 1854 until 1870, for when the Civil war 
was ended he was sent with his command to the frontier and aided in 
keeping peace on the western border. 

At length General Fish resigned and returned to Wisconsin, where 
he remained until 1905. when he came again to Cass county, Michigan, 
where he has since made his home. He built a residence in Dowagiac, 
which he is now occupying. General Fish was married to Miss Alceba 



TOO HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Prosser, a daughter of Dr. Abram and Melissa (Chapin) Prosser, who 
came from Oneida county, New York, to Michigan about 1853. Mrs. 
Fish died in 1867, about ten years after their marriage. There were 
four children born of that union, namely : Arthur, now deceased ; Cyn- 
thia, the wife of George Adkinson, of Baraboo, Wisconsin; Howard, 
who is living on the Florida coast; and William Elmo, who is in the 
Fourteenth United States Cavalry as first major and is now on the island 
of Luzon in the Philippines. 

General Fish is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and 
has taken a very active interest in the organization. He is now living 
retired in a comfortable home in Dowagiac. Sixteen years of his life 
was devoted to his country and her service and he made a splendid mil- 
itary record, his course during the Civil war being characterized by un- 
faltering devotion to the Union cause and the faithful performance of 
every duty which devolved ujwn him, his own zeal and courage often 
inspiring the men who served under him to deeds of valor. When in 
civil life he has largely spent his time in the middle west and his mem- 
ory goes back to a pioneer epoch in the history of this county, for he was 
brought to Cass county by his parents at an early day, when the work of 
improvement and progress had scarcely begun in this portion of the state. 

KENYON BLY. 

Kenyon Ely, whose home is on section 14, Marcellus township, has 
had a successful business career, in which unfaltering enterprise, close 
application and diligence have been the dominant qualities leading to 
very desirable success. Having passed the eighty-third milestone on life's 
journey, he is nnw living retired upon a farm which is valuable and pro- 
ductive, and wjiich is the visible evidence of his life of industry. He 
was born alxnit a mile and a half from Greene, in ChenangO' county, 
New York. April 24, 1823. The Blys are of English descent and the 
family was established in America in early colonial days. Some of the 
representatives of the family served as soldiers of the Revolutionary 
war. while others defended American interests in the war of 181 2. 
His parents were Job and Freelove (Watson) Bly. natives of Rhode 
Island and Connecticut respectively. Following their marriage, which 
was celebrated in New England, they remn\-ed to New York, spending 
their remaining days upon a farm in Chenango^ county. The father 
died at the age of seventy-eight years, while the mother reached the very 
advanced age of ninety-seven years. They were both representatives of 
old New England families and became residents of New York in pioneer 
times. In their family were nine children, but onlv Kenyon Bly is now 
!i\ing. His brother, Henry W. Bly. was bmn in Rhode Island' and be- 
came a resident of Marcellus township in 1852. He first purchased 
eighty acres of land and afterward became the owner of three hundred 
acres, on which he jiriid fc.urteen per cent interest. It was all wood- 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 761 

laud, winch he cleared and culli\aied. placing many modern impruve- 
ments upon the farm and tleveloping it until it became a splendid prop- 
erty. Jrle resided upon that place up to the time of his death, and his 
labors found a good reward in the splendid crops which he harvested. 
He was practical in all that he did. and accomplished whatever he under- 
took. Moreo\er he was prominent and influential in public affairs and 
for twent\-nine cimsecutive years served as justice of the peace in his 
township. He was also supervisor of his township and his political al- 
legiance was ,L;i\tn :■ li e 1-emucracy. He was married twice, but had no 
children. fhe nthei memb.ei s of the family were: Joseph, who died 
in Xlw ^'iirk; Steplien ; Ciardner : Mrs. Electa Gibson; Kenyon, of this 
review; Airs. Olive Beardsley; 'Sirs. Rebecca Page; and Lewis. 

Ken_\-ou Bly. spending the days of his bovhood and youth in the 
county of his natixity, resided there to the time of his marriage. In 
early life he woiked for ten dollars per month in sawmills, his labor con- 
tinuing for about eighteen hours out of the twenty-four. He paid for 
one farm b}- working by the month and he owned several good farms 
while still a resident of the east. He has always been a man of great 
energy and determination, accomplishing whatever he undertakes, and 
his life record shoiild serve to inspire and encourage others who started 
out as he did, without capital. 

In 1852 Mr. Bly chose a C(jm])anion and helpmate for life's jour- 
ney when he was married to Miss Louesa Copeland, who was born in 
Chenango county, New York. Following tlieir marriage they resided for 
two years near Lockport, New York, after which they returned to Che- 
nango county and jnnchased a farm, lying partly in that and partly 
across the border in Broome county, the residence, however, stand- 
ing in Chenango county. Upon that farm Mr. Bly remained for twenty 
years. The place comprised one hundred acres, for which he paid the 
sum of one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. This farm is still in 
his possession. In December, 1876, however, Mr. Bly removed from 
New York to Cass county, Michigan, in order tO' take care of a brother. 
This brotlier died in January, 1877, and the valuable farm of four hun- 
dred and ten acres which he owned was inherited by Kenyon Bly of this 
review, who removed to the farm in March, 1877. The land lies at, 
what is known as Ely's Corners, which settlement is older than the vil- 
lage of Marcellus. In addition to this property Mr. Bly also owns the 
Centennial block in Marcellus. At one time his estate was valued at 
forty thousand dollars. He has since disposed of a large part of his 
property to others, but retained the deeds to the same. Tlie property 
upon which he resides is operated as a grain and stock farm and as 
high as twenty-six hundred bushels of wheat have been raised thereon 
in a single season. Fine stock is also raised and the place is noted for 
the excellence of its products and for the high grade of stock which is 
here produced. Mr. Bly was a very busy man until al30ut eight years 



762 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ago. wlien lie suffered fvdin paralysis, and since that time has nut been 
acti\e in business. He has \aluable property interests. hovve\er. whicli 
sui)ply him with the comforts and luxuries of life. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bly lived to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniver- 
sary, and two more years of married life were vouchsafed to them ere 
they were separated by the death of Mrs. Bly, on the 30th of June, 1904, 
when she was seventy-three years of age. They had traveled life's jour- 
ney happily together, sharing with each other its joys and sorrows, its ad- 
versity and prosperity. Thev never had any children and this fact 
perha])S drew them more closeh' together. 

Mr. Ely cast his first presidential ballot for Henrv Clay, and has 
been a stalwart Democrat since 1861. He and his wife were members of 
the Episcopal church at Greene, New York, for many years, and after 
removing to the west Mrs. Bly united with the Methodist Episcopal 
church at Marcellus. Mr. Bly assisted in building the church in New 
York and has always been the champion of those interests and move- 
ments which tend to benefit the material, intellectual, social and moral 
welfare of a community. His life has been active and honorable and the 
traits of sterling manhood which he has ever manifested have gained 
for him a prominent position in public regard, while those with whom- he 
has been held intimately entertain for him warm friendship. He is now 
one of the venerable citizens of Marcellus township, having passed the 
eighty-third milestone on life's journey, and his record may well serve 
as a source of encouragement to the young and an inspiration tn the 
aged. 

ROL.^ND LEWIS. 

Roland Lewis, who is engaged in the drug business in Dowagiac, 
where he has been a representative of mercantile interests since i8go, 
was born in Marion county, Ohio, July 6, 1856. His father was E.ben 
Lewis, a native of Albany, New York. He dates his ancestry back to 
Francis Lewis, who was born in Wales and came to America in colonial 
days. He was prominent in public life, being closely connected with 
many events shaping the history of the nation, and was one of the sign- 
ers of the Declaration of Independence. There were five brothers who 
catnie to America, settling in different states. One was a resident of 
Connecticut, another of Virginia, one of South Carolina, a fourth of 
New York and a fifth of Pennsylvania. Francis Lewis was the father 
of Ebenezer Lewis, the great-grandfather of our subject. The grand- 
father. Ebenezer Lewis, was a pioneer farmer of Marion countv. Ohio, 
to which place he removed when his son, Eben Lewis, was but three 
years of age. There the last named was reared to manhood amid nioneer 
conditions and surroundings. He married Miss Hattie McWilliams, 
and throughout his entire life he followed the occupation of milling, 
making that purstu't the one which provided his family with a comfort- 
able living. He died when about .sixty-three years of age, and his wife 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 763 

is now living at the age uf eighty-three years, making her h(jme in 
Marion county, Ohio. In their family were live sons and two daugh- 
ters, all of whom reached adult age, while three sons and one daughter 
are living at this writing. 

Roland Lewis is the fifth child and fourth son in his father's fam- 
ily. He was reared in the county of his nativity and pursued his educa- 
tion in the country schools and also in a high school at Columbus Grove, 
Ohio. He afterward spent two years as a student in the Northern 
Indiana Normal College at Valparaiso, Indiana. This was in 1879 and 
1880. and in 1881 he removed to Freeport, Illinois, where he was en- 
gaged in the drug business, making his home at that place until 1885. 
He then removed to Ne^'ada, Iowa, where he established a drug store 
on his own account, continuing at that point for four years, when he 
sold out and removed to Michigan, arriving in Dowagiac in 1890. He 
then purchased an interest in the store which he has since conducted. 
The firm of Lewis & Simmers was established, but in the following 
September Mr. Lewis purchased his partner's interest and continue"d alone 
in business under his own name until 1898, when the firm of R. Lewis 
& Company was formed, a partner being admitted. This is a well 
equipped establishment, and its neat and tasteful arrangement, mod- 
erate prices and the efiforts of the proprietor to please his patrons have 
secured a large and growing business. 

Mr. Lewis was married in 1885 to Miss Ella Wood, a daughter of 
Nathan Wood, of Deep River, Indiana, and they now have one child, 
Claire, who is at home. Mr. Lewis is an earnest Democrat in his polit- 
ical views and has taken an- active part in advancing the welfare and 
promoting the growth of Democracy in this locality. Since 1897 he 
has served as a member of the board of public works and has proven a 
most capable ofiicial. For twenty-eight years he has been a member of 
the Masonic fraternity and is most loyal to its teachings, being in hearty 
sympathy with the principles of the craft. He is also connected with the 
Modern Woodmen. His residence in the county now covers a period of 
sixteen years, and the fact that he has been continuously in mercantile 
h'fe has gained him a wide acquaintance, while his business methods and 
personal traits of character have won for him an enviable place in the 
warm regard of many friends as well as of those who have known him 
only through business relations. 

ROP.FRT H. WILEY. 

Robert H. Wilev, the secretarv of the Farmer's Mutual Eire In- 
surance Company of Dowagiac, is numbered among the native sons (if 
Cass county, his birth having occurred in Wayne township on the 7th 
of December. tRjo. His father was William G. Wilev. a native of New 
York and a son of John B. Wilev. who was horn in Ireland, but in early 
life crossed the Atlantic to the United States and settled in Ne\v York 



764 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

city. He became a resident of Cass county, Michigan, about 1836, 
beuig numbered among its settlers when this was a frontier region, giv- 
ing little promise of rapid development of improvement. By trade he 
was a cooper. Before coming to Michigan, however, he lived at ditYer- 
ent times in New Jersey and Ohio and it was in those states that Will- 
iam (i. \Vile\', father of our subject, was reared. He, too, arrived in 
Cass county in 1836, at which time he took up his abode in Cassopolis, 
where he worked at the cooper's trade, which he had learned under the 
direction of his father. He also lived for a number of years in Wayne 
township, and his last days were spent in LaGrange township, where he 
died in his fiftieth year. He filled the office of supervisor in both town- 
ships and was a progressive and public-spirited citizen, who labored 
earnestly for the promotion of general progress and improvement in the 
community in which he had cast his lot. He married Miss Harriet Sifert, 
a native of Ohio, who came to Cass county during her girlhood days. 
She was a daughter of Lemuel Sifert, who was born in this country 
but was of Dutch descent. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Wiley were 
four children, two daughters and two sons, all of whoan reached mature 
years. 

i\ohert H. \Viley is the eldest of his father's family and was reared 
in Wayne township to the age of fourteen years. He acquired a com- 
mon school education and remained under the parental roof until he 
had reached his majority, assisting in the work of the fields. When 
twenty-three years of age he left his home and in 1864 crossed the 
plains to California by way of Salt Lake City, remaining for about a 
year on the Pacific coast. He made the return trip by. way of the 
Isthmus of Panama and New York city to Cass county and resumed 
farming in LaGrange township. Following his marriage he located 
with his bride on a farm in that township, and he still owns the property, 
where for many years he carried on general agricultural pursuits, annu- 
ally harvesting good crops as the result of the care and labor which he 
bestowed upon the fields. In 1897. however, he retired from active 
agricultural pursuits and removed to Dowagiac. The same vear he was 
appointed secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company and 
has been four times re-elected to the office, which he now holds. 

Mr. Wiley was married in 1867 to Miss Bina C. Hill, a daughter 
of R. W. and Paulina Hill. ]\Irs. Wiley was born in Michigan and unto 
this marriage there has been born a daughter, Harriet, who is at home 
with her parents. Mr. Wiley has served in a number of official posi- 
tions, acting for twelve years as supervisor of LaGrange township. He 
was elected on the Democratic ticket, having throughout his entire life 
been a stanch supporter of the party. His realty holdings embrace three 
hundred and sixty acres of good land in LaGrange township and this 
property returns to him a gratifying income. During sixty-five years 
he has lived in tlie county and has watched its development as it has 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 765 

emerged from the forest and become a highly improved and cultivated 
district with thriving towns and cities and line farms. He has dune his 
full share in reclaiming the w-ild land for cultivation and at all times has 
been a supporter of public measures that have resulted beneticially in 
upholding the legal and political status of this part of the state. 

C. C. ALLISON. 

Mr. C. C. Allison, whose position as dean of the newspaper frater- 
nity of Cass county is fortified by fifty years of experience with the paper 
of which he is now editor and publisher, was born at Blackberry, Illinois, 
in September, 1840. He has lived in Cassopolis almost continuously 
since he was eight years old. Shortly after, the National Democrat be- 
gan its career, and m 1855, a boy of fifteen, he formed the connection 
which has lasted through life. A printer's apprentice, learning to stick- 
type, do the mechanical work and the many other details of a print- 
ing office, he was seven years in preparing himself for full responsibil- 
it)' of publisher and editor, during which time he worked alxiut a year 
in Dowagiac with the Cass County Tribune and. then the Republican. 
In 1862 the stock company who controlled the National Democrat gave 
him the charge of its issue, and by purchasing the plant two years later 
he assumed a proprietorship which has continued to this day. 

Mr. Allison served as postmaster of Cassopolis during Cleveland's 
second term. Interested in the cause of local schools, he has served 
some fifteen years as member of the school board and for about ten years 
past has been moderator. Aside from this service to the public and a 
steady activity and membership with the local lodge of the Masonic 
fraternity for many years, he has kept his attention and energies without 
variation focused on his nevvspaper, and the success he has gained in life 
he prefers to be identified Avith this vocation rather than Avith any minor 
honors or services. 

On St. Valentine's day of 1890 Mr. Allison married Miss Mav 
F. Tompkins. She was born in Lansing, a daughter of John Tompkins. 
Their two children are Waldo and Kate. 

DANIEL EBY. 

Daniel Ebv. residing on section 21. Porter township, was born in 
this township April 21. 1858. He is the sixth chifd and fifth son in a 
family of eight sons and one daughter, whose parents were Gabriel and 
Caroline fWagner) Eby. He was reared upon the old familv home- 
stead in Porter township and began his education in the district school 
near his father's farm. His earlv educational privileges, however, were 
supplemented bv a year and a half's studv in Valparaiso Normal School 
at Valparaiso, Indiana, and he also attended the Sturgis school in Mich- 
igan. AVhen eighteen years of age he began teaching, being first em- 



766 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

ployed as teacher of district school No. 12, in Porter township. He has 
also taught in Newberg, Mason and Calvin townships, and for thirty- 
years has devoted a part of his time and attention to educational work. 
He has also been engaged in farming and has one hundred and sixty- 
one acres of good land, which he carefully cultivated and improved, mak- 
ing it a productive tract. 

On the 19th of March, 1884, Mr. Eby was united in marriage to 
Miss Ida Douglas, a daughter of Sylvester Douglas and a native of St. 
Joseph county, Michigan. They have one son, Leo S., now at home. 

Mr. Eby has been a lifelong Republican, active and earnest in the 
interests of his party and doing all in his power to promote its success. 
He was elected township clerk in 1884 and has been re-elected to this 
oftice each year until his incumbency covers a period of twenty-two 
years — a service greater than that of any other clerk in the county. In 
the spring of 1906 he was elected supervisor of Porter township. He 
has held different local school offices and has done much to promote 
the cause of public instruction. He belongs to the Kjiights of the Mac- 
cabees and to the Grange. His entire life has been passed in Porter 
township and the Ebys are among the old and esteemed families of the 
county. His father cut the road to the farm, for at that time there was 
no public highway in this part of the county. Daniel Eby has a very wide 
and favorable acquaintance and his life work has been of a nature which 
commands for him the respect and goodwill of all with whom he has been 
brought in contact. 

JERRY O'ROURKE. 

Jerry OTvuurke. a prominent and inlluential farmer of Silver Creek 
tcjwnshi]), lix'ing on section 21, was burn in this township December 
6, 1853. His father. Timothy O'Rourke, was a native of Ireland and in 
early life crossed the Atlantic to America. He became a resident of 
Cass county about 1841, settling in Silver Creek township. He mar- 
ried Margaret Haggerty, also a native of Ireland, who came to .America 
with her parents in her girlhood days. The Plaggerty family was also 
estalilished in Cass county in pioneer times. Mr. O'Rourke died when 
only ffiriy-nne years of age and was long sur\-i\-ed by his wife, who 
passed away in 1893 at the age of seventy years. In their faniilv were 
three children, who reached adult age. 

Jerry O'Rourke, the second child and only son, grew to maturity, 
was reared in his native township and accpiired a common-school edu- 
cation. He is a stanch Democrat, who throughout the period of his man-* 
hood has taken a deej) and active interest in public affairs and does all 
in his ]iower to promote the growth and insure the success of his partv. 
The first office which he ever held was that of supervisor, being elected 
to the position in 1887 and serving for four consecutive years. He was 
again cho.sen in 1894, and at that time by re-election continued in office 
for se\'en years, so that his incumbenc}' as supervisor covers altogether 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 7(57 

a period of eleven, years. He has also ser\ed as a member of the Dem- 
ocratic county committee, and has taken an active interest in campaign 
work. He was the first Democrat ever elected to office in his town- 
ship, and the fact that he has so long been continued in [wsitions of 
political preferment indicates his personal popularity and the confidence 
reposed in him. 

For many years Mr. O'Rourke was interested in dealing in stock. 
He rents his farm, however, a part of the time. He has one hundred 
acres of land which is rich and productive, and he also buys and sells 
land, speculating to a considerable extent, in which undertaking he has 
made some money. He has always resided in this county and is well 
known here because of his business activity, his official service and his 
connection with various fraternal organizations. He belongs to the 
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and the Ivnights of the Mac- 
cabees, and has a very wide and favorable acquaintance in the county. 

MILTON P. WHITE, M. D. 

The medical profession is one of the leading factors in all civilized 
parts of the globe, also one of the most arduous, as well as useful. The 
mild, cheerful and sunny physician in the sick chamber is oftentimes more 
penetrative in healing than the remedies he may prescribe. Dr. White 
of this review, who has been a physician and surgeon in Dowagiac for 
almost twenty years, is so well known in the northern part of Cass coun- 
ty that he needs no special introduction to the citizens of the city of 
Dowagiac. He is a native of Cass county, born near the village of 
Wakelee December 19, 1852, and is the youngest of seven children, six 
sons and one daughter, torn to John and Hannah (Baker) White. There 
are three of the children living, the eldest being Henry, a resident of 
California, who went to the Pacific slope in search of gold in the fifties, 
and yet remains a miner; Jasper, a prosperous farmer in Penn township, 
receiving his education in the common schools : Dr. White is the next 
in order of birth. 

John White, the father, was a native of North Carolina, and was 
reared in his native state until reaching manhood, there learning the 
blacksmith's trade. He first located in Cass county when the county 
seat was officially but not actually situated on the banks of Diamond 
lake,_and there had a foundry and blacksmith shop. He later bought a 
farm in Volinia township. Politically he was a Jackson Democrat. 
His death occurred when Dr. White was fourteen years of age. Mother 
White was a native of the Keystone state of Pennsylvania, descending 
from old German ancestry, and she was reared a Quaker. She was of 
a sweet, lovable and affectionate natin-e, and her prayers and admoni- 
tions will ever remain as a beacon to her children. She died a true 
Christian mother, whose whole life was a sweet reflection of the good 
deeds done to others. 



768 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Dr. White was reared in Cass county, receiving his primary edu- 
cation in the district schools, and then attended a select school at 
Buchanan until he could pass his teacher's examination. He then taught 
a winter term near Niles, the following year depositing the first one 
hundred dollars he had made in the bank, and then entered the North- 
ern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso to better prepare himself for 
a teacher. And here let us say Dr. VVhite made his own way by working 
at any employment that was honorable which would aid him in securing 
an education. Besides teaching the country school he also taught one 
year in Galien, Berrien county, and during all this time he was spending 
his money in acquiring a higher education to fit him for the study of 
medicine. He took the business and literary course at the Northern In- 
diana Normal and during the summer and fall of 1876 he was in the of- 
fice of Dr. Beer, of Valparaiso, to read medicine. He next entered the 
medical department of the Northwestern University at Chicago, in 1877. 
where he continued until his graduation in 1880. He then returned to 
his home in Wakelee, and after some persuasion on the part of his dear 
old mother he began tlie practice of his profession at Wakelee. His 
practice steadily grew, and he remained there six and a half years, on 
the expiration of which period, in the fall of 1886, he located in the 
pretty city of Dowagiac, where his practice has steadily grown, and 
today he is one of the leading physicians in the city. His home is located 
at the corner of Telegraph and Center streets, and it is ever open to 
bis and his wife's many friends. 

Dr. White wedded Miss Rosella Carman .Septemlier 14, 1882, and 
to this union have been born three children, one son and two daugh- 
ters, all living, namely: Baker T., a student in the now Northern In- 
diana University at Valparaiso; Ruth, in the senior year in the city high 
school of Dowagiac ; and Cora M., in the fifth grade of the city schools. 
Dr. and Mrs. White are endeavoring to educate their children well. 
Mrs. White's father died at tlie age of eighty-two years, and her mother 
is yet living on the old homestead near Schoolcraft, Michigan, aged 
eighty-four years. Mrs. White was born in Kalamazoo county, Mich- 
igan, January 24, 1856. was reared in her native county, and received 
her higher education in the Northern Indiana Normal School. Polit- 
ically Dr. White is a Republican, having cast his first presidential vote 
for Mayes. He has strong temperance principles. Officially he was 
mayor of Dowagiac in 1901 and 1902, and fraternally he is a mem- 
lier of the blue lodge of Masons and the council. He is an honored 
member of the Cass County Medical Association, being twice president 
of the society, a member of the Michigan State Medical Society, the 
American Medical Association, also Kalamazoo Academy of Medicine. 
He is examining physician for the Penn Mutual, the Mutual Life of 
New York, the Northwestern of Milwaukee, and is one of the United 
States pension examiners, which office lie has held for nine vears. Mrs. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 769 

White is a meniljer of tlie Nineteenth Century Literary CUib, which is 
composed of the leading ladies of Dowagiac. Besides his city property 
Dr. White has one hundred and sixty acres of good land in Pokagon 
township and several houses for rent in Dowagiac. He is surely to be 
commended for the success he has achieved from the fact that he began 
his professional career widiout capital, but now in the prime of his man- 
hood he has a competency which enables him to live in comfort. We are 
pleased to present this brief review of Dr. and Mrs. M. P. White to be 
preserved in the Twentieth Century History of Cass Coimty. 

L. BURGET DES VOIGNES. 

The profession of the law, when clothed with its true dignity and 
purity and strength, must rank first among the callings of men, for law 
rules the universe. A prominent representative of the bar of south- 
ern Michigan is L. Burget Des Voignes, now judge of the thirty-sixth 
judicial circuit of Michigan. Born at Mt. Eaton, Wayne county, Ohio, 
October 14, 1857, he is a son of Louis A. Des Voignes and a grand- 
son of Peter Des Voignes. The last named was a native of Berne, 
Switzerland, where he was engaged in the dry goods business, and was 
well known in his native city as a man of excellent judgment and no- 
bleness of character. With his wife and three sons, Augustus. Jules and 
Louis, he came to America in 1844. the family home being established 
at Mt. Eaton, Ohio, and there the father engaged in the shoe business. 
He allied his interests with the Whig party, and when the Republican 
party was formed he joined its ranks, remaining a stalwart supporter of 
its principles. He was a member of the Lutheran churcli. and in that 
faith he passed away in 1861. 

Louis A. Des Voignes, the fatlier of him whose name introduces 
this revieAv, was eleven years of age when the family home was estab- 
lished in America. In 1853 ^'^^ ^^'^s united in marriage to Savilla A., a 
daughter of John Messner, of Mount Eaton, Ohio. Tlie young couple 
took up their abode in that city, which continued as their home until 
about 1863. when Mr. Des Voignes was burned out by the rebels. He 
then entered the service and removed to Mendon, Michigan, where for 
five years he was employed as clerk in a store, arid for seven vears was 
engaged in the drug business. The wife and mother died on the 20tli 
of 'July, 1887. 

L. Burget Des Voignes received his early educational training in 
the Mendon schools, graduating from the high school of that city in 
1876, and then entered upon the study of law. In 1877 he was admitted 
to the bar of St. Joseph county, but in the same vear entered the law 
department of the Michigan University at Ann Arbor, in which he was 
graduated the following year, 1878. He then removed to Marcellus, 
Michigan, and entered upon the practice of his profession. He has 
largely mastered the science of jurisprudence, and his deep research and 



770 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

thorough preparation of ever}' case committed to his care enable him to 
meet at once any contingency that may arise. He is an active member 
of the RepubHcan party, and liis abihty has led to his selection for pub- 
lic honors. From 1888 to 1891 he held tlie office of circuit court com- 
missioner, under appointment from Governor Luce, while from 1891 
until 1893 he was prosecuting attorney of Cass county, declining a re- 
nomination at the end of his term. For five years he was a member of 
the board of education in Marcellus^ a member of the village council for 
three years, and for thirteen years held the office of town attorney. 
He stumped the county for the Republican state committee in 1880, 
being an orator of much ability, and during the years 1884, 1888, 1892 
he was a delegate of the state committee and was also a member of the 
County Republican Committee. 

In 1896 Governor Rich appointed him judge of probate to fill the 
vacancy occasioned by the death of Judge Bennett and at that time he 
removed to the village of Cassopolis with his family, where he now re- 
sides. He was nominated and elected for three successive terms for 
that office, serving a period of over ten years, and during this time 
was also a member of the Cassopolis board of education six years. In 
1905 he was elected judge of the thirty-sixth judicial circuit, and is 
now occupying the bench in that circuit. 

In 1880 Mr. Des Voignes was united in marriage to Aliie M. Clapp, 
a native of St. Joseph county, Michigan aud a daughter of Dr. Clapp, 
of Mendon. that county. One child has been born of that union, Jules 
Verne, now a student in university, who has written a number of arti- 
cles for Mwiscy's, Argosy and other magazines, and is a promising 
young man. In his fraternal relations Mr. Des Voignes is. a member 
of the Masonic order, being a Knight Templar, and of the Knights of 
Pythias. He ranks high at the bar and in political circles, and Cass 
county numbers him among her leading and influential citizens. 

DONALD A. LINK, M. D. 

Dr. Donald .\. Link, whose death by drowning August 15, 1906. 
deprived the Cass county medical fraternity of one of its valued mem- 
bers, he having been engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in 
Volinia and the surrounding country, was born in Canada on the 22nd 
of October, 1865. His father, Alexander Link, was also a native of that 
country and by occupation was a lumberman. Crossing the border into 
the United States, he located at Superior, Wisconsin, but his last days 
were passed in Canada, where he died in 1904. He was of Pennsyl- 
vania Dutch descent. In early manhood he had married Ann Cameron, 
also a native of Canada, while her parents were born in Scotland. She 
still survives her husband and is atout seventy-three years of age. In 
their family were six sons and two daughters, all but one of whom are 
yet living, namely: J. A., who resides in Superior, Wisconsin: Adam 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 771 

J., who is living in Alberta, Canada, where he is government inspector 
of claims in the government office; Catherine, the wife of Rev. Malcolm 
McLellan, D. D., of Edinburgh, Scotland; Donald A., of this review; 
William K., also living in Superior, Wisconsin, assistant manager of the 
Superior Coal Company; Robert J., who is likewise living in Superior, 
Wisconsin; Ronald F., a marine engineer of Canada; and Margaret E., 
of Gravenhurst, Canada. The last named is tlie only one unmarried. 

Dr. Link acquired a common school education at Lindsey, Ontario, 
and afterward pursued a three years' course in medicine in McGill Uni- 
versity at Montreal, Canada, while later he was graduated from the De- 
troit College of Medicine with the class of 1895. The same year he 
located for practice in Cassopolis, Michigan, where he remained for 
about three years and then removed to Dawson City in the Yukon ter- 
ritory in Alaska. He continued there for about two and a half years 
and in 1900 returned to Cass county, locating at Volinia. He had a 
good practice here and was popular with all classes. He liad gone to 
Gravenhurst, Ontario, in August tO' visit his mother, and while on a 
conoe trip up Moon river, in the district of Muskoka, met tlie sad 
death which has been mentioned. 

In December, 1895, occurred the marriage of Dr. Link and Miss 
M. Blanch Mcintosh, the only daughter of Jacob and Emily Mcintosh, 
who are mentioned on another page of this work. Dr. and Mrs. Link 
had a daughter, Margaret E. 

Dr. Link maintained fraternal relations with the Knights of the 
Maccabees, the Benevolent Order of Elks and the Masons and had 
taken the Royal Arch degree in the last named organization. In the 
line of his profession he was connected with the Cass Comity Medical 
Society and the Michigan State Medical Society. He was conscientious 
and zealous in his practice, finding in the faithful performance of each 
day's duty strength and inspiration for the labors of the succeeding day. 

JAMES M. TRUITT. 

The Truitt family is one of the oldest in Cass countv. and the 
name is indissolubly connected with its annals from an early epoch in its 
history. Peter Truitt. the father of him whose name intniduces this 
review, was born in Slatterneck, Sussex county, Delaware. February 
7, 1801, a son of Langford and Esther A. (Schockley) Truitt. On the 
25th of February. 18 19, Peter Truitt married Mary Simjiler, whose 
father was a soldier in both the Revolutionary and war of 1812. and 
their children were John M., Elizabeth C. Henry P.. David T. and 
Langford. By his marriage to Isabel McKnitt, Peter Truitt became the 
father of Mary J. and Esther A. His third wife was Delwral: McKnitt, 
and their only child was James M.. and his fourth wife was Sarah (Mc- 
Knitt) Lane. In his political affiliations Mr. Truitt was first a Whig, 
and later joined the ranks of the Republican party, and for a numi)er of 



772 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

years he held the office of justice of the peace. At the early age of 
fourteen years he united with the Methodist Episcopal church, there- 
after living a consistent Christian, ever exemplifying in his life the 
noblest elements of manhood. 

James M. Truitt, a representative farmer and stock-raiser of Cass 
county, was bom in Milton township, this county, April 28, 1837. This 
township has practically been his home throughout his entire life, and 
everything tending to advance the best interests of this region has re- 
ceived his earnest support and attention. During his boyhood days he 
attended school in a little log schoolhouse near his home, and for a 
number of years thereafter he operated a threshing machine with his 
brother Henry. In 1856 lie assumed the management of the old home- 
stead, there remaining until i860, when he took up his abode on another 
farm, and in 1878 he moved to Edwardsburg and engaged in the agri- 
cultural implement business, there also becoming director of the Ber- 
rien County Mutual Fire Insurance Company. Returning again to his 
home in Milton township, he has since devoted his attention to agri- 
cultural pursuits. Having been reared in this vocation, he is eminently 
successful, and has long been numbered among the progressive and suc- 
cessful farmers of the township. 

On the 22nd of April, 1860, Mr. Truitt was united in marriage to 
Margaret Hicks, who was born in Niles, Michigan, in 1839. Her par- 
ents were John and Lettie Hicks, natives of England, but their mar- 
riage was celebrated in Niles, and Margaret was their only child. Dur- 
ing her infancy she was left an orphan and was reared by her uncle. 
Perry Hicks. Mr. Truitt is an earnest supporter of Democratic prin- 
ciples and he received the appointment of deputy revenue collector of 
the second division of the fourth district, including eight counties, and 
this important position he occupied for four years. He held the office 
of county drain commissioner of Cass county from 1896 to 1899, was 
justice of the peace in Milton township for twelve years and deputy 
sheriff two years. In his fraternal relations he is an Odd Fellow, and in 
Masonry has reached the Knight Templar degree. He is a charter 
member of the Grange, and has served as president of the Patrons of 
Industry of Milton township, from which he was transferred to the Al- 
liance order and again elected president. Mr. Truitt does not regard 
lightly his duties of citizenship and his obligations to his fellow men. 
He is honorable in his dealings, straightforward in all life's relations 
and commands uniform respect throughout Cass countv. 

CHARLES G. BANKS. 

In the death of Charles G. Banks Cass county lost one of her most 
prominent and useful citizens. He was numbered among the early 
settlers of Cassopolis, and was a citizen whom to know was to respect 
and honor because of his worth and abilitv. He was born in Chenango 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 773 

county, New York, on the 13th of January, 1823, a son of Walter O. 
and Polly (Dunbar) Banks. The father's birth occurred on the Hud- 
son river at New Baltimore, New York, in 1792, and his father, Adam 
Banks, was a native of Germany. Both Adam and Walter O. Banks 
were ship builders. The latter was married tO' Miss Polly Dunbar, who 
was born in Saratoga, New York, in 1794, and was a daughter of Nehe- 
miah Dunbar. At the time of their marriage the young couple settled 
near McDonough in Chenango county, New York, in 18 13, and Mr. 
Banks there built a log house, in which his family of ten children were 
born, including Walter O. Banks, who was the fifth son. The rafters of 
the log house were round poles from the wood. There was not a sawmill 
within a distance of forty miles. When removing from the old house 
Walter O. Banks blocked out and made a cane from a rafter, which he 
gave to his son, Charles G. This was in i860, and the cane is still 
in the possession of the family. Many interesting incidents of pioneer 
times were related, and Mr. Banks often told a humorous story con- 
cerning Ben Wilson, who he said used to drive across the country from 
the Otselic to the Chenango river, a distance of forty miles, making 
the journey with a heavy wagon, following a road that was made by 
blazing trees. The wolves and bears would sometimes follow him, 
and Mr. Banks related that one time when alone, in his dilemma to 
keep the wolves out of his wagon, he began singing a song, which was 
all that was necessary to make the animals leave. 

Charles G. Banks was reared in the place of his nativity and was 
educated in the common and select schools, studying for a time under 
Mrs. Warren at Macedonia. New York. On leaving that institution he 
became a student in Oxford Academy, from which he was graduated 
in the class of 1841. He worked in order to pay his tuition and roomed 
with a young man, the two boarding themselves. Thus he pursued his 
college education, and on the completion of the course he made his way 
westward to Cassopolis. where he engaged in teaching school for several 
years. It was his intention to build an academy, but on account of ill 
health he had to abandon his work as an educator. He taught in the 
district, select and high schools for eight years, and proved a capable 
teacher, whose ability was widely recognized by all who came under his 
instruction or knew of his methods. In 184S he began sui"veying, and 
was elected county surveyor about that time. The first survey he made 
was for his father-in-law. Pleasant Norton, in Jefferson township in the 
vicinity of Mud lake. The plat had fortj'-three angles. He surveyed 
the greater part of Cass county, and in this connection accomplished an 
important work. He was elected many times as county surveyor, and 
followed the profession for a half century. No man was more familiar 
with the county than he, and it was said of him that he knew every 
crook and corner in Cass county. In 1854 he began keeping books for 
S. T. & L. R. Read, prominent merchants of Cassopolis, with whom 



774 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

lie icmaintil for six years, during wliich time he frequently went with 
them t(i huv gdods. lie afterward went into business with John Tiet- 
sort, uiuler the firm name of Banks & Tietsort, which connection was 
continued frt)m i8(;>3 to 1873. At a former date he had l>een associated 
in business with W. W. Peck for about three years, and after his re- 
tirement from commercial life in 1873 he gave his attention largely to 
surveving. He was withf)ut doubt the best informed man on section 
corners and old survey lines in Cass county. He wrote a fine record and 
possessed a memon- that enabled him to recall and repeat with accuracy 
early events, and with all he was an honest, upright man. In all of his 
business transactions he was successful, and as the years passed accum- 
ulated a comfortable competence. 

On the 14th nf Xovember, 1850, Mr. Banks was united in mar- 
riage ti> Miss .\manda Norton, the second daughter of Pleasant Nor- 
t(jn. She was born December 22, 1831, in Champaign county, Ohio, 
and was brought tn Michigan by her aunt, Mattie Norton, when she 
w^as six months old, the journey being made on a pony to Jefiferson 
township, Cass county. Mrs. Banks remained a lifelong resident of 
this county, and passed away September 4, 1893. She had become the 
motlier of three children: James K., who is now cashier of the First 
National Bank of Sheldon, North Dakota ; Emma J., the wife of M. L. 
Howell, a prominent attorney of Cassopolis, whom she married October 
II, 1870: and Cora L., who- on the 4tli of September, 1886, became the 
wife of Alfred T. Osmer. 

Mr. Banks was in former years identified with the Democratic 
party, but afterward usually voted for temperance men. He.ser\-ed as 
township superintendent of schools, township clerk and always took 
an active and helpful interest in public affairs. His death occurred at 
the home of his daughter, Mrs. Cora L. Osmer, in Dowagiac, where he 
had been living aliout a year, June 11, 1906, after an illness of long 
standing. The liody was brought to CassoiX)lis and placed by the 
side of his wife in Prospect Hill cemetery. He had a very wide 
acquaintance in tlie county, where he had resided almost continuously 
since the fall of 1844, covering a period of about sixty-two years. He 
was therefore a witness of almost its entire development, and assisted 
in the work of transition as pioneer conditions were replaced bv the ev- 
idences of an advanced civilization and modern prosperity. 

COY W. HENDRYX. 

For a number of years Cov W. Hendryx has practiced at the bar 
of Cass county, and during that time his rise has been gradual, but he 
todav occuiiies a leading position among the representatives of the legal 
profession in Dowaeiac. His reputation has been won through earnest, 
honest lalv>r. and liis high standing is a merited tribute to his ability. 
He was born in Culia, Allegany county. New York, July 20, 1861. 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY T75 

and is a son of James and Eunice (^Tryon) Hendryx. His grandfather, 
Nathan H. Hendiyx, was a native of New York, and in Madison coun- 
ty, that state, his son, James H., was born. In the family of James and 
Eunice Hendryx were seven children. The father was a stanch advoaite 
of Democratic principles, and his death occurred in 1873. 

Coy W. Hendryx was reared to manhood in the colinty of his na- 
tivity, Allegany, and his early educational training was received in the 
graded schools of Cuba. He next entered Cook Academy at Havana, 
New York, and for a time thereafter conducted his studies in the col- 
lege at Newton, near Philadelphia, graduating in that institution in 
1878. During the following two years he was engaged in teaching 
school, and then became principal of the schools at Clarksville, New 
York. In 1879 ]\Ir. Hendryx came to Dowagiac, Michigan, and be- 
gan the preparation for his chosen profession by entering a law office, 
and three years later, in October, 1882, was admitted to the bar. In 
December, 1886, he was admitted to practice in the United States courts. 
His practice has since gradually increased, as he has demonstrated his 
ability to successfully handle the intricate problems of jurisprudence, 
and today he has a large clientage, which connects him with the leading 
litigated interests of the circuit. A Democrat in his political affiliations, 
he has held the office of circuit court commissioner, and in 1886 was ap- 
pointed United States commissioner for the western district of Michi- 
gan, an office he held twelve years. 

In 1885 Mr. Hendryx was united in marriage with Harriette. a 
daughter of Charles G. Guilford, a prominent farmer of Cuba, Allegany 
county, New York. She was torn and reared in that city, completing 
her education in Alfred University. Three children have been bom of 
this union, Ruth, Irene and Olive. Mr. Hendryx is a Mason and is also 
identified with the Legion of Honor. He is a broad-minded, progres- 
sive man and public-spirited citizen, and in all life's relations is found 
true to all the duties of professional and social life. 

FRANK P. JARVIS. 

Frank P. Jarvis, who follows the occupation of farming, w'as born 
August 18, 1852, in LaGrange township, where he still makes his home. 
His father, Norman Jarvis, was one of the early settlers of this coun- 
ty, where for many years he followed the occupation of farming. He 
was born in North Carolina in 1819 and was a son of Zaddock Jar\ns, 
likewise a native of the old North state. The grandfather was a farmer 
and about 1834 settled in Cass county. Michigan, being one of the first 
residents within its borders. The family home was established in La- 
Grange township, where the grandfather purchased some land, becom- 
ing owner of about two hundred acres, most of w'hich w^as raw and un- 
improved. He cleared the tract, however, and reared his family upon 
this place. 



776 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

Norman Jar\is was only four years of age when brought by his 
parents to Michigan and amid the wild scenes of frontier life he was 
reared upon the old homestead, the family living in a log cabin while his 
education was acquired in a log schoolhouse. He shared with the 
other members of the family in the hardships and privations incident 
to pioneer life and also assisted in the arduous task of developing new 
land. When about twenty-one years of age he bought land in LaGrange 
township, coming into possession of about two hundred acres that was 
partially improved. He had been married a short time previous to 
Miss Margaret Simpson, a native of Ohio, born in the year 1823. She 
was reared in her native state and with her parents came to Cass county 
at an early day. Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis Ijecame the parents of ten chil- 
dren, seven daughters and three sons, all of whom are living, Frank P. 
being the fifth child and second son. In his political views the father 
was a Democrat and kept well informed on the questions and issues of 
the day. He prospered in his business undertakings and at the time of 
his death was the owner of two hundred and seventy acres of rich and 
productive land, the greater part of which had been improved by him. 
He passed away in 1903 at the age of eighty-three years, respected and 
esteemed by all who knew him. 

Frank P. Jarvis was reared upon the old homestead farm and as- 
sisted his father in its cultivation and improvement until twenty-four 
years of age. when he made arrangements for having a home of his own 
by his marriage, on the 14th of February, 1876, to Miss Clara Cooper, 
a daughter of Cicero and Hannah (Reams) Cooper. The father was a 
native of Jefferson township, Cass county, born in February, 1840, and 
was there reared and educated. After putting aside his text-books he 
learned and followed the carpenter's trade. He voted with the Dem- 
ocracy up to the time of his demise, which occurred in 1869. Mrs. 
Cooper was torn in Jefferson township, Cass county, on the 29th of 
October, 1839, and was there reared, both she and her husband being 
pioneer people of this part of the state. They became the parents of 
two sons and three daughters, of whom one died in infancy. Mrs. Jar- 
vis. who was the second daughter and third child of the family, was 
reared upon the old home farm in Cass county. 

At the time of their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Jarvis located on a 
farm of one hundred and thirty acres in LaGrange township, the greater 
part of which bad been cutivated, and there they resided for fourteen 
years. In 1891, however, Mr. Jarvis sold that property and removed 
to Pokagon township, settling on section 25, where he purchased one 
hundred and fifty-nine acres of improved land. To the further cultiva- 
tion and development of this place he has since devoted his energies and 
now has an excellent farm, from which he annually han^ests good crops. 
To him and his wife have been born two children, but Burton, who was 
born Januarv 3. 1878, died in infancy. Norman, born September 28, 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 777 

1880, in LaGrange township, is still at home. Mr. Jarvis is a Democrat 
where national issues are involved, but at local elections regards only 
the capability of the candidate and often casts his ballot without regard 
for party ties. He has contributed in substantial measure to the agri- 
cultural development of the county and at the same time has promoted 
his individual success until he is now classed among the men of affluence 
in Pokagon township. 

VIRGIL TURNER. 

Virgil Turner, a representative of farming interests in Ontwa town- 
ship, was born in Sullivan county, New York, December 18, 1837, a 
son of Henry and Lydia A. (Johnson) Turner, who were also natives 
of the Empire state, where they were reared and married. The father 
learned the carpenter's trade in early life and became a contractor and 
builder. Both he and his wife continued residents of New York until 
called to their final rest. In their family were five sons and two daugh- 
ters, of whom Virgil Turner is the third child and third son. Two of the 
sons died while serving their countrv- in the Union army, these being John 
and Andrew. The others are Virgil, Nelson, Nathaniel, Susan and 
Alice, all of whom were born and reared in New York. 

Virgil Turner remained under the parental roof and worked for 
his father until eighteen years of age, when he started out in life on his 
own account. Thinking that he would have better business opportuni- 
ties in the west, he came to Adamsville, Cass county, and began working 
for M. G. & N. Sage of Ontwa township, with whom he continued for 
about a quarter of a century. He learned the miller's trade in their 
employ and became an expert workman. That he was ever faithful and 
loyal to his employers is indicated by the fact that he was retained in 
their service for so extended a period. 

Mr. Turner has been twice married. In 1856 he wedded Miss Ann 
Caldwell, a daughter of William Caldwell, who was born in Ireland, 
which was also the native country of Mrs. Turner. She there spent 
her girlhood days and when a young lady came to the United States, 
making her home with relatives in Cass county. Her death occurred 
in 1883. and she was survived by her three children: Alice, who is now 
engaged in teaching school ; and Milton E. and Etta E.. twins, who were 
born and reared in this county. For his second wife Mr. Turner chose 
Mrs. Digama Adams, the widow of M. S. Adams, of an old pioneer 
family of Cass county and a farmer by occupation. 

in 1876 Mr. Turner located on land known as the Snow lot, com- 
prising eighty acres, and there he made some good improvements. He 
resided there luitil the time of his second marriage, when he removed 
to his present farm, which belonged to his wife. The place comprises 
one hundred and sixty-five acres of land, the greater part of which is 
imder a high state of cultivation. He is energetic and enterprising in 



778 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

his farm work and his laljors have been attended with a gratifying 
measure of success. In his pohtical views he is a Democrat, has served 
as a member of tlie school board for eigliteen, years and has been a mem- 
ber of the board of review for ten years. He belongs to St. Peter's 
Lodge No. io6, A. F. & A. M., at Edwardsburg, and has been identi- 
fied therewith for thirty-five years, during which time he has been most 
loyal to its teachings and tenets, exemplifying in his life the beneficent 
spirit of the craft, which is based upon mutual helpfulness and brotherly 
kindness. 

HENl^Y KIMMERLE. 

Henry Kimmerle. born in Butler county, Ohio, in 1830, was of 
German parentage. His father and mother, Jacob and Catherine (Hass) 
Kimmerle, came from the fatherland in early life and settled first in Phil- 
adelphia and afterward moved to Ohio, where the father died. Soon 
after his death Henry, at the age of four years, with his mother and 
other relatives came to Cass county, where, with the exception of si.x 
years, his entire life was spent. 

At the time of his coming to Cass county the country was new and 
undeveloped, schools were of the primitive type and were few and far 
between. These conditions, together with the fact that the family was 
in meager circumstances, gave Henry very limited opportunities for an 
early education, and what he did receive was almost entirely the re- 
sult of his own efforts. 

In every respect he was a self-made man, and being of an observ- 
ing and inquiring turn of mind, he gained knowledge in the school of 
experience, his education continuing throughout his whole life. He gave 
careful thought and attention to any subject in which he became inter- 
ested, searching for the truth. He was not easily influenced or biased 
by the opinions of others. 

His dominant characteristics were originality and concentration of 
thought and purpose; faithfulness to his affairs in life and an indomit- 
able will to succeed in whatever he undertook. The possession of these 
qualities, coupled with the fact that he was early thrown upon his own 
resources, won for him a degree of success in the financial world en- 
joyed by few of his contemporaries. 

In 1849, when less than eighteen years of age, and with but a few 
dollars in his pocket, he joined a party of prospectors and started for 
the gold fields of California, little realizing the trials and hardships he 
would be called upon to endure. The party's provisions were drawn 
by oxen, and in relating the experiences of those early days Mr. Kim- 
merle has often 1>een heard to say, that he walked the entire distance 
to California. This is no doubt true, as it was only by favoring the 
oxen in every possible way that the party was able to get any of them 
through alive, .As it was many died from overwork, starvation and 
thirst, necessitating the leaving of some of the wagons along the way 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 779 

while tlie burdens of the others had to be reduced to smaller propor- 
tions. After six mouths of travel and hardships the party reached the 
promised land, where six years were spent by Mr. Kimmerle amidst the 
exciting scenes of the great Eldorado. He engaged in mining for a 
short time only, and then spent several years in freighting goods by 
mule pack trains up the mountains to the miners. Money was plentiful 
but food scarce. He often sold Hour at one dollar a pound and eggs at 
fifty cents apiece. 

In 1855 he returned to Cass county by the way of the Istlunus of 
Panama and New York, bringing with him enough gold to lay the 
foundation of his future prosperity. The following year he married 
Mary J. Hain, only daughter of David Hain of LaGrange township, 
and lived in the Hain household four years, when he bought an ad- 
joining farm and built a house. On this spot, four miles west of Casso- 
polis, he spent the remainder of his days — forty-five years. Most of 
the land was covered with a heavy growth of timl:),er, requiring much 
time and labor to clear off and convert into a farm, which now. with 
the buildings, is one of the liest in the county. 

Mr. Kimmerle was far-sighted and conservative in business and 
active both in mind and body to the close of his life. While conserva- 
tive and careful in business he was benevolent and kind, and free from 
avarice. He symi)nthized with those less fortunate financially than 
himself, and his dealings were always just and honorable with never a 
suspicion of dishonesty nor a desire to take advantage over those with 
whom he dealt. Tlirough his easy business methods with the needy and 
deserving people of his commuiiit)- manv were enabled to get a start, 
and rightfully looked uprm him as a friend. In politics Mr. Kimmerle 
was a life-long Democrat, and while never seeking an ofiice, he was al- 
ways interested in both national and local politics. 

He died in March, 1905, and is survived by his widow and three 
children — Charles Henry. Mrs. Josephine Hoy, Mrs. Mary King. Two 
sons, Schuyler and Willinni. died in early childhood, and one daughter, 
Lois, died at the age 'if t\vent\"-iaie years. 

JOHN H. WATSON. 

John H. Watson, A\ho after many years of active connection with 
farming interests is now living retired in Dowagiac. was a native of 
Ohio, his birth having occurred in Warren county on the ist of May, 
1833. He is a son of Robert Watson, a native of Virginia, who settled 
in Ohio at an early period in the colonization of the latter state and 
aided in its pioneer development. Later he again made his way to the 
frontier, when he came to Michigan, taking up his abode in Niles about 
1838. This section of the state was then largelv wild and unimproved 
and lie aided in planting the seeds of ci\ilization and of development 
which in later vears ha\e borne rich fruits. He was a miller bv occu- 



780 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

]iaii(>n and wuiketl in some uf the first mills in Xiles. Later he removed 
U) Silver Cieek tuwnship, Cass ci,)unt)', where he invested his earnings 
ni land and engaged in farming until he came to Dowagiac in 1805. 
He had led a busy and useful life and on locating in this city he retired 
from active business cares, spending his remaining days in the enjoy- 
ment of a well earned rest. He lived to the ripe old age of seventy-nine 
years. From the organization of the Republican party he was one of 
its strong and stalwart advocates, and he held a number of township 
ofihces, the duties of which were faithfully performed, for he believed 
it the privilege as well as the duty of every American citizen to uphold 
his political views and to do what work he could in behalf of his county, 
state or nation. His life was ever upright and honorable. He held 
membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and was a licensed min- 
ister of that denomination. His influence was ever on the side of right 
and truth and his influence w'as a potent element for good in every 
community where he was known. In early manhood he married Miss 
Sarah Hannan, a native of Ohio, in which state her girlhood days were 
passed. During her last days, however, she was a resident of Wayne 
township, Cass county, where she died at the very advanced age of 
eighty-four years. In the family were nine cliildren, one of whom 
died in infancy, while five of the number are yet living, namely : 
Wealthy Ann, the wife of John Robinson; Mary Ellen, the wife of 
Lewis Emmons, of Pokagon township; Matilda, the wife of John Hart- 
sell, who is residing in North Wayne, Cass county; Archibald; and 
John. 

John II. Watson was the fifth child and third son in the family and 
was only fi\-e years of age when brought by bis parents to Michigan. 
The first few years were spent at Niles and he was about nine years 
old when he came to Cass county with his parents. He remained upon 
the old home farm until twenty-one years of age, assisting in the arduous 
ta.sk of cultivating and developing new land and transforming it into 
productive fields. In early manhood he chose a companion and help- 
mate for life's journey, being married in 1854 to Miss Ceretta Powers, 
a daughter of N. H. Powers, who was born in Ohio and died in May, 
1903. In 1855, the year following his marriage, Mr. Watson removed 
to Carroll county, Iowa, and located a farm of one hundred and twenty 
acres, upon which he li\-ed for three years, but preferring Michigan to 
Iowa, he return to Cass countv and took up his abode in Pokagon town- 
ship, where he purchased land, and thereon devoted bis time and ener- 
gies to general farming until 1899. In that year he retired from active 
business life and removed to Dowagiac, where he has since made his 
home, enjoying the fruits of his former toil. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Watson were born four children : Emma, who 
died at the age of two vears; Charles H., who was bom in Greene 
county, Iowa, August 31. 1858, and is now a resident of Woodford 



HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 781 

county, Arkansas, where he is engaged in the lumber business; Alma L., 
the wife of Leslie Byers, of Dowagiac ; and Eugene L., who died at the 
age of thirty-three years. 

Mr. Watson has sold his farm, which was in Pokagon and La 
Grange townships, and is now living a retired life in Dowagiac. He 
has been a resident of Cass county throughout his entire life with the 
exception of a very brief period. He has also given his political alle- 
giance to the Democracy, but he has been without aspiration for office, 
preferring to devote his time and energies to his business affairs until 
later years, when he is now enjoying a well-earned rest. 

Tlie Publishers, in acknowledging their indebtedness to the Editor, 
Mr. L. H. Glover, whose true historical instinct, keen memory for dates 
and facts and unabating interest in every department of the undertaking 
insure to the public the faithfulness of the endeavor and the value of 
the volume as a history of the county, take this opportunity in the 
closing pages of the volume to give a brief sketch of the life of the 
Editor. 

Having considered on previous pages the sources of emigration of 
the early settlers, it is not surprising to find that Mr. Glover, like so 
many of his fellow citizens, is a native of New York state. Born in 
Orleans county, February 25, 1839, he is none the less practically a 
native son of Michigan, since his parents moved west to \Vliite Pigeon 
prairie, in St. Joseph county, in the same year. His father, Orville B. 
Glover, who was born at Upton, Mass., April 11, 1804, died at Edvrards- 
burg in 1852; and his mother, Julia Ann (Carr) Glover, who was 
born at Albion. N. Y., June 28, 18 18. died at Buchanan. ]\Iich., in 1893. 

The family came to Edwardsburg in 1840, and when the boy, 
Lowell, first came to a knowledge of circumstances and events beyond 
the walls of his own home he looked about upon the people and the en- 
vironments which characterized the Edwardsburg of sixty years ago. 
Edwardsburg in those days was the metropolis of the county, and by 
its situation on the Chicago road had a thriving, bustling air such as 
stimulated more than one boy to rise above the commonplace in life. 

Mr. Glover's early experiences were marked by a brief period in 
the village school and by a period spent as a clerk in one of the early 
mercantile enterprises of Edwardsburg. An accident by which he lost 
his right hand when about sixteen years old limited his choice of pur- 
suits, and it was about this time that his decision to become a lawyer 
became a definite aim to be striven for without ceasing. 

After a residence at Edwardsburg until April. 1861, he moved 
to Cassopolis that he might have the association and opportunities of 
study offered in a lawyer's office. His preceptor was the late Judge 
Daniel Blackman, to the value of whose example and the strength of 
whose character Mr. Glover never ceases to give credit. In October, 



782 HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY 

1862, he was admitted to the bar after an examination in open court, 
and as elsewhere mentioned, is at this date the oldest lawyer in lengtli 
of active practice in the county. Mr. Glover has been a life-long Demo- 
crat and confesses to having often offered himself upon the altar of 
sacrifice as that party's nominee to various offices. In April, 1862, he 
began official service through his election as a justice of the peace of 
LaGrange township, and with the exception of one year has held that 
office to the present time. Under Cleveland's first administration he 
held the office of postmaster, serving from September, 1885, to Novem- 
ber, 1889. The only break in his long residence and professional activity 
in Cassopolis was occasioned by his service as deputy commissioner of 
the state land office at Lansing in 1891-92. 

Mr. Glover is himself a true pioneer of the county and took for 
liis wife the daughter of one of the prominent pioneers of Cassopolis 
and the coimty. October 3, 1865, he married Miss Maryette, youngest 
daughter of Joseph and Caroline Harper. The one daughter of their 
marriage, Fanny Eugenia, is the wife of John F. Ryan, of Marquette, 
Mich. 

Since the death of C. W. Clisbee, in 1889, Mr. Glover has been 
historian of the Pioneer Society. Before, as well as since that time, 
he has been enthusiastic in his interest in Cass county history. His 
painstaking care in the preservation of historical material and his recog- 
nized cyclopedic knowledge of Cass county, led to his selection as the 
editor of this history, and it is a simple statement of fact that the worthy 
fulfillment of the publishers' purposes is due to the conscientious thor- 
oughness of the Editor. 



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